Occupational Health and Safety

We aim to create safe working environments by adopting a Health and Safety Management Policy each fiscal year, and by sharing our philosophy on occupational health and safety with employees.

Basic Policy on Health and Safety Management

Our goal under the Health and Safety Management Policy is to achieve a continual reduction in accidents. We are achieving this by maintaining a PDCA cycle in which accidents are analyzed each year in order to identify issues so that countermeasures can be included in the Health and Safety Management Policy for the following fiscal year.

The Health and Safety Management Policy includes both our basic policy and priority action items. It is reported to senior management after deliberations by the Health and Safety Management Committee.

Basic Policy on Health and Safety Management

Safety takes priority over every other consideration. Accidents can and must be prevented.

Our managers and supervisors are constantly working to prevent industrial accidents and create safe working environments by raising sensitivity to risk through hazard prediction training and strengthening safety measures based on near-miss reports and risk assessments.

We are strengthening the capability of employees to respond to traffic accident risks by using accident case studies as training materials and asking employees to predict hazards as if the incident was happening to them. We also work to avoid incidents through training on understanding and recognizing potential hazards found during commutes to work.

Through our health management initiatives, we are working to enhance the physical and mental health of our employees, and to maintain and enhance work environments that are safe, comfortable, and hygienic.

Individual employees help to eliminate unsafe behavior by raising their awareness of potential hazards. They are also working to maintain and improve their mental and physical health.

Priority action items

Occupational accidents

Traffic accidents

Minor and major fires

Health management

Targets for FY 2022

Zero occupational accidents in the workplace
Zero traffic accidents caused by Nisshin Seifun Group personnel
Zero long-term absences due to workplace accidents
Zero minor or major fires

Occupational health and safety management

Our initiatives to enhance our health and safety management systems include the establishment of a Health and Safety Management Committee made up of group company directors with production-related responsibilities, under the chairmanship of the Nisshin Seifun Group Inc. Director in charge of Division Executive of the Technology and Engineering Division. We also created a Safety and Hygiene Management Office within the Technology and Engineering Division. The Health and Safety Management Committee meets once a year and reports the results of its deliberations to the Group Management Meeting, which is attended by directors and other officers of Nisshin Seifun Group Inc.

The Health and Safety Management Committee plays a central role in the implementation of PDCA cycles relating to occupational health and safety management under the Health and Safety Management Policy. We are particularly aware of the necessity of risk assessments as the “D” stage of the PDCA cycle, and we monitor the implementation of these assessments by group companies in Japan and overseas through audits conducted by the Health and Safety Management Department of Nisshin Seifun Group Inc. We also recognize the importance of audits from an external perspective, and we have been using third-party organizations to carry out assessments since fiscal 2016.

Health and safety management framework

Preventing occupational accidents through risk assessments*

We introduced risk assessment activities and expanded them across the Nisshin Seifun Group in fiscal 2006. These activities now form a permanent part of operations at all of our production and research facilities.

In fiscal 2017, we further enhanced our overall activities by introducing chemical substance risk assessments at the relevant business sites. Before starting new projects, including mergers and acquisitions, we implement prior checks of the safety management and occupational safety systems of the target companies, including their responses to directives from labor-related authorities concerning corrective actions.

* A risk assessment is the overall process through which risk levels are assessed and risk tolerances are determined.

Industrial accidents

Incidence of industrial accidents
Incidence of industrial accidents

The number of lost-time accidents remained roughly level with the previous fiscal year in fiscal 2022, but there was a slight increase in non-lost-time accidents.

An analysis of the types of accidents shows that there was a slight increase in the incidence of trapping and entanglement cases but a decrease in the number of falls. However, the number of other accidents also increased. Approximately 70% of accidents occurred when non-standard tasks were being performed. The majority of accidents appear to have occurred when pre-work hazard prediction was not carried out or was inadequate. We will therefore continue to implement activities designed to enhance hazard prediction and pointing and calling procedures. We will also continue our efforts to reduce the incidence of accidents by gathering and enhancing near-miss data, by implementing risk assessments, and by taking steps to ensure the safety of older workers in particular and providing them with safety education. There have been no workplace fatalities for over 30 years.

Number of workers injured
Type of accident FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022
Trapping/entanglement 6 4 5
Falls 0 4 2
Others 13 14 16

Scope: Direct or temporary employees (excluding part-timers) working for Nisshin Seifun Group Inc., Nisshin Flour Milling Inc., Nisshin Seifun Welna Inc., Nisshin Pharma Inc., Nisshin Engineering Inc., Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd., and NBC Meshtec Inc. (excluding subsidiaries and overseas business sites)

Lost-time incident rate (LTIR)*1
  FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022
Nisshin Seifun Group*2 1.58 1.35 1.43
All industries in Japan 1.80 1.95 2.09
All manufacturing industries in Japan 1.20 1.21 1.31

*1 LTIR= The number of injuries and fatalities resulting from industrial accidents*/the total number of hours worked x 1,000,000 (*Injuries that result in one or more lost work days, and accidents and injuries that cause the loss of a body part or function are included.)

*2Scope: Direct or temporary employees (excluding part-timers) working for Nisshin Seifun Group Inc., Nisshin Flour Milling Inc., Nisshin Seifun Welna Inc., Nisshin Pharma Inc., Nisshin Engineering Inc., Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd., and NBC Meshtec Inc. (excluding subsidiaries and overseas business sites)


There was a slight increase in the number of traffic accidents compared with the figure for the previous fiscal year. As in the previous fiscal year, about one-third of accidents were caused by Nisshin Seifun personnel or by inattention by both parties, while around 40% were self-inflicted accidents. The majority of self-inflicted accidents resulted from collisions in parking lots, while many of the accidents caused by other parties resulted from rear-end collisions with stationary vehicles, such as vehicles stopped at red signals.

Initiatives to reduce traffic accidents include hazard prediction programs using videos, and the installation of dashboard cameras, safety devices, and driver support systems. Information about accidents is shared across the group. For example, at business sites where employees have been involved in traffic accidents, we analyze the causes and propose countermeasures in reports, which are distributed throughout the group after checking and the addition of comments by the Health and Safety Management Department.

Occupational health and safety activities

We implement audits based on our own health and safety standards at domestic and overseas business sites of the Nisshin Seifun Group. When accidents occur, we work to prevent recurrences by informing all workers about the locations, circumstances, and causes of accidents and any countermeasures implemented. We also send engineers and production staff from the parent company to ensure that safety standards are rigorously applied at overseas subsidiaries.

Preventing serious injuries caused by trapping and entanglement in machinery

In fiscal 2022, a total of five workers were injured due to trapping and entanglement in machinery, one more than in the previous fiscal year. Accidents are still occurring when people attempt to clean, repair, or adjust machines that are still running. At sites where such accidents occur, we investigate the causes and take steps to prevent recurrences by ensuring that machinery is always switched off during non-standard operations, as well as by implementing hardware modifications, such as improvements in the structure of equipment. We are also improving information-based activities, such as implementing risk assessments, hazard prediction activities, the revision of operator manuals and warnings, and the provision of safety training. Other initiatives include sharing information about operational details and relevant safety measures with other units and business sites.

Reenacting trapping/entanglement accidents
Reenacting trapping/entanglement accidents

Occupational health and safety training

We implement a range of health and safety training programs for employees of our main group companies and their subsidiaries in Japan. The purpose of these programs, which are structured according to employee seniority, is to share our philosophy on health and safety with employees and provide environments in which people can work with confidence. The main programs are listed below.

Training at Group companies in Japan
Name and content of program Number of attendees
FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022
Training for employees responsible for safety
This program is for worksite health and safety activity leaders. Participants share and exchange information about ways to improve health and safety at business sites. (One one-day course)
Targets: Health and safety activity leaders
19 0* 19
Supervisor safety training
This course is designed to improve the skills of team leaders of business sites and employees who perform equivalent supervisory functions. (One three-day course)
Targets: Team leaders and employees who perform equivalent supervisory roles
28 0* 18
Safety manager training
The purpose of this course is to improve the skills of business site safety managers and employees performing equivalent safety management and supervision roles in organizations. (One two-day course)
Targets: Safety managers and employees performing equivalent roles
0* 3 0*
Follow-up safety training for supervisors
This program is provided to enable supervisors to update their training after a certain number of years.
(One two-day course)
Targets: Team leaders and employees who perform equivalent supervisory roles
19 9 0*
Safety training for new employees (skilled workers)
This program provides initial safety training for newly recruited skilled factory workers. (One half-day course)
Targets: Newly recruited skilled workers
43 38 46
Safety training for participants in technical skill improvement programs
This program is designed to improve the safety-related skills of participants in technical skill (facility maintenance, analysis, etc.) improvement programs. (About two-hours per training program)
Targets: Participants in technical skill improvement programs
30 24 88

*Currently cancelled due to COVID-19

In addition to the above, we provide Group companies with hands-on safety training on preventing trapping and entanglement accidents, following requests from Group companies (prepared dishes and other prepared foods).

As part of precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, in fiscal 2022, we implemented group face-to-face training and online training, as well as hybrid training that combine the two.

In-house awards

Awards are presented to plants, research facilities, and business units that achieve excellent safety records, including zero lost-time accidents, serious traffic accidents, or fires.

Zero Accident Awards
Scope: Business sites that record three or more accident-free years in succession (Excellent Business Sites) or two accident-free years in succession (Improving Business Sites)
Accident-Free Hours Award
Scope: Business sites that achieve 500,000 working hours without accidents
Number of business sites receiving in-house awards
FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022
Zero Accident Awards (Excellent Business Sites) 12 13 9
Zero Accident Awards (Improving Business Sites) 2 3 3
Accident-Free Hours Award 7 1 2

Scope: Business sites of Nisshin Seifun Group Inc., Nisshin Flour Milling Inc., Nisshin Seifun Welna Inc., Nisshin Pharma Inc., Nisshin Engineering Inc., Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd., and NBC Meshtec Inc. (excluding subsidiaries and overseas workplaces)

Safety requirements for subcontractors (Nisshin Engineering Inc.)

Capacity building for subcontractors and other partners (Nisshin Engineering Inc.)

Infection prevention

As part of our commitment to fulfilling our supply responsibilities as a food manufacturer, we continually implement precautions against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases and issue procedures to be followed in the event that infections occur. Depending on the circumstances, actions to prevent the spread of infections include the establishment of a task force, the issuance of notifications to all employees, and the establishment of clearly defined reporting lines.

Our business activities are becoming increasingly global in scope. Employees transferred to our overseas business operations receive guidance in the prevention of malaria, which is prevalent in Southeast Asia, and other infectious diseases. We have established an Overseas Medical Assistance System to introduce medical institutions and arrange treatment for employees who are affected by accidents or illness, including infectious diseases.