Reducing Occupational Accidents and Property Damage

Across manufacturing and many other industries, preventing occupational accidents and ensuring a safe workplace are essential to protecting employees’ lives and health. Food manufacturing, in particular, involves processes using heated and pressurized equipment, oils and fats as raw materials, and various chemicals, including solvents. These processes carry inherent risks that could lead to serious accidents. A major occupational accident could have far-reaching consequences, affecting not only the individuals involved, but also business operations, local communities, and public trust in the company.
Against this backdrop, the Fuji Oil Group regards ensuring employee safety as a fundamental corporate responsibility and a prerequisite for sustainable management.
The first of the values set out in the Fuji Oil Group Management Philosophy — the values that inform our actions — is “Safety, quality and the environment.” As part of that, occupational safety is a top priority underpinning the Group’s sustainable growth. Through systematic and continuous occupational health and safety activities, we work to protect the health and safety of our employees.

Occupational health and safety management

Occupational health and safety audits

Our Group conducts annual planned occupational health and safety audits at production sites operated by Group companies in and outside Japan, with the aim of identifying potential risks and improving safety management standards.
In FY2025, the Safety, Quality, and Environment Audit Team of the Safety, Quality, and Environment Audit Office at Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. conducted audits at eight production sites in Japan. Audit plans for production sites outside Japan are developed based on the results of previous audit assessments. In FY2025 the Productivity Group audited 12 sites and conducted progress reviews and follow-up activities after corrective action was completed.
By implementing this ongoing cycle of auditing, corrective action, follow-up, and re-auditing, we work to prevent occupational accidents and continually improve the Group's safety management standards.

Occupational health and safety audit at Fuji Oil (Zhang Jia Gang) Co., Ltd.

Multilingual reminders

At Group companies outside Japan, we display safety-related reminders in multiple languages so that employees who use different languages can also carry out their work safely.

Examples of signs at Fuji Global Chocolate (M) Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia)

Dialogue between labor and management

To evaluate and improve our risk management and countermeasures related to occupational health and safety, we attach greater importance to creating a dialogue between employees and management. For example, Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. holds a monthly Safety and Health Committee meeting in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement, in order to discuss employees’ expectations and concerns regarding occupational health and safety.

Acquisition of Management System Certifications

Our Group obtains international certifications to establish, appropriately manage, and continually improve its quality and food safety management systems.
For information on the status of management system certifications, see the following page.

• Certification Information

  https://www.fujioil.co.jp/en/sustainability/authen/

Supplier safety and health

Under the Occupational Health and Safety provisions of the Fuji Oil Group Supplier Code of Conduct,^*1 published in April 2021, our Group requires suppliers to provide all workers with a safe and hygienic working environment, comply with applicable laws and regulations, and implement thorough risk management. Based on the Code, we ask all suppliers to acknowledge and endorse these requirements and submit a written declaration of agreement. The third edition of the CSR Procurement Guidelines^*2 (revised in November 2021) applies to suppliers of Group companies in Japan. In the section regarding Respect for Human Rights and Consideration for Occupational Safety and Health, we ask that suppliers maintain and improve a safe and healthy work environment. Group companies in Japan use questionnaires to confirm the status of suppliers’ responses to these requirements.

• *1 Fuji Oil Group Supplier Code of Conduct

  https://www.fujioil.co.jp/en/sustainability/policy/supplier/

• *2 FUJI OIL CO., LTD. CSR Procurement Guidelines (3rd Edition) (PDF, 223KB)

  https://www.fujioil.co.jp/pdf/en/sustainability/policy/csr_guidelines_03.pdf (PDF, 223KB)

EducationGRI: 403-3,403-5

Our Group implements measures based on the belief that the prevention of labor accidents at manufacturing sites is one of our most important responsibilities. We conduct checks to identify dangerous operations and situations that could lead to accidents and take necessary measures. We also promote the Plan-Do-Check-Action (PDCA) cycle for risk management, work to identify near-miss incidents, and implement the use of safety observation cards to suggest potential hazards and areas with safety concerns. Through these and other initiatives, the whole Group is committed to working together to prevent occupational accidents.

Disseminating safety-related information

In recognition of the importance of raising safety awareness among employees throughout the Group, we share warnings and information about occupational accidents that have occurred within the Group. Group companies give employees daily safety warnings using electric bulletin boards or information boards.

Education to improve safety awareness

We believe that heightening our employees’ sensitivity to danger leads to improved safety awareness. We set up experience rooms at Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. and Fuji Oil (Zhang Jia Gang) Co., Ltd. (China), and let employees at Group companies outside Japan experience simulated dangerous conditions through VR simulators. The simulators are permanently placed at Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. and Fuji Oil (Zhaoqing) Co., Ltd. (China).
Group companies in Japan provide safety training and hands-on hazard awareness programs designed to help employees learn from past incidents, follow established rules, and avoid repeating previous mistakes. In FY2025, we conducted the program for 441 employees, helping to enhance their safety awareness.

We are also working to create a safe and secure work environment by conducting emergency drills for natural disasters and installing motion sensor lights that are also useful when evacuating during a power outage.
Group companies outside Japan are also engaged in various safety initiatives, including emergency drills, education on the effectiveness of risk prediction training, safety communication activities,^*1 and safety meetings.^*2

VR simulator experience at Freyabadi (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

• *1 Safety communication activities: Activities to raise employees’ safety awareness by handing down knowledge of past labor accidents and countermeasures to younger generations.

  *2 Safety meeting: Meetings held before the day’s work to inform workers about safety matters that require special attention that day.

• *1 Serious accident: An accident resulting in death, permanent disability to limbs or other body parts, or long-term hospitalization (60 days or more).

• *2 Serious property damage accident: Explosions, fires, or physical accidents resulting in an order from a public authority to shut down the entire site.

Analysis

Following a serious incident in the form of a fatal occupational accident, Head of Oils & Fats Business Headquarters, the Head of Safety, Quality and Production Technology Headquarters, and representatives of the Productivity Group from Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. visited the site. Working with Fuji Oil Ghana Ltd., they investigated the cause, developed measures to prevent recurrence, and provided safety training to local employees. They also issued instructions to Group companies on implementing preventive measures and conducting safety training to help prevent similar accidents.
We safeguard against similar accidents by sharing information on occupational accidents and property damage that occurred within the Group to raise safety awareness. We also believe that using VR simulators helps improve safety awareness by simulating danger for our employees. We will continue to work on enhancing safety awareness through safety experience training using VR simulators at Group companies outside Japan.

Next steps

Our goal for FY2026 is zero serious accidents and zero serious property damage accidents. We believe that improving the safety awareness of employees is the key to achieving this goal. To address this issue, we will also work on the following measures in FY2026:

• Safeguard against similar accidents by sharing information on occupational accidents and property damage that occurred within the Group
• Encourage sharing of safety information between Group companies
• Continue initiatives that help raise safety awareness, such as adopting safety VR simulators