Occupational Health & Safety

Creating safe, healthy working environments

Ensuring employee safety in the workplace is a crucial component of Astellas’ management philosophy. Along with providing a pleasant workplace for its employees, who are key Company stakeholders, Astellas believes that one of its major responsibilities is to ensure employee safety.

Since its inception in 2005, Astellas has not experienced any accidents leading to the loss of life among employees (including contract employees and business contractors). However, there have been more than a few incidents with the potential to cause a major accident. In order to prevent such work-related accidents and minimize the impact when such accidents occur, Astellas is promoting initiatives to ensure the safety of its working environments. These initiatives include activities based on knowledge obtained from past experience and consideration of measures to identify and address work-related risks.

The Company will continue to share information regarding occupational safety and accident prevention throughout the Group, based on the belief that business sites will be able to utilize this information including case examples of work-related accidents to lower risk on an ongoing basis.

Occupational Health & Safety Action Plan

Astellas has drawn up an Occupational Health & Safety Action Plan for the purpose of maintaining and securing a safe work environment, preventing work-related accidents, and minimizing accidents caused by workplace mishaps. The Astellas Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) Policy and Guidelines set forth unified standards that identify Astellas’ aspirations in its EHS activities. Based on this policy and guidelines, Astellas is building an EHS management system at each business site and promoting related activities.

Severity Rate of Work-Related Injuries
  • Prevent the incidence of major occupational accidents while maintaining a severity rate of work-related injuries at or below 0.005 at all business sites
Risk Assessment
  • Assess all business operations to identify risks in all areas as well as establish self-regulations to reduce such risk

 

 

Incidence of Work-Related Injurie

 

To prevent work-related accidents, we share information on work-related accidents and near-misses that have occurred at business sites in Japan and overseas, without identifying any individuals involved. We are striving from more diverse perspectives to ensure a safe work environment.
From January to December 2022, there were no work-related fatalitiesindependent limited assurance, while there were 17 cases of injuries requiring leaves of absenceindependent limited assurance. The longest number of work days lost was 161 days due to an injury from a fall at lodging facilities during a business trip.  As the impact of COVID-19 lessened and sales activities normalized, the number of work-related accidents accompanying fleet use increased. We will strive for risk reduction activities on a global scale through safety awareness-raising activities to maintain a work-related accident severity rate of 0.005 or less.

Global

  2020.1-12 2021.1-12 2022.1-12independent limited assurance
Number of work-related injuries (leave of absence) 6 10 17
Frequency rate of work-related injuries *1 0.18 0.33 0.57
Severity rate of work-related injuries *2 0.005 0.008 0.016

Japan

  2020.1-12 2021.1-12 2022.1-12independent limited assurance
Number of work-related injuries (leave of absence) 1 1 2
Frequency rate of work-related injuries *1 0.09 0.10 0.20
Severity rate of work-related injuries *2 0.000 0.002 0.001

US

  2020.1-12 2021.1-12 2022.1-12independent limited assurance
Number of work-related injuries (leave of absence) 1 3 4
Frequency rate of work-related injuries *1 0.15 0.42 0.54
Severity rate of work-related injuries *2 0.000 0.012 0.002

Established Markets

  2020.1-12 2021.1-12 2022.1-12independent limited assurance
Number of work-related injuries (leave of absence) 3 4 4
Frequency rate of work-related injuries *1 0.40 0.57 0.59
Severity rate of work-related injuries *2 0.014 0.008 0.058

Greater China

  2020.1-12 2021.1-12 2022.1-12independent limited assurance
Number of work-related injuries (leave of absence) 1 2 0
Frequency rate of work-related injuries *1 0.30 0.82 0
Severity rate of work-related injuries *2 0.015 0.036 0

International Markets

  2020.1-12 2021.1-12 2022.1-12independent limited assurance
Number of work-related injuries (leave of absence) 0 0 7
Frequency rate of work-related injuries *1 0 0 2.35
Severity rate of work-related injuries *2 0 0 0.023

*1 Frequency rate of work-related injuries: This rate shows the number of employee deaths or injuries resulting from work-related accidents causing leave of absence per million hours of work. The larger the number, the more frequently work-related injuries occur.
*2 Severity rate of work-related injuries: This rate shows the number of lost work days due to work-related injuries per thousand hours worked. The higher the number, the more serious the injury.
 

independent limited assurance

The performance indicators denoted by this symbol have been assured independently by KPMG AZSA Sustainability Co., Ltd.

 

 

Safety Initiatives

Astellas is building management systems related to occupational health and safety, security, accident prevention and other priorities, and is making well-organized and systematic efforts to implement occupational health and safety management activities. Astellas employees are required to give top priority to safety in all business operations, as confirmed by both management and labor. Moreover, Astellas strives to ensure the safety of all of its workers. With regard to safety management of business contractors, regular safety education is regulated under the Astellas EHS Policy and Guidelines and Astellas requires business contractors obtain permission to perform certain tasks, as necessary. Furthermore, Astellas has built a system to prevent accidents and other troubles in such ways as providing information on hazards and harmfulness related to outsourced operations to companies commissioned to conduct operations in Astellas business sites.

In addition, it will be crucial to continuously develop occupational health and safety managers with specialized skills, and provide the training needed to integrate the approved procedures into day-to-day activities. Accordingly, Astellas has been improving skills by fostering collaboration between business sites and divisions, along with enhancing various safety education initiatives.

At business sites that must be established under laws and regulations, Astellas has set up occupational health and safety committees led by the business site manager and attended by representatives of labor and management. These committees meet on a regular basis to hold discussions on maintaining occupational health and safety, and safe workplace environments. The committees conduct activities such as identifying hazards, performing risk assessments and sharing information on occupational health and safety.