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2004 World Day for Safety and Health at Work emblem

ILO-TOKYO INTERNET FORUM 2004

ON

SAFETY AND HEALTH CULTURE AT WORK

INFORMATION COLLECTION: CASES OF PRACTICES/ACTIONS
2004 World Day for Safety and Health at Work emblem
Theme 1: Cases of practices/actions Theme 2: Ideas Theme 3: Information needs Your comments FORUM HOME
JAPANESE

(Original information posted in Japanese is under translation into English. They will be gradually carried on web, posting by posting, upon completion.)

Cases of practices or actions:  Case reports of activities for promoting safety and health culture that are exercised in factories, stores or other workplaces, including those of education, training and research, to create and promote such culture that are operated by public or private organizations.

Posting No. 1 Received on 30 April 2004
Company/Organization : Working Group for Making Mental Health Action Check List
Sender(s) : Norihito KAWAKAMI and Kazutaka KOGI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, stress/mental health
Title : Participatory approach for improving workplace environment using a "Mental Health Action Check List"
Objective :
  • We are developing and applying a supporting tool for improving, in a participatory approach, workplace environment including psychosocial factors causing mental stress of workers. In this approach, the active participation of managers, supervisors and other employees is a key to achieve a better workplace.
  • The tool in the form of a checklist widely covers various workplace environment factors, including not only physical and chemical agents but also working hours, work arrangements, work methods, human relations and work organization. The checklist presents a list of practical actions to improve workplace environment that can be implemented immediately and effectively with the cooperation of employees.
  • We have already made use of the supporting tool developed as a "Mental Health Action Checklist," and confirmed its effectiveness in a participatory approach. We are trying to promote its wider application in industrial workplaces.
Contents : Improving mental health

Mental health measures at the workplace need to be preventive and participatory. It is important to reduce psychosocial stress risks within workplace environment so that workers can work positively and comfortably. What is the most desirable is to create a workplace culture conducive to taking preventive measures before mental illness actually occurs. It is on the other hand required in any workplace to take care of individual workers who suffer from a mental illness.

Therefore, we initiated the development of a tool in the form of a "Mental Health Action Checklist" that can help managers, supervisors and other employees actively and voluntarily join in the elaboration of appropriate measures in their own workplace. The checklist was tested in an actual use.

This checklist was developed by the Working Group for Making Mental Health Action Checklist under a Health, Labor and Welfare Scientific Research project entitled "Research on methods and supporting measures to improve workingplace environment" in 2003.

What is a Mental Health Action Checklist?

The Mental Health Action Checklist takes the form of a so-called "action checklist," aimed at identifying mental health measures focusing on workplace environment. An action checklist is an action-oriented supporting tool consisting of a list of practical actions that can be easily and immediately implemented at most workplaces. For each action, you are asked whether you propose its implementation in your workplace or not. The suggested actions are based on a collection of good practices found in the workplace. Through self-checking and group discussions by managers, supervisors and workers, the checklist is intended to help them develop an appropriate action plan for their own workplace.

The newly designed Mental Health Action Checklist includes 30 practical actions in six areas, namely, (A) participatory planning of work with information sharing, (B) working time and work organization, (C) streamlined work processes (from ergonomic viewpoints), (D) workplace environment, (E) mutual support in the workplace, and (F) ensuring a healthy and untroubled workplace. Only actions that can be easily implemented in the workplace are listed. The following are some examples;

(1) Provide workers and managers/supervisors with opportunities to join in the planning of work assignment and time scheduling.
  Do you propose this action?
Yes
No
(8) Make sure that employees are granted a designated number of holidays, and can take paid annual leaves and childcare leaves on request.
  Do you propose this action?
Yes
No
(13) Provide workers with easy-to-understand work instructions and necessary work-related information (for example, through easy-to-read instructions, color-coded displays or signs).
  Do you propose this action?
Yes
No
(24) Inform workers about the evaluation of their performance and skills on the basis of their actual work results and in a reasonable and timely manner.
  Do you propose this action?
Yes
No

Cases of implementation

  • When a mental health-training workshop was held in a local government, the Mental Health Action Checklist was used in examining an actual case. The results were discussed to identify priority measures.
  • The research and development department of a manufacturing company implemented mental health measures to improve workplace environment and workers' health. These measures were targeted at managers, supervisors and other workers. The employees of the department were divided into small groups, and they used the Mental Health Action Checklist. Each group discussed the results for about an hour. A mental health expert joined in the group discussion as a facilitator. This group discussion had the task of identifying three "good features" of their workplace at first, then, three elements of workplace environment that they wanted to improve. Thus, each group proposed practical measures to improve the existing conditions.
    As good features of the workplace, they pointed out an environment where they could easily consult with each other and with their seniors. Practical measures suggested included the holding of meetings on a regular basis and workplace-level actions for better communication. As a result, they proposed priority measures to improve workplace environment and an action plan. These specific proposals were written in the Improvement Planning Sheet. The effectiveness of measures taken was examined and confirmed. The follow-up of the action plan is underway so that improvements may be implemented on a continual basis.
Effect : The following effects were noted from the use of the Mental Health Action Checklist, the group discussion and the implementation of the action plans:
  1. The use of a Mental Health Action Checklist enabled workers to realize in a more systematic way what and how to improve. This could help them develop appropriate measures for their workplace.
  2. The use of the Action Checklist facilitated the identification of priority areas for action, as well as practical measures to improve working environment.
  3. The Action Checklist has been useful for organizing participatory group discussion since it is a collection of practical suggestions for immediate implementation. Participants actively expressed their opinions and proposed various measures to reduce stress in multiple aspects.
  4. This method was reported to the 2004 annual conference of the Japan Society for Occupational Health. The information is now accessible on the following website. The planning of the implementation of the Action Checklist is under way in a number of local workplaces.
Relevant website : http://eisei.med.okayama-u.ac.jp/jstress (Japanese)

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-25 -

Posting No. 26 Received on 18 June 2004
Sender(s) : Takanobu TERAMOTO
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health
Title : State of Japanese safety and health culture at work
Contents : The following is an overview of the actions, ideas and dialogs reported so far for the ILO Internet Forum (Postings No.1 to No.25), through which we can see the state of Japanese safety and health culture at work. I would like to express my heart-felt thanks to all the senders of information.
1. The cases of participatory approach to improve workplace environment have been most frequently reported by the senders. In such practice, managers/supervisors and workers join in the risk assessment and propose feasible immediate actions to improve workplace environment. Their participation is facilitated by experts who develop and provide various tools, and attend small group meetings to give advice. In order to develop tailor-made supporting tools, such as action-checklist, the experts conduct industry-wide surveys on risk assessment and good practices. There are various levels at which managers/supervisors and workers are involved: mangers/supervisors and workers in a same workplace (Posting No.1); a business cooperative association of small and medium sized enterprises, which conduct a joint project to improve workplace environment with a public financial support, the affiliating employers and their workers (Posting No.2); a municipal board of education, a trade union representing school employees, the managers and employees of a school (Postings No.7 and No.8); managers, employees and their trade union (Posting No.14); A construction workers' trade union and its members including business owners, self-employed and employees of small and medium sized construction undertakings(Posting No.25). The cases of such participatory approach include training courses undertaken by a trade union (Posting No.14), a non-governmental organization (Posting No.19) and a private research institute (Posting No.21). This method is successfully applied to training projects for developing countries, undertaken by a trade union based foundation for international cooperation (Posting No.3).
2. The cases of OSH management systems (Posting No.12 and No.14) and the case of a public OSH preventive association's activities to promote such systems have been reported (Posting No.15). There is an idea (Posting No.4), which proposes a coordinated, concurrent introduction of participatory approach and OSH management system, with a view to promote the introduction of OSH management systems by small and medium sized companies.
3. There are reports of Mental health measures to prevent the occurrence of workers' sufferings from workplace stress: a case of study and trials for participatory approach (Posting No.1); and a case of OSH management system (Posting No.12). An idea of nap-break (Posting No.5) is reported with its demonstrated effects. This is followed by dialogs (Posting No.13 and No.16) concerning the method of recess that fits in an individual worker' needs.
4. Trade unions' occupational safety and health measures have been reported: a national center's 5 year OSH preventive plan, a local union's one-day bipartite training session, a local unions' network of OSH representatives and their joint workplace inspection (Posting No.20); and the advisory role of OSH preventive instructors, nominated from among labour and management experts by local labor standards inspection offices (Posting No.22).
5. There is a case of so-called RST trainers training courses, operated by public OSH preventive association's training centers, which have educated 80,000 instructors for 30 years. The instructors provide OSH trainings to foremen.
6. As supporting measures to Japanese subsidiaries operating overseas, there are reports of health management services for Japanese workers dispatched overseas (Posting No.18), as well as a public OSH preventive association's international information services (Posting No.23) and international cooperation activities (Posting No.24).
7. As improvement needs for Japanese safety and health culture at work, three issues have been presented with reference to practices in the United Kingdom and the EU: the public awareness-raising on occupational safety and health issues (Posting No.9); reactive monitoring (Posting No.10); and numerical assessment and evaluation of OSH performance (Posting No.11). The Posting No.9 is followed by an idea of potential role of socially responsible investment (SRI) to raise the awareness of the public and industries on occupational safety and health (Posting No.17).

It is natural that we can't tell all about Japanese safety and health culture at work, just with the cases reported so far. And it may be my fault if the above overview of the cases is not accurate. If you have additional information, please send it to us. The deadline for submission is 30 June 2004, and we ask your earliest possible action.

Finally, ILO Office in Japan will hold a public forum on safety and health at work on Monday, 26 July 2004. On the basis of the results of this ILO Internet Forum, we would like to develop acquaintance and friendship with you and to promote discussion on the theme further. We look forward to seeing you in the forum.

 

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-27 -

Posting No. 29 Received on 30 June 2004
Company/Organization : Institute for Science of Labor (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Kazutaka KOGI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, others (cooperation among different industries)
Title : Our common initiatives for expansion of "good practices"
Contents :

Information No.26, which summarized cases of actions, ideas and dialogues provided until 18 June, points out important lessons. This Internet Forum is the first attempt to share good practices, effective actions and innovative ideas for improving the safety and health culture in Japan. The topics provided in the Internet Forum include many cases of participatory workplace improvement and supporting programs through a variety of teamwork efforts. As the Forum has clearly shown, there is a growing recognition that participatory workplace improvement actions and support through teamwork play vital roles in establishing an effective safety and health culture.

Many improvement actions have been implemented and led to many achievements in the field of occupational safety and health in Japan. This is important despite the fact that there are still many serious accidents and inappropriate check systems. There are questions raised about the effort to deal with diversifying forms of employment and about the inadequacies in solving problems caused by multiple risks on a regular basis. As a result, all of us concerned with safety and health at work realize that it is urgent to discuss how to establish a safety and health culture in the workplace. Therefore, this Internet Forum has been initiated. The fact that common viewpoints are clearly visible in the reports provided in the Internet Forum gives us an encouraging message for undertaking the next steps to improve occupational safety and health in the country.

This fact seems to stem from the background that each industry today emphasizes continual improvement through voluntary management systems together with the day-to-day application of responsibility standards. That is clearly illustrated in the provided information. In other words, various "good practices," in which concrete improvement actions are implemented though group work have steadily been accumulated. We can learn from this forum that it is essential to actively report such "good practices" mutually and more frequently exchange positive experiences.

Common keys essential for exchanging such experiences of "good practices" are clearly highlighted in the reports provided to this forum. Especially the two aspects, "the provision of action-oriented risk assessment tools" and "encouragement of participatory activities" seem to be particularly impressive. It has been reported that when easy-to-use assessment tools that combine these two prominent aspects are used so as to encourage participatory activities in the workplace, voluntary actions to control risks in industry can be vitalized. Examples include action checklists, action sheets and inspection/improvement manuals, all of which are shown to enhance the effectiveness of participatory improvement actions. Such tools can be also seen as means of establishing a safety and health culture conducive to voluntarily learning how to improve the workplace and applying practical improvement actions.

I hope that exchanging experiences of "good practices" on the Internet, one of the purposes of this forum, will be continued in the future. It is because this Internet Forum has proven that reporting positive actions or ideas to each other can produce valuable hints for promoting "good practices." It is difficult to facilitate the exchange of experiences without such a dialogue space. This forum demonstrated the importance of providing concrete opportunities for dialogue. Such a dialogue space for reporting "good practices" will be supported by all of us in the years to come.

Posting No. 2 Received on 6 May 2004
Company/Organization : The Institute for Science of Labor (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Akiyoshi ITO
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, Hazardous work, Chemical substance, Ergonomics, Machinery, Others (workplace environment)
Title : Development of workplace improvement action program in collaboration with cooperative business associations of medium and small sized enterprises
Objective : One of the characteristics of small and medium sized enterprises is the growing complexity of safety and health risks. Since multiple risks have been mixed as new technologies or new chemical substances are put to use, and there are frequent changes of production processes due to high-mix low-volume production, the complexity of risks has been spurred. However, this is also common to major enterprises regardless of the size of enterprise. The areas that are less advanced in small and medium sized enterprises than in major enterprises are the condition of human resources, installation, funds, information collection and observance of laws.

On the other hand, small and medium sized enterprises have good footwork to promptly reflect managers' intentions, and therefore it is an important point how to motivate managers to work on occupational safety and health activities. It is quite certain that the effective use of occupational safety and health management systems will greatly contribute to small and medium sized enterprises, which have disadvantages of small human resources and funds. There are high needs to achieve good results in new technologies or human resources development through a series of activities such as assessing risks, positively working on workplace improvement based on the assessments and introducing management systems. We aim to collect accurate information and provide it for managers and workers.
Contents : Since 1994, our Institute has collaborated with several cooperative business associations to assist them in the implementation of workplace environment projects, funded by the Promotion Project Subsidies for Ensuring the Workforce of Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Prefectural Governments) or the Promotion Project Subsidies for Ensuring the Human Resources of Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (the Employment Promotion Corporation). Each project aims at ensuring excellent human resources by improving workplace environments. These projects are not finished on a single year and have been continued for several years. Through the processes, we have been trying to establish workplace environment improvement action programs for small and medium sized enterprises directly linking to safety and health risk measures.

The strategic framework of activities, which we have agreed on with several cooperative business associations and implemented, consists of the following four steps:

Step 1: Group study to identify risk profiles
The first step is to roughly understand the industry's unique risk profiles, through risk assessment based on on-site observation or inspections, interviews with management, and working environment assessment. For example, in the industries where we have worked with small and medium sized enterprises for joint projects, we identified risks such as heat, noise and heavy load transportation in the die-cast industry; harmful rays, arm restriction, injuries/burns and insufficient ventilation in the physical and chemical machinery manufacturing industry; electromagnetic wave (high-frequency welder), poisonous fumes and weld in the tent/sheet processing industry; injuries caused by wood processing machines and inhalation of wood dust in the furniture fittings industry; and rough hands and lower-back pain in the cosmetics industry. The backbone of the action programs is to give priorities on measures against these risks.

Step 2: Collect local good examples of risk reduction measures
Through the process of Step 1 or the use of cooperative trade associations' network, unknown good improvement action cases in industries are collected and compiled into a database, so that they can be shared industry-wide and gradually be put into practice. In other words, we produce a volume of case reports on workplace environment improvement actions for each industry.

Step 3: Group work for comprehensive risk assessment
An action checklist is made for each industry through active group discussion in the form of a committee consisting of highly motivated managers and professionals. This checklist enables a user to select an action suitable for their own workplace. We distribute it in order that each association member enterprise can take the initiative to improve the workplace environment. We further seek as many good examples as possible by the time checklist is used, in order to enrich the content of case reports in Step 2. If one conducts a self-evaluation of his enterprise with this checklist, he can identify the position of his enterprise in the industry.

Step 4: Implementing workplace improvements and their evaluation
It is important to comprehensively improve the workplace in wide areas such as working environment, ergonomics, reduction of working hours and handing down of techniques and skills to the younger generation.

Development of workplace environment improvement supporting tools
We have made several useful supporting tools for effectively implementing workplace improvement action programs in collaboration with cooperative business associations.

The first tool is collections of local good examples for workplace improvement to motivate management and workers. This tool is aimed at having managers and workers find out and realize that they can also implement them, and immediately work on them. From that point of view, visual tools such as photographic collection of improvement examples or videotapes are effective. For example, the A4-sized 43-pages of book with 86 photographs collected from twenty eight association member enterprises for the die-casting industry was well accepted. A training video "Let's improve workplace!"(3 tapes, about 10 minutes for each) was also developed and put to use.

The second tool is action checklist by industry, which is used for self-evaluation and group discussion. This checklist is different from the checklist to examine a person's knowledge, and it is unique having an action for improvement for each check item.

On top of the two tools above, a workplace implementation manual can help furthermore, through which one can get to know practical know-how to use the tools for improvement. Such a manual indicates what to consider and how to improve, in order to obtain a particular effect. It will become even more useful if it has an explanatory note on visions and main points for each check item, including "why is it necessary?," "how to improve," "good examples of workplace environment improvement," "some more hints for improvement" and "expected results."

Effect :
  1. Managers can establish visions for his own risk assessment covering a wide range of risks in the industry, assisted with the action checklist.
  2. The case reports of improvement actions help take a problem-solving approach.
  3. Video and other training tools can facilitate voluntary and active group discussions.
  4. The resulting improvements of workplace environment can demonstrate that it helps improve welfare, safety and productivity of employees, vitalize the workplace, and ensure excellent human resources.
Relevant website : None

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-25 -

Posting No. 26 Received on 18 June 2004
Sender(s) : Takanobu TERAMOTO
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health
Title : State of Japanese safety and health culture at work
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

 

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-27 -

Posting No. 29 Received on 30 June 2004
Company/Organization : Institute for Science of Labor (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Kazutaka KOGI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, others (cooperation among different industries)
Title : Our common initiatives for expansion of "good practices"
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

Posting No. 3 Received on 7 May 2004
Company/Organization : Japan International Labour Foundation (JILAF) (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Masumi AKEDA and Kazutaka KOGI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, dangerous/hazardous work, others (trade union, participatory workplace improvement)
Title : International cooperation for safety and health improvement training by trade union initiative
Objective :
  • We developed the POSITIVE Program for Asian developing countries using a participatory safety and health improvement training method by trade union initiative. The program has been applied in seven countries.
  • Assistance in occupational safety and health training is strongly requested by partner trade unions in international cooperation field projects for developing countries. The first safety and health seminar focusing on action plans was held in Pakistan in 1994 and highly evaluated by the participants. Then, taking into account the situation of each country, a participatory safety and health training program for trade union members, entitled POSITIVE (Participation-Oriented Safety Improvements by Trade Union Initiative), was developed in cooperation with the Institute for Science and Labour, Kawasaki, Japan. The program aims at training trade union members, through participatory group work, in implementing immediate low-cost improvements addressing a variety of workplace environment factors.
  • Our objective is to develop a training package fit for each country in cooperation with national trade union centers of target countries, train trainers and trade union members, and thus help them make improvement proposals and implement them within their enterprises. This participatory safety and health training may provide a strong support for trade union activities and contribute to improving working conditions. The newly developed program can help develop a safety culture through a domestic tripartite cooperation of the government, employers and workers.
Contents : The training methodology emphasizing the following three aspects has been popularly accepted throughout the past ten-year cooperation in Asian developing countries.

Training of trade union members in conducting workplace improvements through learning practical actions

Workplace improvements by means of building on local practice are aimed at while promoting active participation of trade unions. Simple and easy-to-understand measures are focused on so that union members can understand and apply the program. The program encourages participants to propose an improvement plan of their own and implement it. This is facilitated by using as many photos of improvements done under the same local conditions as possible or illustrations showing low-cost solutions. One-day to four-day training courses are held using this methodology. Further, trainers are trained in short-term workshops. Training methods are adapted to local trade union members. We have already implemented the POSITIVE training courses in cooperation with the national trade union centers in China, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines and Thailand. Manuals collecting local examples of low-cost improvements have been developed.

Methods to propose low-cost improvements by using action checklists

Participating workers learn to select improvement actions that can be immediately implemented in their workplaces by using an action checklist as an action-oriented support tool. This learning process is different from learning theories through lectures. Each locally adapted POSITIVE Checklist comprises thirty to forty actions listed in the areas of (A) materials handling, (B) workstations, (C) machinery safety, (D) workplace environment, (E) welfare facilities and (F) environmental protection. The checklist help workers select, from these areas, improvement actions suited to their local workplaces. At that time, examples of low-cost improvements implemented in the country are used as a training tool. Learning from local good practices, workers are able to identify improvements that can be readily implemented in their workplaces. A "POSITIVE Training Package" consists of an action checklist, a manual illustrating local examples as photos, a set of OHP or PowerPoint slides for conducting courses and sample improvement reports. The package is available in the local languages in all the participating countries. The package has been widely used in these countries.

Implementation of improvements through participatory group work and case reports

Active participation of workers has been achieved by participatory training courses consisting of group discussions followed by presentations of the results. This action-oriented training can enhance proactive attitude of workers after returning to their workplaces. A standard four-day course and a shorter one to two-day training course have been held depending on the situation in each country. Workers who have participated in a short course can organize a POSITIVE course and implement improvements using the locally adapted action checklist. Simultaneously, the trained trade union members further made and distributed brochures for union members, re-activated a safety and health committee in their workplaces and achieved broad-range improvements through management-worker cooperation.
Effect :
  1. We have applied the newly developed POSITIVE program in seven Asian countries, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Mongolia, the Philippines and Thailand. Since 1994, more than 400 short-term courses have been held in which around 12,000 trade union members participated.
  2. Through the use of action checklists, manuals and trainers' manuals written in local languages, the program has clarified concrete improvement measures and made it easier for trade unions to take initiative in improving workplace environment.
  3. A large number of action plans have been proposed and implemented by participatory group discussion. Examples of low-cost improvements resulting from these courses are collected. Such local examples are persuasive, and they are included in the manuals. In addition, the photos showing these examples are converted to OHP sheets and PowerPoint slides and used as effective training materials.
  4. Asian regional workshops for exchanging the achievements of trade union training using the POSITIVE methodology were held. This exchange has proven useful for spreading training activities in participating countries.
Relevant website : http://www.jilaf.or.jp/genpro/positive.html (Japanese)

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-25 -

Posting No. 26 Received on 18 June 2004
Sender(s) : Takanobu TERAMOTO
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health
Title : State of Japanese safety and health culture at work
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

 

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-27 -

Posting No. 29 Received on 30 June 2004
Company/Organization : Institute for Science of Labor (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Kazutaka KOGI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, others (cooperation among different industries)
Title : Our common initiatives for expansion of "good practices"
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

Posting No. 6 Received on 13 May 2004
Company/Organization : Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 5-29)
Sender(s) : Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, Others (foreman education, RST trainer)
Title : Active RST trainers - their contribution to educate excellent foremen for thirty years -
Objective : Foremen who directly educate and supervise workers are key persons for safety and health management in the workplace. In fact, appropriate supervision by skilled foremen drastically decreases occupational accidents. Therefore, the Industrial Safety and Health Law provides that employers should provide their foremen-to-be with occupational safety and health education on such issues as decision of work methods, placement of workers, methods for instruction and supervision of workers, maintenance of workplace and work installations and emergency measures (hereinafter referred to as "foreman education").

In our education center, we have educated RST trainers in charge of training foremen for thirty years since RST Course (Safety and Health Education Trainer Course of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry) was initiated in 1973.
Contents :
  1. There are two different types of courses: a general course for manufacturing companies and a course for construction companies. We organize more than sixty courses in total each year. Each course takes five days from Monday to Friday. Training sometimes ends at 9:00 pm, and the total hours of training become more than forty hours. In principle, trainees board together. Each class has a small group of about 20 trainees, which is aimed to ensure training effects through the integration of classmates and instructors.
  2. In this training course, we prioritize training methods for foreman education on how a foreman should decide work procedures and how he or she should supervise and educate their subordinates. Another important feature is the instruction of training techniques, which will allow a trainer teach clearly and surely what he or she wants to teach. This is our Center's unique know-how.
  3. For this reason, we utilize a discussion method in addition to lectures, in order that trainees can learn visions and logics of occupational safety and health through the exchange of views on practical cases. Moreover, our instructors teach trainees how to draft a training plan on a one-to-one basis, and provide a role-playing lesson for foremen education according to their own draft-training plan.
    A training plan, which represents a definite implementation manual of training, is our unique know-how. The following four steps are taken to draft it:
    [First Step]: This is an introductory part of training, in which a trainer aims to motivate trainees by securing their understanding of training objectives, necessities and reasons.
    [Second Step]: This is a step to present training contents by listing up the subject of lectures, summarizing their important points and context and preparing figures and tables.
    [Third Step]: This is a step to intensify trainees' understanding of lectures. A trainer need to decide themes for discussion on the basis of clear-cut goals and objectives and to consider how to follow-up the discussion.
    [Four Step]: This is a step to confirm the realization of expected outcomes. A trainer need to reflect on, overview and confirm the results of training, and to clarify what a trainer expects trainees to be and to do.
    Role-playing aims at developing training abilities. Participants play the role of trainer, and receive evaluation of their performance, together with their draft-training plan.
Effect :
  1. RST courses developed and established educational techniques such as discussion methods, the drafting of a training plan and role-playing, along with training curriculums and textbooks, which are necessary for educating trainers for foremen education.
  2. We assisted employers in foremen training through our integrated trainers education system. It is difficult for a single company to educate a trainer by itself. In addition, our educated trainers established a common, high quality foremen education system.
  3. We have educated total of 80,000 RST trainers for thirty years since the start of RST courses. These trainers have been educating foremen-to-be in companies and organizations all over Japan.
  4. Intense foremen education have contributed to the education of foremen with leadership and the development of safety and health management in workplace. In addition, the role of RST trainers is not limited to that of foremen trainers, and they strengthened safety and health management in workplace through managing workers with foremen.
  5. As a result, people now widely recognize the important position and role of foremen in safety and health management, and this contributes to raise the status of foremen and RST trainers.

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-25 -

Posting No. 26 Received on 18 June 2004
Sender(s) : Takanobu TERAMOTO
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health
Title : State of Japanese safety and health culture at work
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

 

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-27 -

Posting No. 29 Received on 30 June 2004
Company/Organization : Institute for Science of Labor (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Kazutaka KOGI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, others (cooperation among different industries)
Title : Our common initiatives for expansion of "good practices"
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

Posting No. 7 Received on 14 May 2004
Company/Organization : The Institute for Science and Labour (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Kazuhiro SAKAI and Akiyoshi ITOH
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, dangerous/hazardous work, gender, others (human engineering participatory improvement)
Title : Achievements of school kitchen inspection by industrial health teams
Objective :
  • This is a report on workplace inspection of independent school kitchens that is characterized by workplace evaluation from broader perspectives and improvement proposals based on it. The inspection has successfully led to a great many workplace improvements.
  • Workplace of school kitchens have been inspected by a joint team of industrial doctors, safety and health engineering and human engineering experts as well as safety and health inspectors selected by a municipal board of education since fiscal 1991, to seek improvements of safety and health conditions and promotion of cooking staffs' good health. The school kitchens covered are those of urban elementary schools and schools for the disabled.
  • This was started as a measure against "Trigger finger," which occurred frequently among cooking staffs of school kitchens. Currently, we are improving a wide range of conditions of work and workplace environments, targeting total of 117 schools in the city. Such workers frequently do repetitive works in a semi-crouching position, handling heavy loads and are exposed to hazards such as burns and scalds. Disinfection in boiling water is often carried out, and there are many other hazards from unsafe and hasty work and workplace environment. In addition, they mostly clean kitchens using running water, which is called a wet method. Therefore, heat in summer and coldness in winter are common problems. Regular workplace inspections by a joint team are useful to improve such workplace.
Contents : The organization of workplace inspection teams started in 1991, in order to improve safety and health conditions of school kitchens. A city's total of 117 schools having independent kitchens were covered, including municipal elementary schools and schools for the disabled. Workplace evaluation from broader perspectives and practical proposals to improve workplace have successfully obtained confidence of the workplace and contributed to continuous improvements.

Inspection of school kitchens by a joint workplace inspection team

A workplace inspection team consists of industrial doctors, human engineering and safety and health engineering experts, a health inspector (a safety and health committee member from the labor union side) and a responsible manager and a staff of the city's board of education. They inspect four schools in one course, and operate ten such courses per year, which means forty schools are inspected every year. The frequency of visits to each school is once in two to three years. The inspection includes: (1) inspection of human engineering conditions of workplace environment and equipments; (2) safety inspection of equipments and work; (3) inspection of refreshment and health facilities; (4) identification of cooking staff's health conditions and implementation of health guidance; and (5) taking snapshots of work and environmental conditions. We have so far inspected school kitchens 615 times in total, which means an average of 5.3 times per school, for thirteen years until 2003.

We identified 738 of improvement cases, an average of 3.7 per school, during inspections of 200 schools for five years from 1999 to 2003. They consist of 422 for "renewal and new installation of basic equipments and machineries," 74 for "workplace environment improvement, including light, ventilation and noise" and 60 for "floor, passage and drainage measures." We made 662 of improvement proposals to schools, an average of 3.3 per school. They mostly consist of 107 for "improvement of work organization and methods," 103 for "improvement of refreshment and health facilities" and 99 for "renewal and new installation of basic equipments and machineries."

Process for collection of improvement cases and presentation of proposals, through various feedbacks

Since an inspection team consists of experts and representatives of workplace, it is widely accepted as a good custom to collect improvement cases in workplace and make proposals that can be easily implemented. While much equipment have been renewed and installed since 1999, including those against Escherichia coliform bacillus O157, improvement cases and proposals cover broad areas each year. Such measures to renew and install basic equipments are implemented in parallel with measures for transportation of heavy loads, workstations, layouts and workability, floor, passage and drainage, workplace environment, safety measures, refreshment and health facilities and orderly workplace arrangement. As a result, many improvement cases and proposals are reported every year, such as improving carts and mobile lacks, repairing heights from floor to workplace surface avoiding semi-crouching positions, using readable color codes, eliminating differences in level on passages, enhancing drainage equipments, taking measures concerning light and noise, decreasing cuts and burns and improving refreshment conditions.

In addition to various such improvements, a dry-method of cleaning is introduced to the effect that amount of water used for cleaning is reduced to keep the floors from becoming wet. In such kitchens, mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning equipment are also installed to make the workplace environment even more comfortable. The effects of these measures are confirmed by measuring temperature and humidity. Dry cleaning-method kitchens have already been built in seven schools, where workplace improvements are obvious along with remodeled equipments against O157.

Participatory mechanism for continuous improvements, supported by a collection of improvement cases

Team inspections are widely accepted, their various practical proposals to improve workplace are given confidence from school principals and staffs, and the above-mentioned various feedbacks are provided. As a result, participatory approach by a full staff has been promoted in each school. The number of improvement cases identified per fiscal year is within the range between 120 and 170 from fiscal 1999 to 2003 and this matches the number of proposals, which is stable at around 100 or 180. The number of cooking staffs with digital abnormality, for which we decided to initiate such inspections, has been clearly decreasing from 1991 when the inspections were initiated.

Systematic workplace inspections conducted by a joint team contribute to safety and health improvements that are commonly useful to school kitchens scattered across the city.
Effect :
  1. It has become a widely accepted practice that industrial doctors and occupational health engineering and human engineering experts, together with safety and health inspectors, join in the inspection of school kitchens employing a small number of cooking staff, so that the workplace can be evaluated from broader perspectives.
  2. Practical proposals to improve workplace have obtained confidence from school principals and staff, related departments of a city's board of education and labor unions.
  3. Repetition of regular inspections facilitates the collection of many practical improvement cases and the presentation of proposals. This process is assisted with various ways of feedback, such as report to the safety and health committee, employee training and questionnaires.
  4. With a renewed motivation, the participation of all staff in the continuous efforts to improve work methods is developing as a common characteristic of school kitchens.
Relevant website : http://www.isl.or.jp/top-e.html

- Dialogue to Posting No. 7 -

Posting No. 8 Received on 18 May 2004
Company/Organization : Minatomachi Clinic of Kanagawa Workers' Cooperative for Medical Services (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 5-29)
Sender(s) : Yoshiomi TENMEI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, dangerous/hazardous work, others (activities of industrial doctors, participatory improvement)
Title : Support of safety and health improvement actions in school kitchens
Contents : I read the report of safety and health actions in school kitchens (individual kitchens of school) in a large city, and found it very useful as I am also working on same issues as an industrial doctor.

The most important key to solve the problems is how to motivate cooking staff to undertake improvement actions. Especially since there is a small number of staff working in individual school kitchens, the role of workplace inspections by education board staff and union representatives of the safety and health committee, as well as the role of safety and health trainingsare very important. I fully agree to the reported facts that cooking staff voluntarily makes workplace safer and more comfortable through training, which are based on small group discussions. Cooking staff joins such discussion while learning from cases of improvement actions applicable to the problems pointed out through inspection.

It is ten years since we took such small group discussion method for improvement actions. And whenever we inspect a school kitchen, we make a short report to a school principal. During first several years, only industrial doctors expressed their opinions on such occasions. However, this changed some years ago, when union representatives of the safety and health committee started to express their views. Such a trend is surely extending to general cooking staffs. Another key is to regularly conduct dialog with school principals, who are nominated as general safety and health managers in school.

As the report indicates, the effective approach to safety and health at school kitchen is to simultaneously deal with work-related disorder such as "Trigger finger" and lower-back pain on the one hand, and safety problems such as cuts and burns on the other. School kitchens are a typical workplace where a small number of workers are employed or workers are placed in small separated units. We would like to further exchange such experiences of action-oriented group activities and dialog with school principals.

I think it desirable that industrial doctors should focus on such preventive activities.

 

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-25 -

Posting No. 26 Received on 18 June 2004
Sender(s) : Takanobu TERAMOTO
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health
Title : State of Japanese safety and health culture at work
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

 

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-27 -

Posting No. 29 Received on 30 June 2004
Company/Organization : Institute for Science of Labor (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Kazutaka KOGI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, others (cooperation among different industries)
Title : Our common initiatives for expansion of "good practices"
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

Posting No. 12 Received on 24 May 2004
Company/Organization : Enterprise "A" (Industry classification: Manufacturing; Number of employees (range): 500+)
Sender(s) : Miyuki SHIMAZU and Katsumi AOKI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, stress/mental health
Title : Continuous Stress Management as part of occupational safety and health management system
Objective :
  • When an electric company "A" introduced an occupational safety and health management system (OSHMS), its guidelines clearly indicated that mental health would be actively addressed. And stress management has been implemented by way of workplace improvement actions.
  • More specifically, the risk assessment, which is required for OSHMS, covers mental health in the form of "Job Stress Assessment Diagram." In addition, a systematic mechanism to reduce such risk was introduced for workplace improvement.
  • On such basis, we aim to realize that managers and supervisors in workplace are actively involved in the PDCA cycle for the continuous and voluntary improvement of workplace environment.
  • Furthermore, we take participatory approach, and use supporting tools such as hint collections so that managers and supervisors in workplace can actively join in the process.
Contents : Summary of stress management conducted in the enterprise "A"

The incorporation of mental health programs is a policy of the enterprise "A" as a whole, and it has taken measures to improve workplace environment as part of OSHMS. The following shows concrete contents:

P L A N :
1. Planning: After the incorporation of appropriate and effective mental health care into the safety and health policies of the enterprise, we included mental heath programs for workplace improvement as part of the occupational safety and health promotion plan.
2. Informing: Occupational health staff actively informed the managers and supervisors in workplace as well as the human resources and labor departments so that managers and supervisors could voluntarily and continuously improve workplace environment under the support of occupational health staffs.
D O :
1. Conducting stress survey: Stress survey was conducted to all the employees using the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (Shimomitsu,et al., 1998) as an assessment tool. At that time, we thoroughly informed that the results should be solely used for workplace improvement and the privacy of employees should be respected.
2. Processing the data and the feedback of the results: After processing the data to make "Job Stress Assessment Diagrams" (Kawakami, et. al., 1998), the results of each workplace was fed back to its supervisors and managers.
3. Holding participatory meeting about stress survey results: Supervisors and managers planned improvement actions based on the results of the Job stress assessment diagram. At that time, they had participatory meetings with occupational health staffs for about an hour to discuss the stress survey results. The discussion covered such issues as how to read the results, identification of problems and hints for planning improvement actions. We provided them with supporting tools such as hint collections for improvement actions.
4. Submitting action sheet: Supervisors and managers in workplace planned actions to improve workplace environment based on the results of stress survey and the above-mentioned meetings, and filled in action sheets. Then they submitted the sheets and started to implement actions.
5. Holding mental health orientation: Mental health orientations were held for managers and supervisors. The contents were basic knowledge about mental health, how to respond to subordinates and hints for planning workplace improvement actions including successful cases of action in other departments. It took about an hour and a half.
C H E C K :
1. Conducting surveys on the developments of workplace improvement actions: Surveys on the development of workplace improvement actions were carried out about a half to one year after the planning. The surveys contained such questions as whether actions were implemented, and what were the contents of actions taken as well as those to be taken further.
2. Conducting the second stress survey: The second stress survey was conducted one year after the first stress survey, and the effects of improvement actions were assessed based on objective numerical values whether workplace environment had been improved.
A C T :
On the basis of the results of these two surveys, successful actions were continuously conducted, while unsuccessful actions were reviewed for the planning of further improvement actions. As such, we sought after a continuous improvement process.

The case of improvement action in workplace "X"

According to the results of the stress survey, the workplace support score of the workplace "X" was smaller than those of other workplaces in the enterprise "A". So, during the participatory meeting of the workplace "X", it was proposed as an improvement action to have a short meeting every morning. The increase of workplace support score was recognized from the stress test conducted after one year. Additionally, some staff of the other departments said, "There is a lot of laughter from the workplace "X", and the staff look active and motivated to work."
Effect :
  1. The incorporation of mental health programs into occupational safety and health management system (OSHMS) enabled their introduction and implementation as a policy of the enterprise.
  2. The stress survey enabled us to objectively identify stressors in workplace and to objectively evaluate the effects of improvement actions.
  3. Participatory approach, in the form of "participatory meeting of stress survey results" enabled the workplace to voluntarily join in the planning and implementing of improvement actions.
  4. The distribution and use of "hint collections" were effective in identifying problems and considering improvement proposals.
  5. Since such processes were continuously conducted every year, we were able to assess the effects of improvement actions and to advance to further improvement. Actually, the assessed health risks have been improved every year, and this leads to further motivation for improvement.

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-25 -

Posting No. 26 Received on 18 June 2004
Sender(s) : Takanobu TERAMOTO
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health
Title : State of Japanese safety and health culture at work
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

 

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-27 -

Posting No. 29 Received on 30 June 2004
Company/Organization : Institute for Science of Labor (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Kazutaka KOGI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, others (cooperation among different industries)
Title : Our common initiatives for expansion of "good practices"
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

Posting No. 14 Received on 29 May 2004
Company/Organization : Kochi Medical University (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 500+)
Sender(s) : Shigeki KODA
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, human engineering, machinery, others (participatory industrial health activity)
Title : Improvement actions based on OSHMS for preventing low back pain in the waste management business
Objective : In many cases where multiple risks in workplace cause health disorders to workers, simply observing safety and health standards contained in laws cannot solve the problems. It is becoming more and more important to establish occupational safety and health management systems, which provides for a continual process to assess levels of these risks, implementing various improvement actions and evaluating their effectiveness.

According to the Japanese occupational disease statistics, low back pain accounts for about 60% of "diseases caused by injuries." Low back pain is developed in workplace due to multiple conditions, including: exposure to external environmental risks such as cold and vibration; work loads such as heavy materials handling, postures at work and hours of work; psychological factors at work such as habituation and impatience; and worker's age and previous illnesses. Such conditions are the risks that eventually cause low back pain.

When safety and health management system is implemented as a preventive action against low back pain in workplace, it is expected that the PDCA cycle would be effective to solve low back pain problems in workplace. This is undertaken through planning, implementation and evaluation of improvement actions based on assessment of risk causes in the workplace on a continual basis.

Contents : The waste management business is known for having many occupational accidents and diseases including low back pain. Therefore, it is required to nominate a general safety and health manager, as is done for activities with a large workforce, for those economic activities with small workforces, such as forestry, mining, construction and transportation, with a view to satisfactory implementation of safety and health management in workplace.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Waste Management introduced a preventive program for low back pain utilizing an occupational safety and health management system (OSHMS). It collects, incinerates and fills in municipal solid waste and refuse from the 23 wards of Tokyo, and it has a large workforce with more than 10,000 workers. One of the reasons why OSHMS was introduced in the workplace was that there were many occupational injuries and diseases like other cleaning undertakings. The Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Waste Management had experienced 23 cases of occupational deaths, frequent low back pain and other safety and health problems for twenty years until 1986. Although it implemented industrial health activities required under occupational safety and health laws and regulations, it could not achieve satisfactory results.

Low back pain program in employee-management cooperative approach from 1986 to 1990
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, cases of repeated serious occupational accidents were examined and analyzed jointly by the employees and management. They found that collection and transportation of wastes had the highest risks, and taking these into account, produced the "Safe Work Manual for Collection/Transportation" for preventive actions in workplace. Furthermore, the employees and management jointly conducted workplace inspections, which had been required to health supervisors and industrial doctors. The results were reported to the safety and health committee, and practical actions were proposed to improve workplace environment. The keyword of these occupational health activities is "employee-management cooperation," and such occupational health activities were conducted until 1990.

Lower back pain program based on "employee participation" since 1991
Since 1991, above-mentioned activities were strengthened further. The effects of improvement actions based on the proposals were assessed, and the Safe Work Manual was revised several times, reflecting opinions of workers who used it in practice. In addition, education/training programs have been operated on a regular basis, assisted with the safe work manual. Furthermore, an annual workplace safety check by all the workers has been conducted for the purpose of all the workers' participation in occupational health activities, and its results have been reflected on proposals for improvement actions in addition to the results of the joint workplace inspections conducted by the employees and management. Also participatory occupational health trainings have been implemented by the trade union. This is different from the previous type of safety and health education, focusing on small group works. The objective is to develop worker's ability to propose improvement actions through the discussion on real cases of accidents and safety and health challenges in workplace. This is a five-day practical training program. Various improvement actions were proposed including the remodeling of garbage vehicles, the change of collection places and the improvement of protective equipments such as helmets, hand gloves and work clothes. The occupational health programs at that time can be characterized by a keyword, "employees' participation," and they are still conducted this way at present.

From risk assessment to risk management, and further to risk communication
The development of occupational health programs in the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Waste Management can be summarized as follows, focusing on their actions against risks:

  • 1986-1991: the establishment of risk assessment of low back pain and the resulting production of safe work manual and improvement action proposals; and
  • 1991-present: the review of safe work manual, the evaluation and reproduction of improvement action proposals; moreover, risk communication has been established through the promotion of workers' understanding of such risk management, their participation and cooperation in its implementation, and the raising of their occupational safety and health awareness and their abilities to propose improvement actions, assisted with the participatory occupational health trainings conducted by the labor union.
Effect :
  1. The annual incidence per 100 full-time employees is compared to analyse the effect of the above-mentioned development of occupational safety and health programs. From 1984 to 1994, there were 2,297 claimed cases of low back pains and 9,272 claimed cases of occupational injuries and diseases. 98.7% of claimed cases of low back pain and 100% of claimed cases of occupational injuries and diseases were compensated.
  2. The number of claimed cases of low back pain which was 332 in 1985 (2.67 per 100 full-time employees) decreased to 142 in 1990 (1.26 per 100 full-time employees) and to 92 in 1994 (0.87 per 100 full-time employees). This demonstrates that low back pain was reduced to about 30% as a result of implementing low back pain improvement actions under OSHMS.
  3. The total number of the whole occupational injuries and diseases was 1,057 in 1985 (8.51 per 100 full-time employees) decreased to 759 in 1990 (6.76 per 100 full-time employees) and to 533 in 1994 (5.02 per 100 full-time employees). The number of the occupational injuries and diseases excluding low back pain was 725 in 1985 (5.84 per 100 full-time employees) decreased to 617 in 1990 (5.49 per 100 full-time employees) and to 441 in 1994 (4.15 per 100 full-time employees), and this indicated that the participatory occupational health activities from 1991 also had preventive effects against occupational injuries and diseases other than low back pains.

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-25 -

Posting No. 26 Received on 18 June 2004
Sender(s) : Takanobu TERAMOTO
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health
Title : State of Japanese safety and health culture at work
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

 

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-27 -

Posting No. 29 Received on 30 June 2004
Company/Organization : Institute for Science of Labor (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Kazutaka KOGI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, others (cooperation among different industries)
Title : Our common initiatives for expansion of "good practices"
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

Posting No. 15 Received on 1 June 2004
Company/Organization : Japan Industrial Safety and Health Organization (JISHA) (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 100-499)
Sender(s) : Kuniaki KASAHARA
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, dangerous/hazardous work
Title : JISHA OSHMS registration
Objective : To promote the implementation of appropriate and effective occupational safety and health management systems.

Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association (JISHA) has conducted various programs including training orientations to support organizations' implementation of Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems (OSHMS) and initiated JISHA OSHMS Registration to assess OSHMS in organizations and certify organizations since March 2003.
Contents : 1. Summary
In the process of certification, JISHA receives requests from an organization, it assesses based on JISHA OSHMS standards 2003 whether OSHMS is appropriately introduced into the organization in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and whether it is appropriately used for improving safety and health standards step-by-step, and the organization meeting the standards is recognized as the accredited organization. The certified organization is registered into the list of accredited organizations, and is published on the JISHA website and the monthly articles.

2. Unit for qualification
Basically the unit is an individual organization.

3. JISHA OSHMS standards 2003
JISHA made the standard according to "Guidelines for Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems" of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and "Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems (ILO-OSH 2001)" of the International Labour Organization.

4. Assessment method
Persons in charge of assessment conduct an examination by means of documents, in which results of self-evaluation by organizations and related documents are submitted, and a field examination, in which they interview in organizations and visit workplaces.

5. Effective period
3 years from the date of registration

6. Implementing agencies
- JISHA and TOYOTA Safety and Health Management Corporation implement JISHA OSHMS Registration.
- JISHA is under contract with TSHM to set TSHM as an agency for evaluation and certification.
- Organizations certified by TSHM are registered into the list of accredited organizations like organizations certified by JISHA.
- TSHM is engaged in the process of certifying fourteen companies in the TOYOTA Group, and related companies that are affiliates of TSHM.
Effect : There are effects obtained through OSHMS introduction itself and effects from registration, in other words, assessment by the third party. The following is the comments on these effects mainly from persons in the highest position of accredited organizations.

1. Effect of introduction
I. Systematization
  • Clarified authority and responsibility
  • Understood current situations and clarified ideal situations
  • Instructed skills of safety and health management to others
  • Made good use of OSHMS integrated with zero-accident campaigns
II. Risk assessment
  • Achieved zero-accident
  • Reduced risks
  • Recognized risks again
  • Promoted motivation to reduce remaining risks
  • Improved risk prediction in unsteady work

III. Drastic improvement

  • Established the attitude of line supervisors and promoted their motivation
  • Implemented improvement actions based on regular checks
  • Drastically attained improvements through auditor's assessment
  • Horizontally developed knowledge of each workplace through audits
2. Effect of objective assessment by the third party and registration
  • Recognized both strengths and weaknesses in organizations
  • Became motivated for new actions and recognized the future directions
  • Obtained broader points of view about safety and health
  • Raised confidence by obtaining certification and raised motivations to improve safety and health
  • Transmitted information on activities for improving safety and health outside the organization
Relevant website : http://www.jisha.or.jp/frame/index_profile1.html (Japanese)

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-25 -

Posting No. 26 Received on 18 June 2004
Sender(s) : Takanobu TERAMOTO
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health
Title : State of Japanese safety and health culture at work
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

 

- Dialogue to Postings Nos. 1-27 -

Posting No. 29 Received on 30 June 2004
Company/Organization : Institute for Science of Labor (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 30-99)
Sender(s) : Kazutaka KOGI
Subject Keyword(s) : General safety and health, others (cooperation among different industries)
Title : Our common initiatives for expansion of "good practices"
Contents : PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTENTS.

Posting No. 18 Received on 4 June 2004
Company/Organization : Japan Labour Health and Welfare Organization (Industry classification: Service industry; Number of employees (range): 500+)
Sender(s) : Masaru KAMEI
Subject Keyword(s) : Others (medicine for Japanese living overseas)
Title : Health supporting system for workers stationed abroad
Objective : Recently, Japanese business has been internationalized more than ever with more than 800,000 Japanese staying overseas for several years due to work commitments. Also, the number of business travelers and tourists has reached seventeen million a year.

They are concerned about their safety and health, including SARS problems, mental stress caused by l