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Feature: Dialogue
Safety Improvement and Safety Culture at Production Sites
The first step toward a safety culture is to“raise the standard of the norm”

Sanyo Chemical has its own safety
Tose: In the case of Sanyo Chemical, it is neces-

Maeda: As a prerequisite for business operations, wesary to create a system suited to the production of its

believe that fatal accidents should never occur. We aresmall-quantity, high-mix, high-performance products.

strongly committed to addressing this as an issue prior toIn order to maintain the customer value and continue to

productivity and cost, and we have continued to discuss

generate profits, the sales section also needs to know

permanent measures.

what part of their demands on the factory are a burden

Tose: The first thing to do when discussing safety culture

and what kind of consideration is needed.

is to “raise the standard of the norm.” We live in a world

Maeda: Employees in sales, production administration,

where any loss of life in the course of business is unac-and other sections close to customers must also under-

ceptable.

stand how our products are made.

It is not about avoiding fatal accidents as much as
possible, but about never allowing them to occur. What dochanges in the grades of products or the manufacturing

we need to achieve this? What should we change? Theseorder made at the request of customers, Sanyo Chemi-questions are the first steps toward a safety culture.

cal’s competitiveness will be enhanced. To this end, theWe now know how to prevent most accidents to some

Representative Director,
Executive Vice President,
in charge of Safety and Production,
and General Manager of Production
DivisionKohei Maeda

Associate Professor,
Faculty of Engineering, Niigata University

Akira Tose

Ph.D. (System Design and Management)

Assumed his current position in 2019 after working as aspecially appointed assistant professor at Keio University
Graduate School and as a specially appointed associate
professor at Niigata University Graduate School. He has
conducted numerous joint and contract research projects
mainly with major chemical and materials manufacturers,
working to improve safety management and foster a safety
culture at business sites in Japan and overseas.

Tose: Exactly. If the factory can respond flexibly tosales and production sections should understand eachextent. However, since it is quite difficult to predict inother, and the sales section should make requests toadvance, we work backward from the types of situations

ensure that the production process is not overstrained.

in which accidents at the factory may occur, and consid-

Whether or not this collaboration can take place is theer what needs to be done. The first point is to think that it

key point.

“could happen in our company.”

Maeda: At the Nagoya Factory, many divisions use theThe next factor is the system. It is impossible tosame production equipment, which complicates pro-achieve the goal by asking on-site workers about dan-duction plans. Therefore, most general managers did

gerous areas and making changes in those locations.

not know how their products were planned and manu-

People with expertise in safety, equipment, physical phe-factured. Last year, however, President Higuchi sent a

nomena, chemical phenomena, and other fields needstrong message to the sales section to see how much of

to work together with on-site workers to get things done.

a burden they were placing on the factory. As a result,

It would be nice to have such functions in-house, but I

our mutual understanding has gradually deepened.

think it is difficult in some respects. Therefore, it is the job

Tose: When it comes to safety, moral hazards are likely toof the management to decide what to do internally andoccur. If an accident occurs immediately when the fac-

what to outsource.

tory is put under too much stress, it is usually clear who

Maeda: Going forward, the Safety Promotion Department

should bear responsibility. In reality, however, the accu-will focus on the two pillars of emergency response andmulation of stress creates distortion that will only manifest

long-term response. We can start immediately with sem-years later as an accident. As a result, the person who

inars and courses for managers, but in the long term, wegave the excessive order is often evaluated as having

also need to work on training younger employees to be-achieved results, while the exhausted on-site workers arecome experts. Since we have just started, I expect it willleft to clean up the mess. How to avoid this is the key totake several years for the younger employees to develop.

governance. For example, to ensure that safety invest-

Tose: It will take at least 10 years. What is important

ment will not be changed according to changes in the di-during this period is whether or not you can ensure thatvision’s policy, the factory manager can be given greater

the safety culture takes root and grows in the same direc-

authority to allow a certain amount of safety investment

tion, no matter how many different safety leaders you

from the beginning.

may have in place.
In the wake of a fatal accident that occurred at the Nagoya Factory in January 2022, the Company has continued to con-

Maeda: How to instill a safety culture in each and every

duct thorough investigations into the cause and discuss countermeasures. Efforts are being undertaken under the new

employee is not really an issue on-site, but rather de-structure with the aim of achieving fundamental and permanent reform.

pends on how seriously management is willing to show

As part of such efforts, the Integrated Report 2023 invited Dr. Akira Tose, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Engi-35

Is it an investment in safety ora repayment of debt?

its commitment.

neering at Niigata University specializing in corporate safety culture, to the Nagoya Factory, where Kohei Maeda, General

Tose: We need to determine whether the money spent on

Manager of the Production Division, had an interview with him. (Titles omitted)

safety is just paying off past debts or is an actual invest-

Sanyo Chemical Group Integrated Report 2023

Sanyo Chemical Group Integrated Report 2023

36

Feature: DialogueStrategy

Foundationsafe factory. Although we have been building various

mid-summer. We would like to automate factories thatan extremely broad range of fields, including machine

factories for the past 60 years, our philosophy regarding

make such chemical products.

design, chemicals, human behavior, and ergonomics,

factory safety may not have been very clear.

Tose: In the process of maintaining and upgrading

young people must be trained as safety managers. I

If a factory is no good, it cannot make products

factories, it is important to make specific improvementsbelieve that better countermeasures can be created byproperly, and the quality will vary. So the burden on theand standardizations, such as modifying sampling ports

having a team of people who have accumulated a wide

workers is very high, and such a factory is unsafe.

to make sampling safer and easier, and to accumulate

range of safety knowledge through their experience at

Tose: That’s the essence of it. If equipment or production

these improvements. Regarding safety technology, I thinkvarious factories, and people who know what is being

frequently shuts down or if there are many quality issues,

it will be easier to proceed if the Manufacturing Inno-

done on site.

more people will enter the factory on a non-routine basis.

vation Center and manufacturing sites work together to

Maeda: We are thinking about how we can eventuallyThat’s the most dangerous time.

build a set of “safety, stability, and quality.”

make sure that employees who have belonged to orMaeda: Yes. Moreover, as a result, we spend a lot of

Maeda: Since the R&D department is under the Businessserved as Manager of the Safety Promotion Department

money on it.

Division, various improvement activities up to now havewill become company executives, and that in a visible

Tose: The key is whether or not a company’s systembeen conducted from the perspective of the Businessway.

incorporates efforts to improve the ease of making prod-Division. But the newly established Manufacturing In-Tose: I have seen reforms in various companies, anducts. Various factors can cause delays, and I believe that

novation Center belongs to the factory. Their mission isthe first stage is usually to assign a great person whomment in the future. Failure to address the deterioration

gathering and analyzing the causes to make improve-to eliminate defective products, stabilize process time,

everyone recognizes as the leader of safety. Once themay force you to spend more money years down the line.

ments is the basis of production technology and the job

and reduce the number of mid-process analyses, which

importance of safety is understood to some extent, theSince this is just paying off a debt that should have beenof the production technology section. This can’t be done

should lead to both overall profits and safety.

second step is to have the position of safety representa-

paid in the past, it does not improve safety. Upgradesin a manufacturing section that is busy handling orders

Tose: Sanyo Chemical may not have had such a function

tive serve as a gateway to success in the career ladder.

are required to meet safety standards whose levels risethat come in one after another. It’s best to create an en-

in the past, but if you don’t do it now, you may end up

It is the position for candidates toward becoming thewith the times.

vironment for the production sites where the workers canwith even more debt.

Maeda: If we had spent the money in the past, the total

concentrate on doing what they’re supposed to do.

cost would be lower and also safer. It is difficult to verify,

next leader of the company. The idea is to have themAlso, rules should be as simple as possible, since

prepare now so that they will not be in trouble when they

Maeda: In July 2023, we established the Manufacturing

people cannot pay attention to more than one thing at

are in a position where they have to take responsibility asthough.

Innovation Center at the Nagoya Factory in order to fun-a time. Countermeasures that require on-site workers toa factory manager or General Manager of the Production

Tose: Yes, it is difficult. Even if we compare one billion

damentally improve the production sites. With a dozen

monitor them tend to increase since they are less costly,

Division in five or 10 years.

yen that can be saved now with three billion yen that will

employees from the R&D section having been allocated,but management must look at realistic workloads andMaeda: That’s the way it should be. This is also a busi-

be saved in the future, we cannot be sure that we canI believe we can improve safety.

burdens at the site.

ness of management.

Maeda: In the factory I showed you today, one person is

Tose: When I first started creating safety culture diag-

responsible for several pieces of equipment. The worker

nostics,* many people said they were useless. But today,

inevitably gets flustered, wondering whether to prioritize

no one says safety culture is useless. If you leave yourthis reactor or that reactor, or thinking that if this work isfactory unsafe, it will slow down the growth of Sanyo

not finished today, it will cause trouble for the next shift

Chemical and your business.

worker. That is when accidents are more likely to occur.

Maeda: I agree. Thank you for your time today.

actually save three billion yen in the future.

A user-friendly factory is a safe andprofitable factory

The days when on-site workers have topay attention are overTose: I think the days of having on-site workers pay37ProfileSafety Improvement and Safety Culture at Production Sites

Tose: That is why factory design standards are so import-

attention to safety are over. Having to pay attention isant, so as not to allow excessive corner-cutting in safety

stressful enough as it is. Sanyo Chemical’s safety policy

Manager of the Production Division, I set a policy ofmeasures. Before regretting later that we should haveincludes observance of basic rules. In order for the rules

putting safety first. I told the employees to keep tellingdone this or that, the necessary money should be incor-to be followed, the people who set the rules must guar-

me what they noticed regarding safety, and that I would

porated into the factory design standards and utilized inantee that the work be completed properly if it is done

definitely take care of it even if it costs a little more

the construction of new factories. The know-how should

according to the rules. Rules are broken because themoney. However, few opinions were given. So I am very

be accumulated and used again the next time. The dif-work cannot be completed unless the rules are broken.

interested in what you mentioned earlier about giving theference between a company that has been running thisIn this sense, staffing and budgets reveal the true inten-

factory manager a safety budget.

process and a company that has been building factories

tions of the company. On-site workers check who is as-haphazardly will gradually widen. You have accumulated

signed where, and what the budget is. A safety policy is

the know-how to maintain the functionality and quality

only an outward appeal and has no reality unless properof your products. At the same time, if you accumulate

staffing and budgeting are in place. I think an importantknow-how and expertise in factory design, you will berole of executives, especially the president and the vice

able to efficiently carry out small-quantity, high-mix pro-president, is to show that the company is serious by

Maeda: Last year, we started visiting factories of otherduction. This will be a unique strength of Sanyo Chemical

providing adequate staffing and budget.

companies. They also seem to wonder if their safetythat no other company can imitate.

Maeda: Yes. The protective equipment we must wear

measures are really sufficient, and when we approach

Maeda: A factory that makes it easy to manufacture

becomes heavier the more hazardous the chemicals

them, they say, “Let’s exchange ideas.”

products is a profitable factory, and at the same time awe work with. This is tough during the rainy season andTose: Since the knowledge involved in safety covers

Sanyo Chemical Group Integrated Report 2023

Last year, when I assumed the position of General* A diagnosis tool with which factors common to organizational accidents are sortedin eight groups and approximately 80 questions are presented to be answeredby respondents so as to visualize the situation of the safety culture rooted in anorganization on the eight axes.

Becoming a safety expert is the gateway
to becoming the next leader

Sanyo Chemical Group Integrated Report 202338