Raising Product Quality Levels andEnsuring Product Safety
PolicyTraining
Responsible Executive andFramework
Internal Company Rules
Concerning Product Labeling
Product Security
Major Accidents andResponses
List of Awards

Based on the idea promoted by our founder that Panasonic should
strive “to contribute to society through its products and services while
always placing the customer first,” the Panasonic Group approaches“quality” as something that means more than the quality of the work
we do or the products we make. To us, it also means conducting
business in a fair and honest at all times, so that we can continue tooffer products and services that are better than anyone else’s while
upholding our commitment to our customers and society, taking action
to ensure the safety and quality of our products and services.

PolicyPanasonic states in its Groupwide Quality Policy that the company will“truly serve customers by way of providing products and services that
continuously meet and satisfy the needs of customers and society.”
Each Operating Company has established and operates their own
quality management system with responsibility for the quality of theirproducts. In particular, our approach to quality defects focuses oncompliance with laws, regulations, and corporate ethics, as stated in
the Panasonic Group Code of Ethics & Compliance. This code specifies
our adherence to laws, regulations, and social norms, including industry
standards and promises to customers. It also states in Chapter 4: Our
Business Relationships that we should honor our commitments to ourcustomers and to society as they relate to our products and services,and that we must act in the interest of ensuring the safety and quality ofour products and services.
In addition, the Group has established a Basic Policy regarding theVoluntary Action Plan for Product Safety. As per this policy, Panasonic
actively strives to ensure the safety of its products, while keeping to its
principles of “the customer comes first” and of maintaining a “Fairnessand Honesty” attitude.
WEB Panasonic Group Code of Ethics & Compliancehttps://holdings.panasonic/global/corporate/about/code-of-conduct

Basic Policy Regarding the Autonomous Code of Conduct for Product
Safety (Japanese only)
https://holdings.panasonic/jp/corporate/about/code-of-conduct/quality-policy.html
WEB

Per our Basic Management Policy, Panasonic Group considers
always ensuring the safety of the products we manufacture andsell and delivering safety and security to our customers as essential

Sustainability Data Book 2023 107

Raising Product Quality
Levels and Ensuring
Product Safety

management issues and social responsibility objectives.
Based on the profound lessons learned from the accidents
involving FF-type kerosene heaters, specifically, we apply our
unique product safety standards to each product lifecycle

Policyphase (from planning and design to service and disposal) for

Training

our Group intranet to share information related to the productResponsible Executive andFramework
Internal Company Rules
Concerning Product Labeling
Product Security
Major Accidents andResponses
List of Awards

every product to ensure its safety at all times. We also use
safety of all Panasonic products in a timely manner to all
employees, including persons in charge of quality and design
at each Operating Company and in each division. We also
strive to fulfill our imperative of having zero product safetyincidents.
WEB

Important news about products (for Japan)

https://holdings.panasonic/jp/corporate/about/products-information.html▪Quality Management System
To establish self-sufficient quality assurance processes ineach Operating Company and business site, PanasonicGroup published its Product Quality Management System(P-QMS) Guidelines in 2004. These Guidelines supplement
the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard with the Group’s
own quality assurance methods and expertise to create
a quality management system and have been updated tocomply with ISO 9001-2015. Operating Companies andbusiness sites work to implement quality management
systems uniquely tailored to their business characteristics
with reference to these Guidelines. At all levels, they conduct
regular quality assessments, monitor quality, and review the
progress of these initiatives while also formulating corrective
action plans for any discovered deficiencies, all in an effort tocontinuously improve quality.

These Guidelines stipulate that Operating Companies andbusiness sites must conduct quality monitoring based on

the production floor. Product Safety Forum, an event that

the Guidelines. When this internal monitoring is conducted,

provides a venue for thinking about product safety using

we check for quality compliance in addition to the checks

examples from the Group and elsewhere, took place twice infor each process on the quality assessment checksheet

fiscal 2023, for a total of 81 times.

used by Operating Companies. Further, by evaluating what
each has achieved through fact-based confirmation fromthe workplace and other evidence, we work to maintain aqualitative understanding of the effectiveness of the quality
management systems at each Operating Company andbusiness site.

with the aim of conveying
Product Safety Learning Squareat our Operating Companies and production sites.

business sites and actual
products, and of providing instruction to enhance productenhances checks on each process—including development,

safety-related skills. The Product Safety Learning Square

manufacturing, and inspections—and improves our reliability

offers an opportunity to see actual products that wereto our customers.

recalled in the past—such as those recalled after the FF-

WEB

An example site with ISO certifications by business unit

type kerosene heater accidents—as well as the internal

https://industrial.panasonic.com/ww/iso_ts_certification

recall announcements and other information on the causes

Training

measures taken to prevent the critical unsafe phenomena

In addition, each Operating Company conducts its own

services, and more.

Team & Talent Development
Center in Hirakata, Osaka,

Regularly incorporating audits by third-party organizations

its field, from household appliances, in-vehicle accessories,
residential, devices, B to B solutions, pharmaceuticals,

Learning Square at thelessons based on actual

P-QMS Guidelines and industry standards appropriate to

To properly address our continually diversifying business

The Group has alsoestablished a Product Safety

Additionally, we obtained and maintain ISO 9001 certification

The Panasonic Group conducts training every year for all
quality managers at each Operating Company and businesssite, with the aim of training key quality personnel to promote
quality management innovation. In particular, the Groupregularly holds a Business Division Director Quality andEnvironment Workshop for business managers responsible
for the quality management systems in their respective
divisions, as well other activities geared toward learning
about results-driven, quality-based management, including
guest lectures and training through case studies. We alsooffer e-Learning courses on subjects like the basics ofproduct safety to spread a corporate culture of prioritizing
product safety to all Group employees.

areas, each Operating Company operates according to thein the field as part of our efforts toward bolstering quality on

Quality Control (QC) Activities through which individuals cancome together to learn problem solving methods to be usedof their problems, the steps taken during the recall, and the(including tracking or strength degradation). Furthermore, we
also launched the Virtual Product Safety Lab in 2022, making
exhibits available online for free viewing. The Product Safety
Lab recreates an actual space that was filmed in 360 degrees
to allow viewers to move around that space freely, and evenread information panels or watch views by simply clicking on
an icon.

Responsible Executive andFramework
As of August 2023, the executive in charge of quality is theGroup Chief Technology Officer (Group CTO). Each Operating
Company has appointed a quality manager and establishedsystems for undertaking its business with independent
responsibility and self-sufficiency. In addition, PanasonicHoldings Corporation (PHD) and Panasonic Operational

Sustainability Data Book 2023 108

Raising Product Quality
Levels and Ensuring
Product Safety
PolicyTraining
Responsible Executive andFramework
Internal Company Rules
Concerning Product Labeling
Product Security
Major Accidents andResponses
List of Awards

Excellence Co., Ltd. (PEX) provide support in response to therequests from the Operating Companies as countermeasuresagainst critical risks for the Group, while expanding qualityrelated assets horizontally over the Group.

Company—as a place for more practical discussions on
quality policies and measures.

Global Safety Standard Certifications Obtained
ISO13482

Quality Management Structure (as of August 2023)【Operating Company】
OperatingCompany President【PHD/PEX】【Operating Company】
Quality Officer
Quality
Control Div.
【Business Division】
Director

Director of Quality& Environment Div
Emergency
supportrequestQuality &Environment Div
Product Safety& Quality Dept.

Quality
Assurance Div

The international standard relating to the safety of personalcare robots issued by the International Organization forStandardization (ISO). Three types of robots are covered:physical assistant robots, mobile servant robots, and person
carrier robots. Panasonic AGE-FREE Co., Ltd. has received
this ISO certification for two of our products.
• 2014: Personal care robot Resyone (robotic device fornursing care combining the functionality of a bed anda wheelchair, the first device in the world to receive
this ISO certification)• 2017: Personal care robot Resyone PLUS (Japanese only)WEB

https://sumai.panasonic.jp/agefree/products/resyoneplus/

ISO 26262

quality improvement efforts and the state of product quality

An international standard for road vehicle functional safetythat was published in 2011. The standard sets out four
Automotive Safety Integrity Levels (ASILs): ASIL A through
ASIL D.
• Panasonic Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. acquired
certification in the ISO 26262 road vehicle functionalsafety standard from the German third-party organization
TÜV SUD. The body recognized that Panasonic is able
to comply with the highest level of safety in the standard(ASIL-D) during the process of developing onboard devices
and device software.

within the Group at its Chief Quality Officer (CQO) Meetings.

PDF

Group CQO, CQOs from each Operating Company, and(Japanese only)
https://www.jeita.or.jp/japanese/exhibit/2015/1111/pdf/02_Functional.pdf【Companies
outside Japan】
Quality
Assurance Div▪Committees and Organizations

Activities of Quality Managers Meetings
Panasonic Group investigates and summarizes Groupwide

persons involved in relevant job functions such as quality
and product regulations attend these meetings. Attendees
discuss how we should handle quality over the medium andlong terms, and they decide on initiatives meant to further
strengthen the foundation of quality for the whole Group.
Panasonic Group also holds the Quality Committees—
attended by the quality managers of each Operating

Functional and Component Safety in Automobiles

Internal Company Rules Concerning
Product Labelingthe way their products are handled as well as installationand services as appropriate for each product. Specifically,
warning label related to the safe use of products andinformation label on legally designated recycling or disposal
methods and other information that helps customer safely
use our products and services are specified in the design
methods of warning labels and instructions for use, careand installation of products in consideration of preventing
customers from misusing.

Product Security
Various products implement software and provide the ability
to connect to networks for convenient usage. This makes it
necessary to ensure the security of our products to prevent
leaks or alteration of information and to prevent damages
that may result from a malicious third-party attempting tocause products to malfunction. At Panasonic Group, we havea specialized department for Groupwide product security thatdevelops guidelines to promote security-conscious design.
We ensure the security of our products by streamlining ourinternal structure and rules, regularly reviewing these inconjunction with our information security and production
system security initiatives, so our customers can safely use
our products.

▪Ongoing Information Collection
Product security issues and how to address them change
on a daily basis. At Panasonic Group, we collect the mostup to date information on product security by joining various
security focused organizations, e.g., FIRST*, a forum to share
information on security incidents, and attending various
global conferences. This information is shared with any
relevant divisions and used internally through initiatives toimprove product security measures throughout the Group.
* FIRST: Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams

Based on the Manufacturing Industrial Standards for
Panasonic Group, each Operating Company determines its
own approach and guidelines to be followed with regard to

Sustainability Data Book 2023 109

Raising Product Quality
Levels and Ensuring
Product Safety
PolicyTraining
Responsible Executive andFramework
Internal Company Rules
Concerning Product Labeling
Product Security
Major Accidents andResponses
List of Awards▪Promoting Product Security from
Development
During the development phase of a product, we consider
what assets and functions that need to be protected,
as well as any potential attacks against them. Products
are developed while minimizing these risks. In addition,
security experts perform tests (that include up-todate attack methods) on the product prior to shipment,
to ensure that Panasonic products do not contain any“security vulnerabilities” from both a hardware and software
standpoint.

is deemed to be serious, a section at PHD/PEX and each of
its Operating Companies and business sites work together
to take appropriate measures to ensure customers’ safety.
Specifically, Panasonic Group’s first response is to notify
relevant government bodies such as the Consumer Affairs
Agency, as well as the Operating Company President,Group CEO and senior management, who then consider the
response policies.
Product Accident Response Flowchart
Product Accident occurs▪Post-shipment Response
As part of the Group’s post-shipment monitoring of our
products, we have a contact point to receive reports onvulnerabilities discovered in Panasonic products after
shipment. When we receive information on vulnerabilities,
we immediately verify whether they will impact Panasonicproducts. If we find that our products have security issues
because of those vulnerabilities, we ensure product security
through updates or similar means and take additional actions
to prevent the issue from recurring. We have systems inplace that allow the Product Security Center to monitor
progress and provide support until the response of therelevant business divisions are complete. We also havesystems in place that make it possible for Panasonic to takea more active role in obtaining information on vulnerabilities
and acting on it (rather than waiting for vulnerabilities to bereported) by continually monitoring the latest threats thatmight affect our products post sale.
WEB

Panasonic Product Vulnerability Hotline

https://holdings.panasonic/global/corporate/product-security/psirt.html

Major Accidents and Responses▪Responding to Product-Related Incidents
In the event that a product-related accident occurs,
Panasonic immediately confirms the facts related to theincident, and analyzes and verifies its causes. If the incident

Serious product accident

2. Accidents resulting in serious injury or illness (injury or illness
requiring at least 30 days of treatment), or accidents resulting inphysical impediment;
3. Carbon monoxide poisoning; 4. Fires (confirmed as such by
firefighting authorities).
*2 Any of the following:• Accidents relating to gas devices or kerosene devices (including
accidents in which it has yet to be determined whether the
product was the cause);• Accidents relating to products other than gas or kerosene
devices for which it is suspected that the product was the cause.
Panasonic promptly releases information on these types ofaccidents.
*3 Accidents for which Product Safety Group of the Consumer
Affairs Council of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
has determined that it remains unclear whether a product was thecause.
WEB

Consumer
Affairs
Agency,etc.

Group CEO,
Executive
officers

Investigate
measures to respondto market

List of Information Concerning Serious Product-Related

Accidents (Japanese only)
https://holdings.panasonic/jp/corporate/about/productsinformation/psc.html

Decide on recall

Outside of Japan, Panasonic also identifies and discloses
information on product-related accidents based on the laws
and guidelines of each country.

Recall the product▪Progress in Response to Incidents
Related to FF-Type Kerosene Heaters▪Serious Product-Related Accident
Information
In Japan, Panasonic Group publicly reports serious productaccidents*1, including accidents suspected of being caused
by products*2, and accidents for which it has been determinedthat it is unclear whether a product was the cause*3, basedon the Consumer Product Safety Act and the Group’s basic
policies per its Autonomous Code of Conduct for Product
Safety.
*1 “Serious product accidents” refers to the following accidents
specified in the Consumer Product Safety Act:
1. Accidents resulting in death;

Eighteen years have passed since Panasonic received an
emergency order in 2005 due to an accident involving an
FF-type kerosene heater and initiated a Groupwide market
response. We continue to work, led by the Corporate FF
Customer Support & Management Division staff, to prevent
any new incidents. In fiscal 2023, we conducted a campaign
to find yet unidentified target products. As part of these
efforts, we visited the homes— mainly in Hokkaido, Tohoku,
and Nagano—of our customers who had once owned therecalled products, investigated the nearby supply/ exhaust
pipes, and conducted surveys of retail customers. We arealso continuing all our notification campaigns to promote
product recalls among customers who had their units
inspected or repaired and to confirm product conditions

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Raising Product Quality
Levels and Ensuring
Product Safety
PolicyTraining
Responsible Executive andFramework
Internal Company Rules
Concerning Product Labeling
Product Security
Major Accidents andResponses

before the winter arrives. In fiscal 2023, we added 87 units
to our list of products discovered or confirmed to have been
discarded. In total, 118,509 units have been recorded, bringing
the percentage of units identified to 77.9% of units sold asof March 31, 2023. We were still finding products that ourcustomers had continued using, without realizing the heaters’potential harm, meaning that a high degree of risk remains.
We will continue our search. In addition to these marketfacing efforts, we are undertaking various internal initiatives.
We communicate the progress of these activities throughthe company intranet in monthly reports. We also pass down
the lessons learned from customer safety incidents throughlectures given in various training programs and educational
materials posted at the Product Safety Learning Square (inHirakata), the Product Safety Museum (in Kusatsu), and the
Learning Center (in Nara), where we educate our employees.
We strive to foster a Panasonic Group culture that places
product safety first.

List of Awards

Ratio of Identified Units* to Total Units Sold (%)
(%)
90
80

77.6

77.7

77.8

77.8

77.9

Product Safety Awards
The awards program was launched by the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry in 2007 with the aim ofencouraging private enterprises to be more active about
improving product safety, as well as to firmly establish thevalue of product safety in society as a whole.
FY2023
METI Minister’s Award, Large Manufacturer and Importer
Category: Laundry and Cleaner Division, Appliance Company,
Panasonic Corporation
WEB

https://www.meti.go.jp/product_safety/ps-award/3-consumer/
r4_award.html#anc-2-1 (Japanese only)

IAUD International Design Award
The awards program was created by the International
Association for Universal Design and is meant to recognize
groups and individuals who have conducted or proposed
particularly noteworthy activities aimed at realizing a UD
society in which everyone can live comfortably.
Various products and initiatives of former Panasonic
Corporation had received the IAUD Gold Award for sevenconsecutive years until 2018, in addition to other recent

70
60
50
0

List of Awards

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023 (FY)* Identified units: This figure includes the number of units recalled, thenumber of units in use after examination and repair, and the numberof units we have confirmed that customers have discarded.

recognition below:• FY2022 Panasonic IC Reader with facial recognition,
Gold Award, Healthcare and Welfare Design Emergency
broadcasting equipment, Security and Public Safety• FY2021 Silver Award: Panasonic LED Torch Light First
Shaving Series, Bronze AwardWEB

Panasonic Group Universal Design

https://holdings.panasonic/global/corporate/universal-design.html

Sustainability Data Book 2023 111