CSR Report 2006
Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility ReportOverview of the CSR Report
Editorial Policy

Harmony with the Environment (Environmental Report):

The Olympus Group started issuing its “Environmental Report” annually from

Reports on approaches to environmental issues in our business activities, and2000. In 2005, the Group redesigned the report and began issuing it as ourthe “Environmental Basic Plan 2006,” which is a medium-term plan for“Corporate Social Responsibility Report,” with enhanced reporting on theenvironmental management.

governance and social aspects of its activities.
This year’s report describes the CSR activities performed throughout ourGood Relations with Community (Social Report):

business activities, written in line with the Olympus Group Corporate Conduct

Reports on cooperation with local communities and approaches that

Charter (p. 5). The main points of each chapter are summarized below:

contributed to social progress.

Report Digest:
Special feature articles are reported as “Report Digest” to clearly familiarize■ Corporate Social Responsibility Report and major stakeholders

readers with the CSR philosophy and activities of the Olympus Group.

Policies for
Corporate
activities
Customers,
shareholders,
suppliers,
administration• The Report Digest comprises “Social Responsibility of the Olympus
Group,” “Summary of Business,” (economics report) “Major Performance ofSocial and Environmental Activities,” and “Special Features.” Special
feature articles introduce 4 particular cases that exemplify the CSR
philosophy of the Olympus Group.

Olympus Group

Policies for Corporate Activities (Social Report):
Involvementwith people• Sound Corporate Activities: reports on our relationships with stakeholders

Employees,
customers,
suppliers(interested parties), and corporate governance.
• Act on Behalf of the Customer: reports on the approaches involved with our

Involvement
in society(society and theenvironment)
The environment, local
community, internationalsociety, administration, today’s
and tomorrow’s
generations

customers.
Involvement with People (Social Report):• Respect for Human Rights: reports on working with our customers, business
partners, and employees without discrimination.
• Working Environments with Vitality: reports on consideration for the
personalities, safety, and health of individual employees.

To prepare an accurate, easy-to-understand, and highly transparent report,
and thus improve the reliability of the report, this report was verified by anindependent third-party (p. 57).
Reference guidelines• GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)“Sustainability Reporting Guidelines 2002”• Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan, “Environmental Report
Guidelines (FY2003)”* A comparative table for the GRI Guidelines and a comparative table for the
Ministry’s Guidelines can be found on our web site.
• Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan, “Environmental
Accounting Guidelines (FY2005)”

Main Scope of the CSR Report
Period: April 1, 2005–March 31, 2006
Data:
• Economic report: Olympus Corporation, consolidated subsidiaries, and affiliated companies• Social report:

Olympus Corporation, Olympus Imaging Corp., Olympus Medical Systems Corp.

• Environmental report:<Japan>Olympus Corporation, Olympus Imaging Corp., Olympus Medical Systems Corp., Aomori Olympus Co., Ltd., Aizu Olympus Co., Ltd.,
Olympus Opto-Technologies Co., Ltd., Mishima Olympus Co., Ltd., Shirakawa Olympus Co., Ltd., Okaya Olympus Co., Ltd., Olympus Logitex Co., Ltd.
<Overseas>
Olympus (Shenzhen) Industrial Ltd. (China), Olympus (Guangzhou) Industrial Ltd. (China), Olympus Winter & Ibe GmbH (Germany),
Olympus Life and Material Science Europe [Irish Branch] (Ireland), KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd. (U.K.), Olympus America Inc. (USA),
Olympus Medical Equipment Service America Inc. National Service Center (USA)* The philosophy and policies of the Olympus Group apply to our consolidated subsidiaries, excluding ITX Group, but the schemes, measures, and data used herein only
concern the organizations mentioned above in the main scope of the CSR Report, unless otherwise stated.
ITX Group is not included in the CSR report except special cases, because the ITX Group and Olympus Group are currently in the process of coordinating their CSR
policies.
* The scope of the data is the same as that in the “Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2005,” but this report is different in description. When data of companies
other than the above is described with the object of actively disclosing information to stakeholders, the data is separately explained.

Table of Contents
Message from the President

3

Report Digest
Social Responsibility of the Olympus Group
Business Summary of the Olympus GroupThe Olympus Group FY2005 Major Performance of Social and Environmental Activities
Special Feature 1
Policies for Corporate Activities Sound Corporate Activities/Act on Behalf of the Customer
IPLEX Series—Mission 1,000 Visits
Reflecting the Voice of 1,000 Customers on Manufacturing Products
Special Feature 2
Involvement with People Respect for Human Rights/Working Environments with Vitality
Olympus Guangzhou
Communication and Educational Programs for 4,000 Employees
Special Feature 3
Harmony with the Environment
Dispersion Staining Objective Lenses Used in Investigating Asbestos-Containing Materials
Contributing to the Elimination of Harmful Substances through Business Activities
Special Feature 4
Good Relations with Community
Olympus Latin America Steps Forward to Assist the Activities of Charitable Organizations

4
7
9

11

13

15
17

Policies for Corporate Activities
Creating an Efficient and Sound Management System

19

Developing Stronger Ties with Customers, and Providing Top-Quality Products and Services

21

Involvement with People
Respect for Human Rights and Compliance with the Law

23

Creating Worthwhile Workplaces

25

Harmony with the Environment
Strengthening Environmental Management

27

Influences of Business Activities and Environmental Preservation Activities

31

Promoting Environmentally-Conscious Activities in Our Business

33

Formulating a Basic Environmental Plan toward an Environmentally-Advanced Company

45

Good Relations with Community
Promoting Information Disclosure and Interactive Communication

47

Contributing to Local, Regional, and International Society

49

Efforts by Olympus Group Japan Sites

51

Efforts by Olympus Group Overseas Sites

53

Ensuring the Objectivity and Reliability of Our CSR Information
Communication through the Corporate Social Responsibility Report

55

Third-Party Verification

57

History of Olympus’ Social and Environmental Activities

58

CSR report and detailed Web site information

Symbols used in the reportThe Footnote:

symbolTo clarify the entire picture of Olympus Group activities, the “WEB” symbol shown in this report indicates the internet
sites where associated information and case examples are provided as supplementary materials. (Supplementarymaterials are listed on the reverse of the questionnaire attached to this report.) .
For information indicated with
, refer to the supplementary materials on our web site.
Link to supplementary WEB information.
Refer to the following URL for a list of supplementary WEB information, which will be released at the end of October2006.
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/csr/wdata/* Please contact us (CSR Department or Environmental Development Department) when you are unable to access the
Web site even after the disclosure of the information.

Explanatory comments given at the bottomof the page.
Symbols to explain the business activity of each
site:
Sites for manufacturing products, such as
plantsSites for basic research and technology
development for products
Sites for storage and distribution of products
Sites for product sales and marketing
Sites for repairing and servicing products

Information on groupcompanies:
Describes information ongroup companies outside
the main scope of the CSR
reportSymbols indicating the scope of
the CSR report:
Japan’s production sites
International production
sitesMessage from the President
Olympus Group creates and proposes new values to society through its businesses. With its“Social IN” management philosophy, Olympus strives to be a responsible and integral memberof society while sharing common values.
Our founder had manufactured microscope in Japan with strong passion that would
contribute to medical development. The world’s first gastrocamera was also created thanks tothe enthusiasm of developers who listened to doctors hoping to save the lives of patients withstomach cancer. We need to hand down this “customer-oriented DNA” inherited from ourpredecessors to offer further value and fulfill our corporate social responsibilities for the next
generation.
Our basic idea has always been that a win-win relationship with the various stakeholders
involved—customers, shareholders, vendors, employees, and local communities, as well as theglobal environment—will allow us to achieve sustainable growth and create new value throughour business. Our corporate slogan, “Your Vision, Our Future,” symbolizes our corporate
desire to achieve our goals and build a better future with all stakeholders.
Through the United Nations’ Global Compact initiative, participating organizations,
including Olympus, aim at achieving sustainable development of society by implementing ten
principles in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anticorruption.
The Olympus Group, having incorporated these ten principles into its corporate activities, isactively working for resolution of social and environmental issues. One example is theparticipation in the national initiative “Team Minus 6%*”: this campaign aims to achieve
Japan’s 2012 greenhouse gas reduction target of 6% below 1990 levels under the Kyoto
Protocol. In December 2005, we released details of our procurement policy, which places
importance on legal and ethical compliance, human rights, labor standards, and theenvironment, asking our suppliers for cooperation. This aims at expanding Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) to our suppliers in order to contribute to the sustainable development ofsociety through mutual cooperation.
To fulfill CSR in our daily activities, Olympus incorporated CSR in our midterm
business plan, starting from fiscal 2006. Considering CSR as one of our crucial responsibilities,
we will continue to make our best efforts in all aspects of the economy, society, and theenvironment by steadily implementing the necessary measures.
This CSR Report serves not only to report our CSR activities, but also to encourage allmembers of the Olympus Group to further strive to realize corporate social responsibility
themselves. We will be very pleased to receive any comments that you may have about thereport or the Olympus Group.

June 2006

Tsuyoshi Kikukawa
President
Olympus Corporation* “Team Minus 6%” is a national initiative, launched in Japan, to help resolve the global
warming issue, in which Japan has committed to the world that it would reduce its green
house gas emissions by 6% from a 1990 baseline. Olympus facilities in Japan have been
participating in “Team Minus 6%” since July 2005 to achieve this target.

3

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Social Responsibility of the Olympus GroupOlympus was founded on the desire to produce Japanese-made microscopes that can contribute to the development of
medicine.
In our “Social IN” management philosophy, formulated in 1994, we declared our determination to strive torealize better health and happiness for people by being integral members of society, sharing common values, and proposing
new values through our business. Our corporate social responsibility (CSR) is based on this “Social IN” philosophy.
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/history/

The “Social IN” Management Philosophy and“Your Vision, Our Future” Corporate Slogan■ Management Philosophy of the Olympus GroupOlympus has contributed to society in various ways even before it
coined the phrase, “Social IN.” The business environment is constantly changing. Thus, the social values that Olympus needs to sharewith society gradually vary. Furthermore, the management andemployees are changing, too. Under these circumstances of constantchange, we are allowed to exist and be able to contribute to realizing
people’s healthy and happy living by fulfilling our responsibilities to various stakeholders, namely our customers, shareholders, employees,
local communities, and global environment. This is what we mustnever forget when we conduct business. Olympus’ approach to CSR lies
in our effort to constantly evolve in our corporate activities always being
aware of the philosophy. And it also lies in creating a system thatallows us to continue evolving in that manner.

Report Digest

The Olympus Group regards the “Social IN” management philosophy as the starting point of management thought. This means that we
strive to realize better health and happiness for people by being integral
members of society, sharing common values, and proposing new values
through our business. The “Social IN” philosophy will become a tangible power in realizing people’s dreams when the philosophy isreflected in individual products in a discernible manner. Moreover,what Olympus promises is “Your Vision, Our Future,” which has
been developed as an international corporate slogan. In other words, theessence of Olympus is the power to create a vision and realize thefuture. Our international corporate slogan “Your Vision, Our Future”
reflects the essence of Olympus—a determination to continue living as
an active member of society and the power to create a vision andrealize the future for the benefit of all.

Approach to CSR■ CSR concept of the Olympus Group

INsight

INspiration

SocialInvolvement

Sharing
Social Values

Creating
New Values■ Corporate slogan
Social IN comes fromSocial Value IN the Company, a concept of incorporating social value into
the Company’s activities.
The philosophy is also
based on the three INsof INvolvement, INsight,
and INspiration defining
the relationship of theCompany and society.

Management
Philosophy

by providing needed value tosociety and producing profits
through business

Voluntary activities

INvolvement

Contribution toSociety through Business:

Contribution toSociety through Other
Voluntary Activities:
by investing in society andestablishing a meaningful
relationship with it

Shareholders

Business
partners
Employees
Local
communities

International
community

Customers

DutiesSocial IN
We establish
a relationship withsociety throughthe three “INs”

CSR = Development of both society and Olympus

Social IN

Compliance (w)
ith laws, regulations and corporate ethics

t o f a i t h f u ll y c a rties
ry out what we have to do, i.e., our du

Economy, society, and the environment

Social IN
Brand Essence:
Making Dreams Come True

Corporate Slogan:“Your Vision, Our Future”

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

4

Olympus Group Corporate Conduct Charterand Code of Conduct
The Olympus Group Corporate Conduct Charter and Code of
Conduct were established in September 2004 to apply the “Social
IN” philosophy to daily business activities in order to fulfill CSR.
The charter and code refer to the approaches to CSR the Olympus
Group takes, including an approach to the environment.

List of Concepts and Policies Related to CSR
To implement measures for items in the Corporate Conduct Charter, theOlympus Group established the following basic principles, concepts, andpolicies.

Olympus Group Corporate Conduct Charter
Based on the fundamental concept of Social-IN and being fully aware of its responsibilities as a corporate member of society and as a company prized by people with various value systems around the world, the Olympus
Group continues to provide value for our society in support of the livelihood and happiness of people all over
the world. The Olympus Group, with a strong sense of ethics, engages in global corporate activities while strictly complying with relevant laws and regulations.

Report Digest

Policies for Corporate Activities

Involvement with People

Involvement in Society

1. Sound Corporate Activities

3. Respect for Human Rights

5. Harmony with the Environment

With highly transparent management, theOlympus Group engages in sound and faircorporate activities based on laws and ethics
through its relationship with all stakeholders,
including customers, suppliers, shareholders,
employees, and local communities.

In all corporate activities, the Olympus Groupprohibits discrimination based on race, faith,gender, age, social position, family lineage,
nationality, ethnicity, religion, or disability as
well as forced labor and child labor.

Respecting people’s safety and health andthe effects of the environment on their lives, theOlympus Group contributes to a healthy environment and sustainable development
through business activities and technologicaldevelopments that are in harmony with thenatural environment and society.

2. Act on Behalf of the Customer

4. Working Environments with Vitality

6. Good Relationship with the Community

The Olympus Group provides safe, highquality products and services that aremeaningful to society and in tune with thedemands of customers while taking sufficientmeasures to protect customer information.

The Olympus Group provides safe andhealthy working environments to respectindividuality and foster personal growth andoffers value sought by society as its
employees strive for skills and improve
technologies.

The Olympus Group contributes to thedevelopment and improvement of local
communities through respect for the culturesand customs of countries and regions inwhich it engages in business activities.

The Olympus Group’s Code of Conduct can be found on the Olympus web site.

■ List of CSR-related basic policies■ Relationship between management philosophy and daily activities

Items related to the conduct charter

Basic policies

Management philosophy,
Sound corporate activities

Information security policy
Procurement policy

Act on behalf of the Customer

Quality philosophy

Respect for human rights
Working environment with vitality
Harmony with the environment

Social IN
Group Corporate
Conduct Charter

Human rights and labour policy

CorporatevisionEnvironmental principles

These policies (including extracts) can be found on the Olympus web site.

Toward therealizationofSocial IN

Basic policies
Group Code of Conduct

Medium-termbusiness plan

Company
rules

Annualbusiness plan

Daily business activities

5

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Laws,
regulations
and social
norms

UN Global Compact
Olympus participated in the UN Global Compact in October, 2004.
Olympus is the 22nd company in Japan to participate in the Global
Compact.
The UN Global Compact was advocated by UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan, and officially launched at UN headquarters in July
2000. Participating corporations from around the world are required tosupport and comply with 10 principles in the areas of human rights,
labor, the environment, and anticorruption. The principles of the
Global Compact are incorporated into our Corporate Conduct
Charter and Code of Conduct, we can carry them out while conducting
business. Interaction and mutual stimulation with other Global
Compact participants will also help us improve our actions towardsocial responsibility.
 Refer to the UN Global Compact web site for details of the Global Compact:
http://www.unglobalcompact.org/

Establishment of the CSR Promotion
Organization
In April 2004, Olympus launched the CSR & Brand Strategy
Department as a companywide, lateral organization to promote its
approach to CSR. The organization served to help Group members
thoroughly understand the importance of fulfilling their social
responsibilities, defined issues that Olympus needed to make its top priority, and promoted the approach in each department. In April 2005, weestablished the CSR Division, which supervises the CSR
Department, Environment Development Department, and Corporate
Quality Assurance Department. Also, we redoubled our efforts under theleadership of the CSR Division manager. In April 2006, the CSR
Division was divided into the CSR Division and Quality
Environment Administration Division. The Quality Environment
Administration Division is to oversee management in terms of quality
and the environment.

Corporate Brand and CSR

The Ten Principles
Human Rights• Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protectionof internationally proclaimed human rights; and• Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights
abuses.
Labour Standards• Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of associationand the effective recognition of the right to collective
bargaining;• Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory
labour;• Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and• Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of
employment and occupation.

Olympus has been advocating “Brand-focused management” since
2002. It has been striving to enhance its brand value and has been
eager to establish win-win relationships with all the stakeholders.
Our corporate slogan “Your Vision, Our Future” also symbolizes our
corporate philosophy that we build a better future with all the stakeholders. We believe that the Olympus Group’s efforts in CSR will
nurture trust in and sympathy to the Olympus Group, reinforce thecorporate culture, and eventually help the Olympus brand enhance its
value. We also believe it will help the employees of the Olympus
Group realize the importance of working with the world’s leading
brand and act according to the value of the brand, ultimately reinforcing CSR efforts.

Report Digest■ UN Global Compact

http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/profile/■ Relationship between brand value improvement and CSR

Enhancement ofbrand value

Environment• Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approachto environmental challenges;• Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental
responsibility; and• Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion ofenvironmentally friendly technologies
Anti-Corruption• Principle 10: Businesses should work against all forms ofcorruption, including extortion and bribery.

CSR
efforts

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

6

Business Summary of the Olympus Group
Under the stewardship of Olympus Corporation, the operating holding company, the Olympus Group carries out its
international business independently to provide added value to all over the world.

Outline of the Olympus Group

Overview of the Three Mainstays of the Group(as of March 31, 2006)

Three Core Corporations and the ITX Group

Report Digest

The three mainstays of the Olympus Group are Olympus Corporation(operating holding company), Olympus Imaging Corp. (imaging
business), and Olympus Medical Systems Corp. (medical business)
together with their approximately 140 affiliates and subsidiaries.
Olympus Corporation acquired a major stake in ITX Corporation, a listed corporation with about 60 affiliated companies, and included it as aconsolidated company in October 2004. The Olympus Group istherefore a combination of Olympus Group companies and ITXGroup companies.

Olympus Corporation
Established
Head officeBusiness lines
Capital
Total number of employees(consolidated)
Number of employees(Olympus Corporation only)
Consolidated net sales
Consolidated total assets

100%

Olympus Imaging Corp.

Olympus Medical
Systems Corp.

Five affiliates and133 subsidiaries

100%
Olympus Corporation,a listed company

Olympus Group (excluding ITX)

Olympus Group■ Group Organization Map

Olympus Imaging Corp.
Established
Head officeBusiness lines
Capital
Number of employees(Olympus Imaging Corp. only)

October 12, 1919
Shinjuku Monolith, 3-1 Nishi-Shinjuku
2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0914,
Japan
Manufacture and sale of precision
machinery and instruments¥48,331 million
33,022
2,886¥978,127 million¥976,132 million(including ¥290,656 million in equity
capital)October 1, 2004
Shinjuku Monolith, 3-1 Nishi-Shinjuku
2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0914,
Japan
Manufacture and sale of digital cameras,
film cameras, and voice recorders¥11,000 million
813

ITX Group

76.6% (including 9.9% indirectly owned)

ITX Corp.,
a listed company

54 subsidiaries and
10 affiliates* The percentages shown here are those of the ownership of voting rights.

This CSR Report mainly covers Olympus Corporation, Olympus
Imaging Corp., and Olympus Medical Systems Corp. and describes otheraffiliated companies whenever necessary. ITX and its group companies
are not covered in this report unless especially needed. Refer to page 1
for details.

7

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Olympus Medical Systems Corp.
Established
April 27, 2004
Head office
Shinjuku Monolith, 3-1 Nishi-Shinjuku
2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0914,
Japan
Business lines
Manufacture and sale of medical
endoscopes and other medical devices
Capital¥1,000 million
Number of employees
1,755(Olympus Medical Systems
Corp. only)(Reference) ITX Corporation
EstablishedMay 16, 1986
Head office
3-2-5, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
100-6014, Japan
Business lines
Investment and business incubation;
sales of equipment and provision ofservices in the IT field
Capital¥20,456 million
Total number of employees
2,841(consolidated)
Consolidated net sales¥346,855 million

Main Business Bases

Major Data on the Olympus Group

Production and Sales Bases around the World

Changes in Performance and Number of Employees

The data shown here are as of March 31, 2006. The updated data anddetails are shown on our web site.

Consolidated net sales in fiscal 2005 recorded an increase in the 12th
consecutive term. Business profit exceeded those in the previous
term thanks to a solid increase in the medical business and a turnaround in the image business.

Japan
Locations of main offices and plants
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (Head Office)http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/ir/

Hachioji-shi, Tokyo (Research and Development Center)Ina-shi, Nagano Prefecture (development and manufacture)■ Consolidated net sales and number of employees

Tatsuno-machi, Kamiina-gun, Nagano Prefecture (development andmanufacture)
Hinode-cho, Nishitama-gun, Tokyo (development and manufacture)
Okaya-shi, Nagano Prefecture (development and manufacture)
Sales bases
Sapporo, Sendai, Omiya, Tokyo, Yokohama, Niigata, Matsumoto,Shizuoka, Tsukuba, Nagoya, Osaka, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Matsuyama,(People)No. of employees

978,127
813,538

800,000
600,000

528,415564,343

100,000
80,000633,62260,000400,000

40,000200,000

Main manufacturing subsidiaries
Olympus Opto-Technologies Co., Ltd.

Net sales

1,000,000

020,70524,126'01'02(fiscal year)

28,85730,312

33,022

'03

'04

'05

20,0000

Aizu Olympus Co., Ltd.
Shirakawa Olympus Co., Ltd.

■ Consolidated operating income and net income/loss

Aomori Olympus Co., Ltd.
Mishima Olympus Co., Ltd.
Okaya Olympus Co., Ltd.

Operating income

Net income/loss

62,99762,346(millions of yen)

62,523

Report Digest

Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Minamikyushu(millions of yen)

60,00050,00042,283

Europe40,000Supervising subsidiaries

30,000Olympus Europa GmbH (Germany)

20,000

KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd. (U.K.)

10,000Local companies and subsidiaries inAustria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, The Czech Republic,

33,56428,564

24,34823,153

10,2790(fiscal year)-11,827

'01

'02

'03

'04

'05

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy,
Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, The Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia,■ Consolidated net sales ratio in
fiscal 2005 by field

Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom
Major manufacturing plants (subsidiaries)

Information
communication

Olympus Winter & lbe GmbH (Germany)

29.1%

KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd. (U.K.)

Asia 9.8%
Imaging 26.1%
Europe 25.3%

Olympus Life and Material Science Europa GmbH (Ireland)

Supervising subsidiaries:

Others 3.4%

Others 6.6%

Algram Group Ltd. (U.K.)

Americas■ Consolidated net sales ratio in
fiscal 2005 by areaLifescience

Japan 38.6%

Medical 27.2%
North America

22.9%

11.0%

* The above consolidated figures include those of ITX Corp. from the second half of FY2004.

Olympus America Inc. (USA)
Local companies and subsidiaries inUnited States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil
Major manufacturing plants (subsidiaries)
Olympus NDT Canada Inc.(Canada), R/D Tech Instruments Inc. (USA)Asia and other regions
Supervising companies
Olympus (China) Co., Ltd. (supervising company in China)

Medical field

Imaging field

Industrial field

Life science field

Local companies and subsidiaries inAustralia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, The Philippines,
Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam
Major manufacturing plants (subsidiaries)
Olympus (Beijing) Industry & Technology Ltd. (Beijing)
Olympus (Shenzhen) Industrial Ltd. (Shenzhen)
Olympus Optical Technology Philippines, Inc. (Cebu)

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

8

The Olympus Group FY2005
Major Performance of Social and Environmental Activities
In fiscal 2005, the Olympus Group engaged in various social and environmental activities to cap the final year of its FY2002
Corporate Strategic Plan, achieving the results listed below.
We are currently making further efforts to achieve the newly established FY 2006 Corporate Strategic Plan.

Selected two outside directors

Developing the framework and familiarizing
employees with measures• Established Compliance Department• Opened a helpline• Described the Corporate Conduct Charter and Codeof Conduct in the employee’s notebook• Distributed compliance cards to all directors andemployees in Japan

Responding to the Act on the Protection of Personal
Information

Developing the framework and familiarizing
employees with measures• Developed and implemented an in-housemanagement system based on personal information
protection policies and rules• Implemented e-learning directed to all of about
10,000 employees in Japan• Established contact points

Promoting CSR together with suppliers

Establishing a CSR-based procurement policy andrequesting cooperation from Asian-based suppliers• Established our CSR-based procurement policy andrequested cooperation from suppliers worldwide

Innovating total quality on the basis of the implementationof customer-oriented management

Enhancing functions of group quality assurance• Continued quality inspections by top management• Conducted usability evaluations as proactive
measures against handling errors• Test and Evaluation Center accredited as a medical
electrical equipment safety laboratory

Minimizing customer downtime• Implemented response-rate-improvement activities atcall centers• Introduced a pick-up service system to reduce
distribution downtime

Revising the reemployment system for retirees

Revising our reemployment system for retirees sothat it corresponds to the Law Concerning
Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons• Revised and improved our reemployment system toprovide job opportunities to all applicants who meetcertain standards after retirement for effective use of
senior employees• Familiarized all employees with the reemployment
systemPromoting employees’ health

Developing a health promotion environment through • Launched the Olympus Good Health 21 operationcooperation between the Company and the healthinsurance union

Accelerating the introduction of environmentallyconscious products onto the market

Fundamentally revising the process ofmanufacturing such environmentally-conscious
products as Olympus eco-products

Implementing eco-facilities and environmentally efficientmanagement

Implementing CO2-reduction measures centering on • Participated in “Team Minus 6%”, a nationalenergy savings
movement to prevent global warming• Made efforts to reduce non-energy-related
greenhouse gas emissions and succeeded in
reducing emissions by approximately 1,000 t-CO2• Improved the loading ratio in the distribution of goods
and promoted environment- friendliness through amodal shift

Promoting global environmental management

Obtaining additional ISO14001 certifications for theGroup• Olympus Optical Technology Philippines, Inc. (Cebu,
the Philippines), and Olympus Medical Equipment
Services America, Inc., National Service Center(NSC) (California, United States), were certified.

Releasing a CSR report, including sociality in theenvironmental report

Issuing the social environmental report

Issued the CSR Report 2005 and distributed it to all
employees in Japan

Reinforcing our Web site

Reinforcing the CSR and environmental activity web Reinforced the web pages for CSR and environmental
pages
activities, history of Olympus, and activities

Building a good relations with community

Implementing social contribution activities inaccordance with the management philosophy

Sound Corporate Activities

Improving managerial transparency

Establishing a framework to comply with laws andregulations

Act on of Behalf of the Customer

Performance

Enhancing corporate governanceGood Relations with
Community

Harmony with the Environment

Report Digest
9

TargetRespect for Human Rights/
Working Environment with Vitality

Priority measures in FY2005

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

In all fields in which the Olympus Group operates, a
total of 25 products were certified as eco-products andbrought onto market, whereas in fiscal 2003–fiscal
2004, only 7 products were certified as eco-products inall fields.

Implemented social contribution activities in accordancewith social contribution policies

Relevant page

Evaluation*

Future efforts (challenges in FY2006)

앲앲앲앲

Implementing continuous management reforms

P20

앲앲앲

Enhancing the future education system and providing compliance awareness training to all directors
and employees to familiarization

P20

앲앲앲

Strengthening the personal information protection framework and continuing to provide education for
all directors and employees

P38

앲앲앲앲

Establishing a cooperative framework through the survey of the CSR progress

P21

앲앲앲

• Innovating individual process qualities regarding development, manufacturing, and services andenhancing the cultivation of human resources• Implementing management based on the voice of customers (VOC), which is directly connected to
product improvement, product planning, and customer service improvement

P22

앲앲앲

P24

앲앲앲

Initiating a study of how to introduce long-term careers and skill development support measures toactively make use of senior employees

P24

앲앲앲

Establishing a framework to support more effective health promotion activities for employees

P33-34, P42

앲앲앲Making efforts toward continuous environment-conscious product design and manufacturing on thebasis of extended producer responsibility

P39-41앲앲앲Promoting environmentally efficient management, aiming to realize a sustainable society through our
future business activities

P29

앲앲앲

Actively operating the comprehensive environmental management system not only at production
bases but also in operating activities, such as sales and services

P55

앲앲앲

P48, P55-56

앲앲앲

Reinforcing the content of the report by using our web sites• Addressing comments received on this 2006 CSR Report• Reinforcing the content of the CSR report by using our web sites to provide supplementary
information

P49-50앲앲앲

Implementing social contribution programs continuously

Report Digest

P19* 앲앲앲앲: Target greatly exceeded, 앲앲앲: Target achieved, 앲앲: Target partly achieved, 앲: Target not achieved* Refer to “Actual Activity Results in FY2005” on page 28 for details on activities regarding harmony with the environment.

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

10

Special Feature 1

Policies for Corporate Activities

Sound Corporate Activities/Act on Behalf of the Customer

IPLEX Series—Mission 1,000 Visits
Reflecting the Voice of 1,000 Customers on Manufacturing Products
Industrial endoscopy systems are remote visual inspection systems using
endoscopes. Two endoscopy systems launched in 2005, the IPLEX SAII and
IPLEX MX were developed through customer-oriented marketing activities
and close dialogues with customers. Our sales people and engineersvisited more than 1,000 customers to observe job sites where ourendoscopy systems were used and ask customers’ opinions about them,thus refining our products and systems into those with higher usability.

Visiting Job Sites to Verify a Hypothesis

Report Digest

Industrial endoscopy systems are instruments used to check the internal
state of things or to view places that cannot be seen directly with the
naked eye. Such places and things include water and sewerage pipes, aircraft engines, power plants, ancient tombs, and buildings that havecollapsed due to earthquakes and other disasters. A conventional
industrial endoscopy system consists of a separate power supply,
light-source unit, scope, and display, all of which must be connected toeach other by cables before using them according to the customers’ business needs.
The IPLEX system, which was released in autumn of 2002, is an allin-one endoscopy system, and its system—a concept was quite different from that of conventional systems.
“It is too much trouble for users to bring all the components to job
sites and build a complete system by connecting them with cables.
Therefore, we tried to develop an all-in-one system. This idea, however,
had still been a hypothesis on the development side and not been verified in the field. Accordingly, we decided to visit our users alongwith the release of products.” (Saichi Sato, Development Group 2,
IMS Engineering Department, IMS Business Division)
Immediately after the release of the IPLEX system, each member ofthe Engineering Department visited 20–30 job sites together withsales and marketing personnel. We asked users how their endoscopy systems were actually being used, what their needs were, and how theyevaluated the IPLEX system. We tried to visit up to 1,000 users in Japanbecause it was a good target number. We also tried to visit 100 overseas
users, making the total number of users visited 1,100. For example, we

The IPLEX SAII system,
which boasts better usability
and an IT-friendly environment, enables the user tooperate the system easily
from remote locations.

paid door-to-door visits to users in some districts. We also paid walk-in
visits whenever we had the time.
“The sales people wanted the engineers in the Engineering
Department to listen to what customers had said because some of thecustomers thought highly of the IPLEX system but did not always
buy it. Our visits with people in the Engineering Department helped us
confirm actual customers’ requirements” (Tsutomu Uemura,Marketing Group, IMS Marketing and Planning Department, IMSBusiness Division)

Results of 1,000 Visits Reflected in the IPLEXSAII and IPLEX MX
We thoroughly listened to such local input and endeavored to reflect theresults of our visits in the development of new products, which
resulted in the development and release the IPLEX MX and IPLEX SAII
systems.
“They are not only products in which the customer’s opinion isreflected but also products into which our suggestions for improvement

The IPLEX MX system wasdesigned to meet the customer’s need to carry thesystem on their backs. The
system enables the user tomove his/her hands freely,
thus improving work efficiency.

Engineers find pleasure in designingand completing products. However, it
is not until the products are delivered
to customers and are greatly appreciated by those customers that engineers feel the actual pleasure of producing products. I wanted to share
this pleasure with other people incharge of development.

Saichi SatoGroup Leader,Development Group 2, IMS Engineering Department,
IMS Business Division, Olympus Corporation

11

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Refer to pages 19–22 for measures and approaches.

were incorporated. These suggestions arose through the development
process.” (Sato)
The products have three major features: network capability,
improved image quality, and improved measurement accuracy. The
wireless LAN capability allows one to confirm and operate the image
even from a remote desk. Thus, there is no need for an expert to be sent
to a job site. In other words, the system serves as an industrial versionof distance medicine. Furthermore, the improved image quality and measurement accuracy enable the accurate observation of a damage interms of size and degree within a measurement deviation of 3%.
In contrast, the IPLEX MX system was developed to meet theuser’s need for the system to be used at higher locations or in narrowplaces. The compact, portable design of this innovative productallows the user to carry the system on the roofs of buildings, underground, and other areas.

People in charge of production and customer services participated in the
product planning of the IPLEX series from the development stage.
Our aim was to create a product that was not only to delight the eye but
also to have a well-designed internal structure so that it would beeasy to assemble and service.
To concentrate the manufacturing of industrial products, production
was shifted from Shirakawa Olympus and Aizu Olympus to Okaya
Olympus in 2003. Yasushi Hara, in Manufacturing Group 2, wastransferred to Shirakawa Olympus one year before the shift in production to oversee preparations. The timing coincided exactly withenactment of EU directive on the restriction of the use of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (the RoHS
Directive). Therefore, in addition to our efforts toward building a
new production system, we continued to implement measures in
response to the RoHS Directive.
“The number of parts suppliers reached 185 to complete the
IPLEX system. In addition to asking all the suppliers to analyze the useof hazardous substances, we analyzed the use of our own hazardous substances to collect the necessary data. The substances and parts at pro-Thanks to network technology, you do not have to go tojob sites. Furthermore,
improved measurement
accuracy enables everyone
to carry out inspections andjudge the situation. I think
the IPLEX will help customers change their way ofworking.

duction sites are now under strict control in response to the RoHS,” says
Tsuneo Yanagida from Technology Group 2, Okaya Olympus, who isactually in charge of the RoHS Directive.
Yasushi Hara, who is in charge of production, says, “The use of new
soldering or plating methods leads to an increase in man-hours.
Therefore, we needed to promote changes in the consciousness of
individual workers in order for them to avoid handling errors concerning parts or making other mistakes.”
Sato also looks back on Mission 1,000 Visits as follows:“The industrial endoscopy system evokes the image of something discreet, but it surely serves to support the social infrastructure interms of quality and safety. It was really significant for our engineers toactually see this fact with their own eyes and, at the same time, realizethat much of their work is directly connected to social contribution.”
After Mission 1,000 Visits, sales persons would often go out to workin combination with engineers. We hear growing calls for another
Mission 1,000 Visits. Accordingly, the Sales, Engineering, andProduction Departments will continue to make such effort together.

The IPLEX system requires
some parts that can be manufactured only by trained
technicians. Therefore, theentire production process forthe system is done on a single floor. There is a trend inJapan of having sophisticated products designed andmanufactured consistently in
one place, and the IPLEX
system is one such highvalue-added product

Report Digest

Implementation of Measures in Response to
RoHS Directives and a Shift in Production

Easy-to-operate, light-weight
IPLEX MX system(4.4 kg, B5 size)

The IPLEX system has many
variations that depend on thecustomer’s purposes of use.
We are not a build-to-ordermanufacturer, but we makeefforts through dialogues tocollect as much informationas possible to meet customers’ requirements. We
believe that we need to manufacture products carefully
because for their price, one
could buy an expensive car.

Tsutomu Uemura

Tsuneo Yanagida

Yasushi Hara

Deputy Manager,
Marketing Group, IMS Marketing and Planning Department,
IMS Business Division, Olympus Corporation

Group Leader,Technology Group 2, Okaya Olympus Co., Ltd.

Group Leader,
Production Group 2, Okaya Olympus Co., Ltd.

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

12

Special Feature 2

Involvement with People

Respect for Human Rights/Working Environments with Vitality

Olympus Guangzhou
Communication and Educational Programsfor 4,000 EmployeesWith its vast extent of land and the largest populationin the world, China is rapidly growing. Therefore,
Olympus (Guangzhou) Industrial Ltd. in China, has
adopted “Human Resources as a Foundation” as its
management philosophy and is actively striving
toward the self-development and skill development oflocal employees.

Cultivation of Human Resources on the Basisof Compliance

Report Digest

Human resources can be listed as one of the major elements that support
the development of the Chinese economy. China’s population has
now exceeded 1.3 billion, accounting for approximately 20% of theworld’s population. An increasing number of people migrate tocoastal areas including Guangzhou looking for better jobs andincome because many foreign companies are based on such areas.
We can safely say that it is the Chinese labor power that supports the
manufacturing of industrial products throughout the world.
Olympus Guangzhou has established a human resources development committee under the direct control of its president and is
working to promote respect for human rights, improve health andwelfare benefits, and provide intensive compliance awareness training(concerning laws and corporate ethics). Furthermore, we actively
provide employees with opportunities
to understand the company and its
business, improve various skills andknowledge necessary for work, andpromote friendship between employees. These things are regarded as amatter of course in Japan but not inMore than 3,600 employees in
China.
total participated in training on
As might be expected, company
the six S’s and Corporate
Philosophy. The Personnel
rules were compiled in a handbook andand Administration Department
distributed to all employees. To newvideotaped these training sessions and showed it to new
employees,
Olympus
Guangzhou

Olympus (Guangzhou) Industrial Ltd. in Guangzhou, China (Pan Yu Facility)

offers training programs centering on company regulations and an
outline of the company in terms of history and future. For example, company regulations include what is called the six S’s: (Seiri (Sifting), Seiton(Sorting), Seiketsu (Spick and Span), Seisou (Sweeping andWashing), Soyou (Sophistication), and Safety. The program helps toarrange things, keep the workplace orderly and tidy, accomplish
tasks and objectives, and maintain safety. Our education and training
programs include skill and management training for our employees sothat they can acquire skills and knowledge necessary for work
according to their length of service and job details. Furthermore, we
provided suggestion boxes so that all employees can give their suggestions/opinions directly to our president.

Workplace Filled with the Energy of Young
People with an Average Age of 23
At Olympus Guangzhou, we mainly manufacture digital cameras,
film cameras, and voice recorders. Among its approximate 4,000
employees, there are only seven Japanese employees working for thecompany. Thus, Olympus Guangzhou is essentially run by local
employees. Furthermore, most employees are very young (the averageage of all employees is 23), and most of them are females. The above
mentioned six S’s are regarded as a matter of course in Japan. In

employees to further increase
the effect of the training.

Olympus Guangzhou is a production base for digital cameras andvoice recorders. The plant also manufactures the E-500 digital singlelens reflex camera (left) and the V-50 voice recorder (right).

13

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Every year, we conduct companywide fire evacuation drills in
November. Through the drills,
employees learn not only how toescape in case of fire but also
how to use fire extinguishers andfire hydrants.

Company rules and regulations, the welfare program, and the proper way towork are compiled in an employee manual (left) and delivered to each employee.
In addition, we have prepared a guidebook for business travelers (right) so thatthey can quickly familiarize themselvesto the environment.

Refer to pages 23–26 for measures and approaches.

China, however, we found it very important to provide training on
the six S’s to our employees as a basic rule in learning about manufacturing products.
In 2005, more than 3,600 employees participated in not only
training on the six S’s but also other training sessions dealing with thehistory and future of Olympus. These training sessions were recorded onvideo and distributed to new employees on CDs.
In addition, the company issues GUANGZHISHEN, its in-housemagazine, and provides employees with the latest information about
Olympus Group and Olympus Guangzhou over the intranet so thatthey can hold more meaningful exchanges with each other, express theirconcerns about company life to each other, and use the information for
self-development. We think that smooth internal communication isquite important because we have a large family of about 4,000
employees.

The Activating Committee, which consists of representatives of various
departments, promotes various activities that concerns to enhancecommunication and self-development.
Such examples include end-of-the-year parties and New Year’s garden parties, which are big events where almost all employees gather. At
last year’s end-of-the-year party, employees made ingenious plansand put in a lot of practice before entertaining us with various performances as well as games and a beauty contest. We really appreciated theefforts of the people who worked on planning these events because we
knew it was a tough job to deal with a party of this size.
Another activity that we promote is our own photography contest to
help employees’ pleasures of photography using our products as well as
to provide employees with an opportunity to actually experience the cor-

Report Digest

Role of the Activating Committee

porate slogan, “Your Vision, Our
Future.” We held two photography
contests in 2005 (spring and autumn).
The first-prize photos were pieces ofart with lyrical complexity and depth
as well as a sense of humor, as shown in
the pictures on the right. We interviewed the winners, who expressed
Our photography contests provide
employees with an opportunity to use
their thoughts and responded with suchour products. First-prize winner of thequotes as, “I broadened my taste andfirst contest, Blue Cadence (top), andfist-prize winner of the second conenhanced my leisure activities,”
test, Carrying a Mountain (bottom).
“I participated in this contest because I
like photography; I shared this pleasure with other participants,” and “Byactually using the products, I learned a lot about the performance ofOlympus cameras; I think I improved my camera techniques.”
In June 2005, we held an essay contest under the theme“Olympus and I.” We received many essays that gave a vivid picture of
employees working at the plant.
Furthermore, at the end of 2005, five employees who made apositive impression on Olympus were selected and commended.
Candidates were first recommended by the department to which they
belong. Then, we shortened the list of candidates through theprocesses of performance lectures and selection by the Activating
Committee. Finally, individual department heads chose five award
winners from among the remaining candidates. They were commended and presented with a Certificate of Honor by our president for
their achievements (e.g. good working attitude, a long length of service, quality management, and IE).
These activities are expected to provide individual employeeswith an opportunity to enhance their capabilities, deepen communication, foster teamwork, and provide incentives, thus leading to the creation of a corporate culture.
 IE = Industrial engineering (IE) means technology to efficiently conduct
production activities combining human resources, materials, and equipment.

New Year’s garden
party in fiscal 2006,
held on January 15,
2006. Employees
enjoyed games andcontended for a
prize, enjoying themselves tremendously
in the process.

The quarterly issued company
magazine, GUANGZHISHEN, introduces the corporate culture and inhouse movement.

Five employees who made a positive impression on Olympus in fiscal 2005 and received a commendation from our President.
From left to right, Tèchéng Lí (IE Improvement, Production Technology Section, Manufacturing Department),(Assistant Manager, Material Section, Manufacturing Department),(Team Leader, Tape Recorder
Manufacturing Section, Manufacturing Department),(Assistant Manager, Camera Manufacturing Section,
Manufacturing Department),(Manager, Mounting Technology Section, Manufacturing Department)

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

14

Special Feature 3

Harmony with the Environment

Dispersion Staining Objective Lenses Used in Investigating
Asbestos-Containing Materials
Contributing to the Elimination of Harmful Substances
through Business Activities
Asbestos has been used as insulating material in various
applications, such as construction, electrical appliances,
and automobile parts. Asbestos is a serious environmental
issues and the focus of public concern because it can causelung cancer and mesothelioma even if inhaled in small
quantities. With exceptional speed, the pride of ourengineers achieved the successful development andmanufacturing of dispersion objective lenses that are
essential in analyzing asbestos.

A microscope used in
inspecting asbestoscontaining materials; themicroscope is capable ofdistinguishing asbestos inconstruction materials by
its color, thus enabling
shape recognition.

A Telephone Call That Triggered Development
Report Digest

Asbestos is a convenient but problem-causing material. Because it
does not change its nature and excels in heat resistance and electricalinsulation, asbestos was once called an ideal material and used inevery possible application. However, asbestos stays in the lungs for along time even if the amount inhaled was very small, ultimately
causing such malignant tumors as cancer or mesothelioma. In
December 2004, one of our telephone counseling centers received a callasking whether or not Olympus deals with a 40x dispersion objective
lens.
“The Japan Association for Working Environment Measurement(hereafter abbreviated as JAWE), a corporate aggregate within thejurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, was providing the industry with administrative guidance on the use of 40x
dispersion objective lenses in investigating asbestos. Hence, the telephone call we received was from one of our customers. Because wealready understood the necessity of 40x dispersion objective lenses, weconveyed the information to the Marketing Department and theDevelopment Department.” (Takaaki Tanaka, Techno-Labo,
Customer Support Department, IMS Division)
JAWE: The only nonprofit public service corporation of Japan established in 1979 on thebasis of Article 36 of the Working Environment Measurement Law as instructed by the thenMinistry of Labour (the current Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) for the purpose ofcontributing to the improvement of measurements taken by three parties through anassemblage of experts in work environment measuring, working environment measurement
agencies, and employers who perform working environment measurement using their own
experts and maintaining the dignity of working environment measurement experts.

Demolition of old buildings
will begin in earnest; thus,
people will feel the need foron-site sample analyses
instead of off-site analyses.

15

At the time, 10x dispersion objective lenses were available asseparate orders but not 40x objective lenses. But, no practical move for
40x objective lens was initiated. On June 22, 2005, a notification on themethods of analyzing the percentage of asbestos in construction
materials was given by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The
notification referred to methods of analysis using 10x and 40x dispersion objective lenses. Many asbestos problems were revealed with theasbestos health hazard in Amagasaki as a start. This issue became amajor topic of public concern as it was reported daily in newspapers andon TV.
We were flooded with inquiries at our telephone support centers andcustomer service centers throughout the country. Many customers
said, “We are using Olympus microscopes. We would very much
like to use them in investigating asbestos.”

All Drawings Completed in Two Days
Tanaka immediately introduced the customer’s need to theDevelopment Department. After confirming the high possibility ofdeveloping the lens, he contacted the person in charge at JAWE.
Then, the person JAWE replied, “We have been waiting for yourcall.” Thus, we had the chance to know exactly what was expected us inorder to launch the product.

I think that people on thedevelopment side are
expected to have such capabilities as being able to findout customers’ needs, go
one step beyond, and incorporate their needs into production.

Many customers who conduct asbestos inspections
are Olympus users. We
found our work worthwhile
because we can directly live
up to customers’ expectations.

Takaaki Tanaka

Katsuyuki Abe

Ken-ichi Kusaka

Group Leader, Techno-Labo Group,
Customer Support Department, MIS Division,
Olympus Corporation

Group Leader, Optical Development Group,
MIS Development 1, MIS Division,
Olympus Corporation

Team Leader, Optical Development Group,
MIS Development 1, MIS Division,
Olympus Corporation

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Refer to pages 27–46 for measures and approaches.

minute dust particles, and a protrusion of adhesives could have been fatal
because of the requirement for high precision.
We normally increase production in August and September
because our fiscal half-year period ends in September. At Ina Plant, weestablished a special integrated production system, from procurement tomanufacturing. Masayuki Akeo, of Technology Group 1, Ina Plant, MIS
Division, scrambled for parts. Thus, we successfully delivered 150
lenses by the end of September and were able to finally produce 280
lenses by January 2006.
“Everybody in the workplace knew about the asbestos problem, andbecause they were aware of the fact that these lenses were to be used toanalyze asbestos, they naturally felt compelled to meet the deadline.”(Yutaka Imai, Product Assembly Group, Ina Plant, MIS Division,
Olympus Corporation)“In fact, an excessive burden was placed on the general assembly
line. However, we think it is a corporate responsibility to manufacture
and provide the market with our microscopes as long as they are of assistance to not only customers in difficulty but also patients. (Hiroaki
Hosoi, Technical Group 1, Ina Plant, MIS Division, Olympus
Corporation)
The inspection procurement boom is now over, but the demolitionof asbestos-containing buildings will start in full swing in the near
future. We think that the newly developed dispersion objective lens will
be used not only in asbestos analyses but also in hazardous substanceinspections and environmental measurements.

Report Digest

Engineers in the Development Department recognized the urgent
necessity and immediately devised some design proposals anddashed off a set of drawings.
Katsuyuki Abe (Optical Development Group, MIS Development
Department, MIS Division) noted that “an entire day is needed tothink out an idea and another entire day to make up drawings. We madeevery effort to have it done as a top priority.”
It also normally takes about two months to prototype an objective
lens. However, we managed to finish the work in a relatively shortperiod of time. This is because we had time due to the efforts of Ken-ichi
Kusaka, who was involved in the development of 10x dispersion
objective lenses ten years ago, Kusaka was asked also at the request of
JAWE. This 10x dispersion objective lens was the original model of ourpresent 10x lenses available as separate orders.
“At the beginning, we got orders for a single product or two,
although we had heard that orders would pour in. However, this story
made me think that this was it.” (Kusaka)
There was a long prologue along the way to prototype an objectivelens.
“We succeeded in developing a new 40x dispersion objective
lens on the basis of the conventional 10x lens without major changes. So,
I think it was not us but the people in the manufacturing department who
had a really difficult time for manufacturing the products.” (Abe)The Manufacturing Department Made
Concerted Efforts to Strictly Keep to the
Delivery Date
Ina Plant was in charge of prototyping, and engineers at Ina Plant
managed to make three trial models in half a month. In late July,
Tanaka visited JAWE with these models, which successfully cleared thequality test. However, one of the model lenses was found to be nonconformance because a glimmer of light leaked from a burr on apress-processed light shielding plate. Because the light shielding
plate that prevents unnecessary light from entering the lens was a key
component, engineers at Ina Plant made decided to abandon thepress-processing method and switch to an etching method, which
successfully solved the light-leakage problem. Even slight scratches,

I appreciate people in theMarketing Department
because they provided us
with accurate market information. We completeddevelopment within a fairly
short period of time. We
think our success was theresult of good cooperation
between the Marketing,
Development andManufacturing Departments.

Seminars are held in all
corners of the country tofamiliarize people with how
to make proper use of theasbestos microscope andhow to analyze asbestoscontaining materials.

We press-processed prototype light shielding plates,but one plate was found to
be defective. To cope withthis problem, we successfully changed this method toan etching and ebonol processing method.

The toughest part was theadhesive joining process of
the light shielding plates.
Experienced and skilled
experts took care of theprocess. Once they study
the ins and outs, they were
sure to steadily manufacture
products.

Hiroaki Hosoi

Masayuki Akeo

Yutaka ImaiGroup Leader, Technology Group 1,
Ina Plant, MIS Division,
Olympus Corporation

Technology Group 1,
Ina Plant, MIS Division,
Olympus Corporation

Product Assembly Group,Ina Plant, MIS Division,
Olympus Corporation

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

16

Special Feature 4

Good Relations with Community

Olympus Latin America
Steps Forward to Assist the Activities of Charitable
Organizations
El Salvador is a small country in Central America with apopulation of about 6.7 million people who are living in an area
about one-half the size of the Japanese island of Kyushu. El
Salvador is a young country in the process of reconstruction,although it is now in an exhausted condition due to a long andprotracted civil war. In October 2005, a brand-new Olympus
videoendoscopy system for medical applications wasintroduced in a pediatric hospital in this country. This wasachieved through collaboration between a local charitableorganization and an overseas subsidiary of Olympus.

Fourteen-year-old endoscopy system in a stateof disrepair
Report Digest

Olympus videoendoscopy systems have been used at various medical
facilities across the world on a daily basis for the early detection andmedical treatment of disease. However, in countries or regions where
medical care systems are insufficient, some people cannot enjoy the benefit of these cutting-edge medical instruments.
The “Benjamin Bloom” hospital, which boasts an 82-year history,
is not only the national pediatric hospital of El Salvador, it is also
one of the most important hospitals in Central America and it admits
patients from neighboring countries including Guatemala andHonduras. The hospital is providing medical services to children
from the poorest areas of the country. The total number of patients treated per year amounts to around 120,000.
The hospital has the mission to protect the health of those children
who represent the future of the region. However, income from medical
services covers only about 70% of the total administrative costs.
Thus the hospital has been in chronic financial difficulties, which has
prevented the hospital from purchasing or updating its medical
instruments. The state of the endoscopy system at the hospital, introduced 14 year ago, seriously deteriorated and it was not in serviceablecondition.
ABCD (La Agrupación Benéfica de Cónyuges de Diplomáticos), acharitable organization of the spouses of diplomats in El Salvador
happened to know the actual situation at the Benjamin Bloom hospital,

Ceremony of recognition. “OLA’s contribution is not limited to the donation of the endoscopy system. It played the role of a magnifying glassthat has brought the needs of the hospital to other people’s attention,”
said Mrs. Sonia de Hosono, Representative of ABCD (rightmost in the
picture).

and decided to donate a new medical instrument. However, the funds
raised through donations were not enough to buy a new endoscopy system.

People opened the doors of their hearts
Unfortunately, negotiations with a medical instrument agency to buy a
new endoscopy system with the existing amount of funds was unsuccessful. Therefore, Mrs. Sonia de Hosono, Representative of ABCD,
directly approached Felix Salazar, OLA’s Medical Systems Manager
responsible for El Salvador at the time, to ask for a new endoscopy system within the amount of funds they had raised. After this approach by
Mrs. Hosono, OLA decided to donate a new endoscopy system
instead of selling it to them at a discounted price. Thus ABCD used thefunds raised to buy aids and appliances for a bronchoscope, which
was donated to the hospital. Accordingly, all the necessary
endoscopy systems for gastroenteric and respiratory systems havebeen introduced into the Benjamin Bloom hospital.
“Fortunately, offers of donations from other companies followed the
donation from OLA. This lead to a ‘chain reaction’ of donations, as if
the doors of people’s hearts were opened,” says Mrs. Sonia de

We will continue to look forthe opportunities and tounder-funded hospitals andhelp activities to provide
patients who cannot receive
sufficient healthcare with thehighest levels of medical
treatment.

Donated EVIS EXERA 145 endoscopy system

17

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

OLA is conducting businessactivities in areas where
insufficient healthcare isprovided. We consideredthat this was a good opportunity to make a specificcontribution to the healthcare of children in Central
America.

Víctor Corzo

Felix Salazar

President of OLA

OLA Endoscopy Group
OLA’s Medical Systems Manager responsible
for El Salvador

Refer to pages 47–54 for measures and approaches.

Hosono, looking back on the past. This was because other companies
became aware of the needs of the hospital. In other words, OLA’s
conduct played the role of a magnifying glass that has brought theactual situation and the needs of the hospital to other people’s attention.
The Benjamin Bloom hospital is now making the most of the donatedendoscopy system for diagnosis and medical treatment purposes.

Diagnosis with the donated endoscopy system (left) and outpatients department at
the Benjamin Bloom Hospital (right)

helped to inform us of our ‘contribution to society,’ and encouraged us
toward the next development of new products, because we havebecome aware of the fact that our technology is serving the healthcareof children as shown by this story.”

Cutting-edge medical instruments
as a next-generation standard

Development of medical
equipment requires
cooperation with physicians. Thus we makeour efforts to establish atrusting relationship withphysicians. We also try
to take into account theirthoughts and feelings
toward healthcare to the
maximum extent so that
we can develop bettermedical instruments.

We want to discover
how we can use
techniques such asimage processing tosupport the discovery of lesions. When
we meet new cuttingedge technologies,
we also want toapply them to thedevelopment ofendoscopy systems.

Aiming to raise the level of local healthcare asa social responsibility
With respect to the donation, OLA received a commendation from
ABCD. OLA also received the gracious thanks of President of El
Salvador.
There are many poor regions in the world where people can neither
receive sufficient medical services, nor enjoy the benefits of recent medical care. “The donation has made us aware of the fact that we can havea significant effect on local communities. We think that these activities
are one of the missions of Olympus and OLA and part of our social
responsibility. We will also strive to support regions and medical
institutions in which new technologies have not yet been introduced, andactivities that help patients get the medical treatment they need ,”says Victor. Corzo, President of OLA.

We assign the highest
priority to quality while
maintaining andimproving our production system forendoscopy systems sothat our customers cansafely make use of the
instrument. We also feelthe joy of producing
products where we cancontribute to medical
development from the
manufacturing sector.

Report Digest

Endoscopic healthcare can contribute to early detection of disease
and less onerous medical treatment, leading to alleviation of pain inpatients and improvements in their quality of life.
At Olympus, we have spent a long time in developing and producing our endoscopy systems while cooperating with physicians
who work at various medical facilities, and taking into account theirneeds. Furthermore, we try to make every effort to collect medical
information including newly-discovered diseases and the latest diagnostic and medical treatment methods. We also try to collect information on related technologies so that we can apply them in our development. Thus, we continue to pursue cutting-edge technologies to bringnew products to fruition. These newly-developed technologies will
be implemented as the next-generation standard.
High-quality products with the latest technologies essentiallytend to be expensive. However not all hospitals can afford them.
Thus, the addition to our line-up of reasonably-priced standard models
that guarantee quality and basic functions will make it possible for hospitals and physicians to make use of the products.
The EXERA 145 Series endoscopy system that was donated to the
Benjamin Bloom hospital is a standard product that was produced as partof this development trend. Hidenobu Kimura, Scope 4 Group,
Endoscope
Development
Department,
MedicalResearch
Development Division, who was engaged in the development of
EXERA 145, expresses his thoughts as follows:“It is almost impossible for us to go overseas to see with our own
eyes where our endoscopes are being used. However, this story

I am pleased toknow that our products have contributed to the livesof people around theworld. This is very
encouraging for us
as product developers.

Hidenobu Kimura

Chikara Hirai

Mutsumi Yoshikawa

Hiroyuki Saito

Team Leader, Scope 4 Group, Endoscope
Development Department
Medical Research Development Division

Team Leader, Imaging Units & Capsule
Products R&D Department
Medical Research Development Division

Group Leader, Product Technology Group
Development Department
Aizu Olympus Co., Ltd.

Team Leader, Development Group
Shirakawa Olympus Co., Ltd.

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

18

Policies for Corporate Activities
Sound Corporate Activities/Act on Behalf of the Customer:
Creating an Efficient and Sound Management System
Continuously providing value to all stakeholders, including shareholders,requires not only the capability of swiftly developing strategies and putting them into action but also a peer review systemthat checks the decisions and actions of management and employees.

Policies for Corporate Activities

Business Governing Structure

Business Management System

Increasing operational efficiency and clarifying who does what

Quick judgment and appropriate checking

Effective October 1, 2004, the in-house groups engaged in the imaging
business and medical business at Olympus were demerged to two
separate companies: Olympus Imaging Corp. and Olympus Medical
Systems Corp., respectively. Olympus Corporation assumes the role ofstrategic planner for the entire Group, Head Office, R&D, promotion oflife science and industry-related businesses, and the promotion of
new businesses.
This reorganization intends to further clarify who does what in business management to speed up decision making, establish a global
and consistent business system that matches the characteristics ofeach business, and maximize corporate value.
Refer to our web site
for details.

Besides the Board of Directors, Olympus has established the
Executive Management Committee and Global Strategy Committee. The
Executive Management Committee is in charge of promoting rapid
decision-making in performing operations, whereas the Global
Strategy Committee is in charge of executing global strategies andevaluating performance. The term of office for board members is one
year, and their responsibilities are clarified at annual General
Shareholders’ Meetings through winning the confidence of attendees ofthe meetings. Furthermore, two outside directors have been selected andappointed to enhance supervisory functions. As of fiscal 2005,
Olympus has 14 directors (including 2 outside directors) and 17
executive officers (including 8 who serve also as directors). Two outside
auditors, who are among the four auditors, are assigned to ensure
objective checking. Auditors are required to attend the monthly
Board of Directors meetings, examine the financial state of the entire
business as an independent organization that plays an important role incorporate governance, and regularly exchange information with theInternal Audit Department.

http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/profile/o_top.cfm■ Business Governing Structure

Olympus Corporation(life science, industry-related businesses, R&D, and Head Office)■ Corporate governance system
General Shareholders’ Meeting

Board ofDirectors

Appointments andsupervision

Business execution(medical business)

Appointments

AuditsAppointments

Reports

Accounting
auditorOlympus Medical Systems Corp.

Appointments(Global Strategy Committee,
Human Resources Committee, Risk
Management Committee,
Information Security Committee,
Environment Committee, etc.)

Exchange of
information(imaging business)

Decision making
and audits

Olympus Imaging Corp.

Board of Auditors

AuditsReports

Executive
Management
Committee
President

Executive
officers

Appointments
Reports

Committees

Reports
Internal Audit
Department

Execution groups, including Group
Auditscompanies, in-house companies, andHead Office departments

19

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Promoting ComplianceProtecting Information

Compliance with laws and regulations and corporate ethics

Special importance on the protection of personal information

As a guideline for directors and employees to using high ethical standards when conducting business, the Olympus Group established the
Olympus Group Corporate Conduct Charter
and Olympus Group
Code of Conduct and worked out CSR-related basic policies.
Various company rules and standards, a set of our own groupwide
criteria, have also been established to guide the conduct of employees.
In particular, as a corporation that offers products directly related to people’s lives in the medical business, Olympus has the responsibility toalways maintain the safety, quality, and services of those products at ahigh level and perform maintenance on rules and standards related to thePharmaceutical Affairs Law. Olympus has established thePharmaceutical Affairs Division to further enhance these systems.
Messages from the president are sent to all employees every monththrough the network, and employees can send back e-mails to
express their opinions directly to the president, thereby actively
establishing a better communication system. In October 2005,
Olympus established the Compliance Department and set up the
Help Line to provide a consultation service to employees on issues oflegal and ethical compliance. Compliance cards are distributed to all
employees in Japan to further enhance their approach to complianceissues.

Olympus has established the Olympus Information Security Policy
to protect its information assets. Furthermore, Olympus has
established the companywide Information Security Committee toproperly manage information assets. Olympus has also established
the Olympus Personal Information Protection Policy and company
rules to protect personal information and implemented education
through e-learning to all domestic employees as well as many overseas
employees.

Risk Management System
Special committee, headed by the president, supervises risk
management
Corporations face a growing number of unexpected risks as aresult of their expanding economic activities and changes in thesocial system and people’s awareness. Therefore, Olympus has set
up an emergency response system headed by the President to reduce
daily risks and take proactive measures to prevent crises.

Policies for Corporate Activities

Olympus Group Code of Conduct =http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/csr/compliance/conduct/
Basic policies =http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/csr/olycsr/philosophy/csrprinciples.cfm#houshin

Information security policy =http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/csr/compliance/security/■ Risk Management System
President

Task force

Risk management leader

Risk Management Committee
Chairman: President

Risk managers of
demerged companies,
in-house companies, andHead Office departments

Risk Management Bureau

Employee notebook
where the Conduct
Charter and Code of
Conduct are compiled.

Execution groups,
including Group companies,
in-house companies, andHead Office departments

Compliance cards distributed to employees

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

20

Act on Behalf of the Customer: Developing Stronger Ties with Customers, and Providing
Top-Quality Products and Services
Manufacturers should not neglect the provision of top-quality products and services that establish customer satisfaction,
security, and confidence. All departments and employees of the Olympus Group are striving to focus on customer-oriented
manufacturing and services by listening to its customers and having their comments reflected in products. Our goal is tohear our customers say “Olympus—the choice that couldn’t be more right.”

Quality Control in Product Development

Aiming for top quality

Reflecting customer feedback on products

Every year, the Olympus Group defines major objectives and measures
as part of improvement plans for its quality functions. These strategies
are designed to effect Groupwide implementation of our quality philosophy.

Olympus improves customer satisfaction by promptly incorporating customers’ opinions in development, manufacturing, marketing, andafter-sale service processes in an integrated manner.
■ Design and manufacturing that reflect customers’ comments on
products

1. Realization of genuinely world-class “Total Quality” in all aspectsof the organization.
2. Provision of the highest quality products and services tocustomers.

Inquiries

Proposals

Requirements

Comments

Core Principles(1) All actions to reflect a customer-oriented approach.
(2) Develop “Win-Win” relationships with all partners.
(3) Be disciplined in following the appropriate procedures and, in
day-to-day operations, continuously strive for improvement,
avoiding complacency.

The Olympus Group has set up a quality assurance department foreach demerged company in the imaging and medical fields, as well as
in-house business divisions, to offer high-quality products that its
customers can use with confidence. At the same time, the Olympus
Group has established the Quality Environment Administration
Division, which oversees demerged companies and in-house businessdivisions from a customer’s view point to promote customer-oriented
quality management activities.
To continuously improve these quality management activities,
the President personally visits actual working sites worldwide tocarry out periodic inspections, thus involving himself in quality
inspection.
The Olympus Group has designated November as QS (Quality
and Standardization) Month and holds Groupwide activities. All
employees are given a copy of Customer-Oriented Conduct, a CSR
handbook, to ensure that they are thoroughly
aware of quality and customer-oriented conduct.
To ensure quality from upstream
processes, or at the design and development
stage, we are making efforts to make themost of our knowledge and enhance ourapproach toward QE (Quality Engineering)in addition to implementing many quality
education courses for engineers in R&D Customer-Oriented
Conduct, a CSR handdepartments.
book

21

Customers

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

HP
Face
to
Face

Communication
by telephone

Customer
supportcenters

HP

Marketing departments
Sales companies
in Japan
Overseas subsidiarycompanies
AgentsE-mailShowrooms

Discussions at relevant departments
Marketing and Sales, Development and Design-Planning
Usability evaluation

Test andEvaluation Center

Decision to introduce new products and services

Approaches to have customers’ comments
reflected in products and services

Quality Philosophy

Approaches to provide customers
with quality that can establish
customer satisfaction

Policies for Corporate Activities

Olympus Group Quality Assurance System

Approaches to have customers’ comments reflected in products and services■ Examples of products and services created■ Management of the rate of response to
as a result of customers’ comments
customers• Repair pick-up services (page 22)
To accept customers’ comments, each
• Repair progress confirmation services (page 22)
customer support center manages its rateof response to customers and works to• Improved photo-taking guide for digital cameras
improve it.
• Making our products more compact, lighter■ Response to customer’s inquiries
and slimmer
To surely respond to customers’ inquiries,* Refer to 1 on page 22 for the rate of
we established the Database of Inquiries.
response to customers
Approaches to provide customers with quality that can establish customer satisfaction■ Usability Evaluation■ Test and Evaluation Center
Products are actually used by customers
Quality is checked at the development stage
to detect possible operational errors andso that customers can use our products withrestrictions in use, thereby improving cusout trouble. The Test and Evaluation Center
tomer satisfaction.
tests the safety of products in accordance• Improvement in instruction manuals
with various international certifications, such
• Operationability improvement in digitalas ISO/IEC 17025*. The Test and Evaluation
camerasCenter was accredited the safety-testing laboratory for medical electrical equipment established within a company for the first timein Japan (as of August 17, 2005).
* International accreditation standards forlaboratories that show technical eligibility andcapability with respect to tests and measurements, in addition to ISO 9001, which is aninternational standard of quality management

Customer Support System

Repair System

Responding quickly to inquiries

In times of need

The Olympus Group has a system that can support customers according
to product features. At the same time, we are making efforts toimprove the rate of response to customers1 so as to enhance customer
counseling functions in terms of customers and products in each field at
the customer support centers and to enhance the customer-based
response system.
Furthermore, we are cooperating with overseas subsidiaries andsales agents to globally maintain the inquiry and repair systems ineach product field. Customers can refer to our web site to get appropriate
information on where to contact us for their products in their regions.

The Olympus Group has a repair system that optimizes the time and costof the repair service, depending on the area and product.

1 Rate of response to customers: the probability th¡at a customer’s phone call toa customer support center successfully connects to an operator on the first try

Customers can request a service call through not only dealers andservice centers but also our well-developed Repair Pick-up Service,
which provides customers with a pick-up service. The staff, after
receiving a call from a user, picks up the damaged product at theuser’s location and delivers it to the designated service center.
Customers can also use the pick-up service on our web site to check the
progress of the repair work, thus reducing the irritation that stems
from waiting.

(Inquiries)

300,000■ Imaging ▲ Endoscope ● Microscope

250,000
200,000

Okaya Repair Service Center (Nagano Prefecture)

150,000■ Percentage of repairs completed within the allotted time

100,000(%)

50,000■ Digital camera ● Film camera

100
0
(FY)

'03

'04

'05

90
80
70
60
50

■ Customer Response System in Japan
Product
FieldsCustomer Response System

Imagingfield•Assignment of personnel in charge of inquires according to a timeschedule
Based on the conventional tendency of the number of inquiries and counseling,
we predict the days and time when the number increases and assigne telephone
operators accordingly.
•Carrying out various investigations to improve customer satisfaction
Based on the results of questionnaires answered on our web site, we update thequestion-and-answers page on the web site and retrieval performance asneeded.
We regularly investigate customer satisfaction by telephone and e-mail and implement
measures to improve services in preference to the ones that are low in satisfaction.
We implemented in-house monitoring investigations of all operators to evaluate
their skills in responding to customers and provided them with training to improve
such skills.
•Thorough visible management
The telephone response rate, customer-response skills, scores ofquestionnaires, and other customer satisfaction-related items are digitized topromote thorough visible management.
•For development of customer-oriented activities, we use the following as
our motto : “Now, the problem is solved. Thank you.”•Development of a service system that can provide highly credible and safe
medical instruments that customers can use with confidence
We put emphasis on such technical inquires as the ones related to the
explanation of product handling and troubleshooting so that customers can use
our products safely and with confidence. We have newly assigned experts who
are knowledgeable in cleaning and sterilization as well as high-frequency
equipment, in which customers have great concerns.
•Promotion of business improvement based on customer feedback
To reflect customer feedback in business improvement, The Voice of the
Customer, an in-house report, is delivered to the managers of the Manufacturing,
Development, and Marketing Departments and reported to the top management.
As a result, instruction manuals, catalogs, and product labels are revised.
Information disclosure methods by database are also improved.
•Quality improvement in services at the customer information center
Telephone operators endeavor to deepen their knowledge of products, thus
improving customer satisfaction. Additionally, we established a call center systemand plan to increase personnel.
•Enhancement of our web site
Revisions to and enhancement of our web site by providing richer content in aquestion-and-answer format allows customers to answer their own questions.

Endoscope

Microscope

(FY)

'02

'03

'04

'05

* To increase the percentage ofrepairs completed within theallotted time and improvecustomer satisfaction throughbetter face-to-face services,
we are strengthening thefunctions of local service
centers and trying to achieve
a “one-day repair service” atthe service center.

Policies for Corporate Activities■ Number of inquiries to customer support centers

Imaging Field
The Repair Service Center at Okaya-shi serves as the repair plant forfilm and digital cameras in Japan. In Europe, repair centers are mainly
located in Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Russia. In the U.S., a repair
center is located in New York.

Medical Field
The Medical Service Operation Center Shirakawa (SORC
Shirakawa) serves as the main repair plant for endoscopes in Japan.
Repair centers are located in California in the U.S., and in Germany,
France, and the Czech Republic in Europe under our centralized
repair system.

SORC Shirakawa (Fukushima Prefecture)
At SORC Shirakawa, the management of repairs and rental equipment is unified to quickly troubleshoot what is wrong with the products
and minimize downtime2. Furthermore, we have set up the
Replication Room for the Customer’s Environment, which serves toreconstruct the trouble scene experienced by customers on a system similar to that used by customers, thus allowing us to efficiently identify the
failure. We also welcome customers to our facilities, providing themwith workshops on how to handle products, including precautions,using training facilities, thereby enhancing customer-based services.
2 Downtime: the length of time [a business is] interrupted or time in a resting
phase; normal services cannot be provided to customers while in downtime.

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

22

Involvement with People
Respect for Human Rights and Compliance with the Law
Human rights need to be respected in corporate activities, which is a common understanding in modern society. However,
it is still possible that human rights could be violated inside the Group without ever being noticed. To prevent such asituation from happening or to improve any environment in which is it likely to arise, respect for human rights needs to be
officially stated as a part of our corporate policy together with a workable system of carrying out measures to prevent theviolation of human rights and promote respect towards others.

Human Rights and Labour Policy and
the Global Compact

Actions for the Prevention, Early Detection,
and Resolution of Problems

Respect for human rights officially stated as one of our basic
principles

Creating an energetic, rule-abiding workplace

For years, Olympus has been actively engaged in creating a working
environment where every employee can perform his or her best;
respect for human rights, a varied sense of values, and individual
personalities help totally develop human resources and maintain an organization that have with vitality—our guiding principle for personnel
management—based on the Social IN management philosophy. In
October 2004, Olympus participated in the UN Global Compact by officially stating its determination to support and implement the 10 universal
principles in four areas, including human rights and labor . In March
2005, the new Olympus Human Rights and Labour Policy
was formulated for groupwide application to send a strong message ofrespect for human rights to all employees in the Group. In December
2005, Olympus Procurement Policy
was released in which we ask
our suppliers to cooperate in respecting human rights.

Olympus gives a copy of the Workplace Management Handbook to each
employee in a managerial position, and he or she is obliged to undergo
manager training. The comprehensive guidebook imparts know-how andguidelines on how to make the most of each and every employee’s abilities and have the organization function at its optimum. In addition, thebook contains basic rules on labor management, including time management and obligations to ensure employee safety—both of which arein line with the labor law—as well as considerations to the mental
health of employees.
The Sexual Harassment Guidebook is also prepared over the
intranet so that all employees know how to handle it.

Workplace Management Handbook
Involvement with People

Olympus Human Rights and Labour Policy =http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/csr/compliance/human/index.cfm?ote=0
Olympus Procurement Policy =http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/procurement/procurement.cfm?ote=■ Organization of personnel and labor issues
Workplace Management Handbook
President

Employee Complaint Procedure
Human Resources
Committee
Director in charge of
personnel and labor issues
Human Resources
Subcommittee
Personnel
Department

Plant
manager

Plant
manager

Plant
manager

Plant
managerManagers of business divisions, such as subsidiaries andin-house companies* Personnel and labor issues are supervised by a director, with the president
being the highest person responsible. If two or more subsidiaries and in-housecompanies exist in the same plant, a plant manager is assigned to each plantso that policies and measures concerning personnel and labor issues can bethoroughly conveyed and implemented.

23

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

As part of the Employee Complaint Procedure, a consultation service has
been set up in which women answer the complaints of female
employees who have been sexually harassed. The consultants keep
any information disclosed by harassed employees strictly confidential (such information is disclosed to no one without consent, noteven to the manger of the employee filing the complaint) and takeappropriate action to solve the problem. Consultants that deal withother labor problems are also available. If the matter cannot be
resolved between the parties directly involved, it will be reviewed by acommittee formed by representatives from the company and employees
to either find a solution or eliminate the problem. These measures
have been effectively implemented.

ensure that those who wish to be reemployed and qualified will get jobs,
Olympus structured a new vocational development promotion systemcovering the entire Group in Japan.

Diversity and Opportunity
Utilizing diverse human resources according to individual
abilities

Equal Employment Opportunities for Both Sexes
At Olympus, there are no restrictions in deciding who to employ—whether for entry-level or midlevel employ whose salary to raise, or who
to promote. We are always ready to employ and make use of uniquehuman resources: people who are capable in specialty fields, haveappropriate work ethics, and think in terms of an independent professional. As a result, more female employees have been appointed for
managerial positions.
■ Employment for entry-level
positions: Percentage of men
and women

37

24

23

26

74

73

63

76

FY
'01
■Women 23
■Men
91

'02
53
90

0
FY
'01
'03 '04 '05
42 52 65 (People) ■Women 23
61
133 175 184(People) ■Men

0

77

40

80

20

16

22

10

10

84

78

90

90

60

60
40

100 (%)
2780

20

FY2003

FY2004

FY200516

16

9* Combined data of Olympus
Corporation, Olympus Imaging
Corp., and Olympus Medical
Systems Corp.

Development of Health Promotion Activities“Olympus Good Health 21”
To further promote “Respect for Human Rights/ Working
Environment with Vitality”
Employees’ health plays an important role in promoting “Respect for
Human Rights/ Working Environment with Vitality.” Although theirhealth depends mainly upon their own efforts, the company and thehealth insurance association support them by creating a suitable environment for health promotion.
■ Health promotion cycle by improving living habits'02 '03 '04
36
52 24
193 186 209'05
6 (People)
52 (People)

Employment of Foreigners
Our skilled human resources include foreign nationals. Many local
corporations are headed by locals. Olympus Imaging Corp., one of
the core companies of the Olympus Group, has two foreign directors outof seven in total, while Olympus Medical Systems Corp. has two foreign
directors out of seven in total (as of March 31, 2006).

Employment of the Physically Challenged
At Olympus, there are 67 physically challenged employees who are apart of the workforce in various trades. The percentage of employees
who are physically challenged is 1.07%, which is, regrettably,
under the statutory level of 1.8%. Olympus, having accepted thisresult seriously, developed active recruiting activities and made its
workplace more accessible to the physically challenged. In addition, aiming to raise their employment ratio to the statutory level, Olympus
established concrete improvement plan and started to expand it
actively.
The number and percentage of physically challenged employees are the
combined data of Olympus Corporation, Olympus Imaging Corp., and Olympus
Medical Systems Corp. as of the end of March 2006.

Reemployment System for Retirees
In addition to an existing retirement system for those who reach the ageof 60, Olympus introduced a reemployment system after retirement in2001. At the time of introduction, nomination by Olympus was arequirement. In April 2006, in line with the revision of the Law concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons, a new systemstarted to reemploy all of those who wish to continue working unlessthey have serious problems in their evaluation and/or health. For
those nearing retirement age, Olympus confirms whether they wish to
be reemployed or not after a thorough discussion of the system. To

Regularhealthcheckups

Evaluation ofhealth checkup
results

Health guidance
based on the results

Involvement with People

100 (%)
80 20■ Employment for midlevel
positions: Percentage of men
and women■ Number of reemployed retirees

Planning for the improvementof living habits(Put feasible action into practice)• Improvement of living habits (eating and exercise habits, etc.)• Improvement of body strength, health promotion

Various Measures to Support Improving Living
HabitsAs a measure to support improvement of living habits, Olympus, incooperation with the health insurance association, holds such events
as “Walking Campaign,” “Nosmoking Campaign,” “Improving
Eating Habit Seminar,” and“Health Seminar.”
Improving Eating Habit Seminar

Health Checkup System for Nonworking
Dependents by Health Insurance Association
StartedFor the health promotion of employees’ family members, thisyear Olympus launched the “health checkup system for nonworking
dependents” targeted at those nonworking dependents at the age of
35 or above. High-level checkups are available by sharing thecost. Employees may choose to use the existing nonworking
dependents and spouse health checkup system. The checkups are provided by contracted institutions commissioned by the healthinsurance association and about 1,500 institutions nationwide that
perform checkups on contract.

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

24

Working Environments with Vitality: Creating Worthwhile Workplaces
Olympus believes that a company’s social responsibility is to promote the capabilities of its employees and help them fully
demonstrate their capabilities and lead a full life both at home and at work.

Evaluation System

Capability Development System

Fair and reasonable treatment

Education and training

Involvement with People

The personnel system of Olympus is designed to bring about individual
respect and independence, high specialty capability and morale, and thepromotion of merit-and performance-based treatment.
Employees will be evaluated on their achievement level as compared to the originally set target, and the evaluation will be reflected intheir salary and bonus. Evaluations and the setting of targets will be done
based on statements made by each employee. Managers should give
each employee a detailed explanation of his or her target and evaluationin one-on-one meetings. The total amount of bonuses to be given to
employees varies according to the performance of the company
because of the company’s basic policy that the company’s income
stems from the contribution of all employees.

■ Change in the approximate
number of trainees
FY2003

FY2004

FY2005

4,100

4,500

5,600

■ Popular courses
Coaching basic
Techniques to make others work
Logical thinking
Innovation of design quality anddesign technology capabilities

Advanced Technician/Engineer Encouragement
SystemChallenge System
In-house job placement schemes
Olympus introduced two types of in-house job placement schemes in1990 and 2001. The former, or Type A, allows a department to look forhuman resources it needs from within the company, and any employee
can apply for it without the approval of his or her superior. If theemployee passes the interview, he or she can move to the new
department. The latter, or Type B, allows an employee to look for amore suitable job within the company for one year with the approval of
his or her superior. These two schemes are collectively called theChallenge System. This system aims at promoting the more effective useof in-house human resources and providing individual employeeswith opportunities to think about their careers, explore new ways anddevelop an independent professional mind-set.
■ Type-A scheme:
Data for the past three years

25

Olympus College
Olympus College, an in-house education system, provides employeeswith many opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills in
specialty areas by holding lectures and workshops on business, engineering, and technology. Employees are allowed to file an application,
provided they consult with their superiors in advance.

■ Type-B scheme:
Data for the past threeyears

No. of job
titlesNo. ofapplicants

No. of employees
reassigned

June 2003

83

28

15

Dec. 2003

92

37

16

2003

29

7

2004

109

45

28

2004

17

4

2005

117

48

28

2005

20

3

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Olympus has set up an advanced technician/engineer encouragement
system to ensure improvements in and the inheritance of the technicaland practical skills of its technicians and engineers. The level of individual employees is generally evaluated based on the TechnicalLevel Evaluation Table. Employees, once judged qualified, will beawarded the special title of Advanced Technician/Engineer and given abonus. As of March 2006, 103 qualified technicians/engineers are atwork.

Advanced technician/engineer certificate

Internship
Mutual communication between students and corporation

No. of employees
registered for job No. of employees
reassigned
placement

We introduced an internship system in FY2002 to provide students with
an opportunity to know our working environment. Students actuallywork at Olympus, and, according to their comments, the system
helps them prepare and be more aware of the business world they are
entering.
In FY2005, we had more than 100 applicants, 20 of which were
accepted by the R&D departments.

Childcare and Family Care Support System

Work Arrangements and Welfare Systems

Welfare Cafeteria Plan

Reduction in working Until March 31 of the year the child enters elementary school
hours
Leave for nursingcare

5 days (paid) per year until March 31 of the year the childenters elementary school

Leave of absence

Up to one year per person in need of care per condition
1 person used the system in FY2005.

Reduction in working Up to one year per person in need of care per condition
hours

Exemption from overtime As prescribed by statuteand midnight work

Volunteer Leave
This system allows Olympus employees to join volunteer programs,
such as the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers. Employees who use
this system are fully entitled to resume the job they held before taking leave.
PurposeLeaving for participation in social contribution program
typically held or organized by international organizations, theJapanese government, local governments, or social welfare
corporations

PeriodLonger than one month but up to two years“Refresh Plan” and PLP Seminar
The “Refresh Plan” was introduced to help long-time employees
have a renewed look at what they have achieved and what they can doin the future in their time remaining with the company. Employees are
given paid holidays and bonus at the seventh and twentieth year of service. In addition, the Age 55 Pension Life Plan (PLP) Seminar is provided for employees nearing retirement age to help them how they aregoing to live after retirement. Employees, together with their spouses,
can join the seminar held at a hotel in a hot spring resort to learn
about and plan for life after retirement from three viewpoints:money, objectives, and health.
■ Paid holidays, bonus andseminar7th year of
employment

Paid holidays: 5 days

20th year of
employment

Paid holidays: 10 days

Paid holidays: 5 days,
At the age ofParticipation in55
the PLP Seminar

Within one year, up to the child’s second birthday(may be extended for an additional six months in special cases)
46 employees used this system in FY2005.

No. of employees who No employees in FY2005, 3 in total since FY1995
used this system

Involvement with People

Olympus introduced this system to fulfill the diversified needs of theemployees. In this system, they are given welfare points every year andare entitled to make choices among the various welfare schemes. The
given points can be used for the costs of nursery and after-school
programs for children, education, and family care. The unit price perpoint is doubled for certain important activities such as learning foreign
languages, or caring for elderly parents. The unit price per point is doubled when used or the cost paid to babysitters and day-care centers, as
Olympus has set these as an important priorities.

Leave of absenceChildcare

Olympus believes that it is important for its employees to actively
work toward their higher targets as well as living a full life at home andin society. To support this, we have established a variety of work
arrangement and welfare systems through negotiations with employees
and the labor union. Some of the major arrangements are as follows:

Family care

Supporting both the working and private lives of employees

Olympus respects the Childcare and Family Care Leave Law. The
childcare and family care support system offered by Olympus provides more benefits than prescribed by statute.

Occupational Safety and Health
Effort to eliminate occupational accidents

Occupational Safety and Prevention of
Occupational Accidents
Olympus and the labor union of
every Olympus plant form an
Occupational Safety and HealthCommittee, which carries out
various programs to eliminate
occupational hazards and accidents and ensure a safe working
environment, including traffic
safety guidance and periodic
Occupational Safety and Health Committee
safety patrols.

Participants enjoying a PLP Seminar■ No. of occupational accidents

Annual Paid Holidays
Employees apply for paid holidays and receive permission throughan intranet-based procedure. The management should keep a goodworkload balance and always consider the workforce available whengranting leave to applicants so that employees will find it easier to takeleave without causing an excessive load to be placed on certain
employees.

Item

FY2003

FY2004

FY2005

Accidents on the way to/from work

5

3

14

Accidents in the work

13

15

9

Total

18

18

23

* No. of occupational accidents is a combined data of Olympus Corporation,
Olympus Imaging Corp., and Olympus Medical Systems Corp.

Physical and Mental Health Consultation
No. of annual paid holidays(for full-time workers)

20 days a year, starting the first year of employment
Unused paid holidays can be carried over to the next
year only.

Consecutive leave promotion
scheme (Creative Holiday)

5 consecutive leave is promoted(can be taken combining with ordinary holidays)

An external health consultation service is provided to offer employees
free consultation on heath, caring, etc., over the phone. A consultation
service for mental health, in cooperation with an external medical
facility, is also available to employees.

Expired annual paid holiday saving Saving of up to 50 days allowed for medical
scheme (Special Sick Leave)
treatments and family care (paid holidays)

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

26

Harmony with the Environment
Strengthening Environmental Management
The Olympus Group will PLAN its goals and future directions, actually DO these plans, CHECK achievement of the goals
and the actual situation , and ACT to implement each environmental measure.
The Olympus Group will work to reduce its environmental load, with all of its employees—including top management—
participating in these PDCA activities.

Olympus Group Environmental Charter
The basis of our management philosophy–“Social IN”

Harmony with the Environment
27

In August 1992, the Olympus Group defined its Environmental
Charter to establish a healthy environment and a society in whichsustainable development is possible.
Being a responsible corporate citizen, the Olympus Group, in its
Environmental Charter, articulates its basic position on environmental

issues and sets out ambitious environmental protection goals that
require specific actions.
The Environmental Charter was revised in FY 2005 to ensure
continuous improvement and strengthen compliance and risk management.

Olympus Group Environmental Charter

Environmental
Protection
Declaration

The Olympus Group respects people’s security and health and the natural mechanisms that realize this. We
are also contributing to the realization of a sustainable society and sound environment through environmentally-compatible technological development and corporate activities.

Guideline forEnvironmental
ActionIn all business activities, the Olympus Group will give priority to environmental protection and will
apply itself with dedication to this task, both on an organizational and individual basis.

1. Technology Development

4. Active Support

We will develop products, services and production technologies
with a careful and conscientious regard for safety and environmental
protection. Furthermore, we will make the results of such developments
available to everybody.

We will comply with environment-related laws and regulations, andcooperate with environmental measures recommended by government
bodies. We will actively participate in the environmental protection
activities being carried out by regional and international communities.

2. Drawing up Norms and Assessing Results

5. Education and Total Staff Participation

We will take the initiative in setting up our own pioneering standards and norms. We will make general environmental impact
assessments at each stage of our operations from development
through to production and sales to realize continuous improvements.

We will publicize and engage in other activities with the purpose of
informing all Olympus staff of the need for environmental protection. We will encourage each and every staff member to increase hisor her understanding of environmental protection activities at home, atwork, and in the community.

3. Protection of Natural Resources

6. Structure to Promote Activities

We will make a united effort to conserve natural resources andsave energy. At the same time, we will promote activities based on theeffective use of resources, including reducing waste generation andrecycling waste, and endeavor to reduce environmental loads and prevent pollution.

Under our Director responsible for environmental protection, we will
make clear our responsibilities in promoting environmental protection,and establish a structure through which we can take appropriate
measures to deal with changes as they occur, both inside and outside
Olympus.

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Actual Activity Results in FY2005
PDCA in FY2005 1
Our priorities in FY2005 were the creation of environmentally-conscious
products and the prevention of global warming; we achieved a numberof important results.

1 PDCA = To strengthen its environmental management, the Olympus Group
uses a PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT (PDCA) methodology, and follows theenvironmental management system flow.

■ Outline of actual results in FY2005
Goals in FY2005 regarding Eco-products(Accelerating the introduction of environmentally-conscious products to the market)
Priorities

Observing
Environmental
Laws and
Regulations
Related to
Products

Goals in FY 2005

: Achieved goal : Partially achieved goal : Failed to achieve goal

Actual Results

Setting sales targets for•In “Basic Environment Plan 2006” (P. 45 and 46), we set target ratios
Olympus Eco-products
for the volume of sales of Olympus Eco-products according to all
Creating
product categories (for FY 2008 and 2010).
Excellent•In this FY, we identified 25 products as Olympus Eco-products.
EnvironmentallyAbout 1,368,654 units were sold, totaling ¥28,890 million.
Conscious
Products
Fundamentally revising the •We tried to revise the system to improve the quality of Olympus Ecoproducts; however in this FY we could only organize existing tasks.
Olympus Eco-products
systemAssessment

Future Programs

Reference
Pages•We will continue to carefully monitor thesetrends and take the necessary measures.






P42

•We will consider measures for Green
Procurement, not only for the EU’s RoHS
Directive but also from a long-term perspective.
•We will clarify methods for guaranteeing that P37-38
products do not contain chemical substances
specified in the RoHS Directive, and group
policies for non-usage.
•We will further promote action to achieve thetarget ratios of the volume of sales of
Olympus Eco-products according to all product categories.

•We will clarify the policies for Olympus Ecoproducts and work to achieve them.

Assessment

Future Programs

P34
P42

Goals in FY 2005 regarding eco-facilities (Improving and upgrading environmentally efficient management)
Priorities

Goals in FY 2005

Actual Results

Reducing CO2 emissions
by 5% compared to theprevious year (CO2 emissions per sales unit)•By mainly engaging in energy-saving activities, we reduced environmental loading
through the improvement of facility operations. We could achieve a 7.4 % reduction(CO2 emissions per sales unit) in the consumption rate based on sales volume.
•We engaged in activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from non-energy
systems2 resulting in a reduction of about 1,000 tons of CO2.
•We participated in “Team Minus 6%,” a national movement to help reduce global
warming, and carried out activities to enlighten our employees about energy saving.

Promoting
Energy Saving
Activities
Understanding the status of •To reduce CO2 emissions in the logistics stage, we investigated the actual situation,
based on domestic and international transportation routes, transportation means
the environmental load
(trucks, freighters, aircraft, etc.), and sales figures.
caused by logistics•We improved the loading ratio of domestic logistics and promoted a Modal Shift

Reducing the total amount •We made efforts to utilize resources effectively, recycle resources, as well as reduce theSavingof waste by 35% compared amount of waste, and achieved a 27.6% reduction (per sales unit) compared to FY 2000.
Resources andto FY 2000 (per sales unit) •We sustained Minimumization of Landfill in Japan.3
Reducing
We set a definition and goals for Minimumization of Landfill in overseas facilities andWasteestablished approval processes.
Eliminating
Hazardous
Substances andReducing
Environmental
Risks

Controlling the use of chlo- •We carried out an internal audit for the control of the use of the solrine-based organic solvents vents and strengthened the management system.
(dichloromethane) adequately

Reference
Pages•We will develop further measures based on
our “Basic Environment Plan 2006.”
P31
P39









Harmony with the Environment•Attachment of an indication showing that the product complies with the
Fully observing the (EU)
WEEE Directive and RoHS WEEE Directive (effective in August 2005), to products sold in the EU•For products in the imaging field, 90% of which (based on their weight) were
Directive
to be sold in the EU in March 2006, compliance with the RoHS Directive(which will take effect in July 2006) completed
Implementing Green•In conjunction with business partners, the entire group promoted
Procurement to eliminate
inspections of Green Procurement inspections as to whether prodchemical substances anducts and parts contain substances specified in the RoHS Directive
establish an assurance•In terms of guaranteeing that products do not contain chemical subsystemstances specified in the RoHS Directive, coordination across theentire group was not completed.

•We will promote the reduction of CO2 emissions in
the domestic and international transportation environments company-wide.
•We will promote the effective use of resources byadopting measures such as packaging improvements.
•We will implement measures to achieve thereduction of the total amount of waste.
•We will promote Minimumization of Landfill inoverseas facilities.

P41

P31

•We will continue to make efforts to reduce
solvent consumption and control its usage.

Goals in FY 2005 regarding eco-management (Further promoting global environmental management)
Priorities

Developing
GlobalEnvironmental
Management

Goals in FY 2005

Actual Results•We held Global Environmental Meetings, obtained information on
Strengthening the system
environmental laws and regulations in each country, and promoted
for dealing with environmental laws and regulations understanding in the company.
Integrating control levels of •Although we translated self-imposed standards in Japanese into English andnotified their integration to concerned parties, these activities were carriedchemical substances related to products or production out for limited products and in limited offices and plants.
Expanding ISO 14001 certi- •Olympus Optical Technology Philippines, Inc. (Cebu, Philippines)
and Olympus Medical Equipment Service America Inc. National
fication, an environmental
Service Center (California, US) received ISO 14001 certification.
management system, tothe entire Olympus Group

Enriching environmental
Improvingcommunication and semiEnvironmentalnars
Communication•By holding environment-related seminars, we provided our employees withenvironmental education.
•We held or participated in various events such as Eco-products exhibitions.
•We enriched communication tools such as CSR Reports and web sites.

Assessment

Future Programs

Reference
Pages



•We will make efforts to interpret laws as wellas establish policies and to spread such policies throughout the group.

P30



•From the viewpoint of CSR, we will strengthen environmental risk management.

—





•We will promote environmental management
through manufacturing.

•By holding discussions with stakeholders, wewill share our sense of values with them andfeed back in our activities.

P29

P30
P48

2 Greenhouse gas emissions from non-energy systems = Methane gases and chlorofluorocarbons that directly lead to global warming when they are released into theatmosphere. A typical example is a spraying agent for blowing out dust (spray-can propellant) that uses alternatives for chlorofluorocarbon.
3 Minimumization of Landfill = An Olympus-defined objective as follows: “To reduce the final amount of waste disposed of in landfills, which does not enter the recycling route,to less than 1% of the total amount of waste discharged.”

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

28

Environmental Management System

Implementing Environmental Risk Management

Realizing PDCA

Establishing crisis management systems in Japan andoverseasby top management

Harmony with the Environment

The Olympus Group is promoting environmental management, based on
the Olympus Corporation Environmental Management System,
where the President plays a leading role. The Olympus Corporation
Environmental Management System is run by a body consisting of
the Director Responsible for Environmental Affairs, the Corporate
Planning Division, the Risk Management Bureau, and committeeorganizations, as well as the Olympus Group Environmental
Secretariat in which environmental affairs administrators participate. The
Olympus Corporation Environmental Management System develops
Basic Environment Plans for each year (P. 28) and a Medium-Term
Environmental Basic Plan (P. 46), every three years. Each branch,group, center, and facility in Japan and overseas addresses environmental
issues under the Olympus Corporation Environmental Management
System. In FY 2003, the Olympus Corporation Environmental
Management System received ISO 14001 certification; subsequent
activities have included internal and external audits with top management, including the President and the Director responsible for environmental affairs. So as to the Olympus Group can strengthen management reviews, implement the PDCA cycle (PLAN-DO-CHECKACT), and promote the Environmental Management System within
the Group as a whole.
■ Environmental Promotion System
The Olympus Corporation Environmental Management System

Board meeting

PresidentInternal Environmental
Auditors

Every two years, emergency exercises are held for familiarizing staff
with our crisis management systems.
In FY 2005, on the assumption that oil had been spilled when it was
being fed into a heavy oil tank in Hachioji Plant, Risk Management
Office, Public Relations/IR Office, and Environmental Promotion
Dept. worked together and organized an exercise using the companywide intranet known as theEmergency Reporting System.
In this FY, we also held anenvironmental risk assessment(overseas) at Olympus Optical
Technology Philippines, Inc.
in the Philippines.

Simulation exercise in Hachioji

Status of compliance with environmental laws andregulations
In FY 2005, Olympus did not violate any environment-related laws andregulations, and there were no lawsuits, penalties, or fines related toenvironmental issues against Olympus. There were also no accidents
regarding such laws within the company. Regarding complaints from theoutside, inhabitants around the Okaya Plant made a complaint aboutnoise because the plant had not turned off the power to the outdoor unitof an air conditioner. In Technology Research Institutes in Hachioji,
mercury leaked out from an air gauge and spilled over the floor. The
mercury was properly dealt with.

Corporate Planning
Division
Risk Management
BureauISO 14001 Certification Obtained

Director Responsible
for Environmental Affairs
Olympus Group
Environmental Committee
Olympus Group Environmental
Management Division(Olympus Group Environmental
Secretariat)
Responsible for promoting
environmental management for
the entire Olympus Group

Deliberates on important items
related to the corporate
environmental measures andimplements those measures.

Olympus Group Environmental
Secretariat Meeting
Facility Environmental Affairs
Administration Meeting

Eco-products
Approval Committee
Conducts standards setup andapproval of Eco-products

Develops company-wide
environmental policies anddeliberates on priorities and tasks
for each facility.

Facility Environmental
Secretariat Meeting

Branches, Groups,
Centers Environmental
Management
Organizations

29

Facility Environmental
Management
Organizations

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Local Overseas
Subsidiaries Environmental
Management Organizations

Increase in the number of ISO 14001-certified branches
The overseas offices and plants that received ISO 14001
Certification in FY 2005 are as follows: Olympus Optical
Technology Philippines, Inc. (Cebu, Philippines, in May) andNational Service Center in Olympus Medical Equipment Service
America, Inc. (San Jose, US, in December). In this FY, all offices
and plants with ISO 14001 Certification obtained the revised version of
ISO 14001: 2004.
In the future, we will actively expand activities to establish acomprehensive environmental management system for sales activities covering marketing and services.
 For the offices and plants that had received ISO 14001 Certification in FY2005,
refer to the attached document.

Environmental Education in the Olympus Group

Green Purchasing

Widely provided according to purpose

Environmental awareness as a consumer

The Olympus Group provides environmental education for all of its
employees in Japan and overseas. We tailor its contents to suit theemployees being educated and the type of business at each facility sothat they can receive the type of education that matches their roles.
Furthermore, each facility nurtures specialists in environment andoccupational safety and health by setting in-house goals and ensuring
there are sufficient numbers of such specialists.

Olympus is promoting Green Purchasing: When an employee, as aconsumer, purchases OA (office automation) equipment, office supplies,
lighting fixtures, and motor vehicles for business use, he/she should purchase environmentally-conscious products.
Regarding the purchasing of paper, stationery, and office supplies, the product information in our electronic purchasing systemprovides a mark to indicate which products fall under the category of
Products with Eco-Mark, Products with Green Mark, Products listed in
GPN Environmental Data Book, or Products conforming to theGreen Purchasing Law and are therefore environmentally-conscious
products. We are introducing Eco-cars for new company vehicles,
and have also revised promotional merchandise in the light ofincreased environmental awareness.

■ Environmental Education that Olympus is Providing
No. of sessions
held annually

SessionNo. ofparticipants

594

Follow-up training for the revised ISO 14001

13

205

Environmentally-conscious-product seminars
for employees in design & development posts

2

17Green procurement seminars for responsible
persons

4

37

Green purchasing seminars for responsible
persons2

45

Meetings for reading the Olympus Corporate
Social Responsibility Report332Company news featuring environmental
issues6

Olympus Group
companies in Japan

Air

30

16

2

86

28

12

Noise

10

5

0

Vibration

8

30

Senior Pollution Control Managers

0

0

0

Managers for Industrial Waste
Requiring Special Treatment

49

13

80

* The standards of Green
Purchasing were revised in
November 2005. Since
toner cartridges whose
recycling had progressed
were also calculated, theGreen Purchasing rateincreased.

66.1

60
36.1

35.0

35.8

'02

'03

'04

34.1

0

Number of
Number of
Number of
Personnel with Personnel Satisfying Legally-Qualified
Personnel
Relevant Duties Internal Standards

Water Quality

Pollution Control
Managers

100(%)

20■ Number of Personnel with Environmental Management
Qualifications
Qualification■ Green purchasing rate

40

* This is targeted only at Olympus Group companies in Japan.

* The following companies inJapan were surveyed:
Olympus Corporation,
Olympus Imaging Corp.
and Olympus Medical
Systems Corp.

13* This is targeted only at Olympus Group companies in Japan.

Training at Olympus Optical Technology
Philippine, Inc.

Olympus Eco-Forum
In-house presentation of Basic Environment Plan 2006 andGlobal Environmental Meeting
In FY 2005, we held the 4th Olympus Eco-Forum from December 12 to
17 just in time for the exhibition of Eco-Products 2005. (Refer to P. 48.)
The Eco-Forum contained an in-house presentation of the Basic
Environment Plan 2006 (refer to P. 46) and the Global
Environmental Meeting, in which persons responsible for environmental issues in overseas affiliated companies also participated and participants discussed measures for coping with laws and regulations.
Olympus Eco-Forum was an opportunity for many Olympus employees
to understand our Basic Environment Plan 2006 and start concrete
actions.

(FY)

'05

Harmony with the Environment

Training for internal auditors of ISO 14001■ Number of Company-Owned Vehicles in Japan (as of March 31, 2006)
Plant/OfficeTotal Number of
Vehicles Owned

Number of
Eco-cars

Eco-carRate (%)

Olympus Corporation Head Office, all branches
and business offices throughout Japan

377

298

79

Olympus Corporation, Technology ResearchInstitutes (Hachioji) and Hinode Plant

10

2

20

Olympus Corporation Tatsuno Plant, Okaya
Olympus Co., Ltd. and Olympus OptTechnology Co., Ltd. Head Office

24

4

17

Olympus Corporation, Ina Plant

11

0

0

Aomori Olympus Co., Ltd.

3

1

33

Aizu Olympus Co., Ltd.

5

2

40

Shirakawa Olympus Co., Ltd.

3

1

33

Mishima Olympus Co., Ltd.

3

1

33

Olympus Opt-Technology Co., Ltd. Omachi
Branch2

150

Olympus Opt-Technology Co., Ltd. Sakaki
Branch200

KS Olympus Co., Ltd.

227

156

69

Olympus Logitex Co., Ltd.

3

0

0

Total

670

466

70

* KS Olympus Co., Ltd. is added to the primary targets.

Interview concerning Electronic Purchasing Systemfor paper, stationery, and office supplies
On P. 9 of the Corporate Social
Responsibility Report of Fuji
Xerox Office Supply, abusiness partner that uses thissystem, our company was
introduced as a company inwhich the mechanism forpurchasing environmentallyconscious products, for which a Interview with Fuji Xerox Office Supply
centralized procurement
system is utilized, is progressing.

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 200630

Influences of Business Activities and Environmental Preservation Activities
It is important to quantitatively determine the resources input into corporate activities and the values created by these activities.
Olympus aims to efficiently minimize the environmental load by suppressing wastefulness.

Environmental Impact of Business Activities
Reducing CO2 emissions and the amount of wasteof products, to the discharging and recycling of waste. In FY 2005, we
saved energy, reduced CO2 emissions, and also reduced waste byrecycling it into valuable resources. Aiming at reducing environmentalload in the logistics process, we have started quantifying and clarifying
all loads.

To reduce the environmental load caused by processing activities,
Olympus quantifies and clarifies the material flow (the movement ofgoods) from the input of resources, through the production and shipping■ Environmental Impact of Business Activities

Harmony with the Environment

Business
Activities

Input of resources and energy
1,813TJ (-2%) Heavy fuel oil

Energy (total)
Electric power

136,640,000kwh (-6%) Kerosene

City gas

4,218kl (+2%)
314kl (+13%)

1,680,000m3 (+2%)

Diesel fuel5,276kl (+19%)

190,000m3 (+7%)

Gasoline

52kl (+10%)

LPG

Development andProduction

Discharge of Environmental Load Substances
Greenhouse Gases (total)

104,408t-CO2 (-4%)

CO2 generated from energy

98,900t-CO2 (-3%)

CO2 not generated from energy

5,508t-CO2 (-14%)

Substances Emitted into the Air

Chemical Substances
Chemical substances

SOx

5t (+2%)

NOx

137t (+12%)

28t (-9.4%)

Research and Development
Water (total)

2,250,000m3 (-6%)

Piped water

620,000m3 (-7%)

Ground water

1,630,000m3 (-6%)

Production

PRTR-listed Substances (total)

11t (-12%)

Toluene6t (-20%)

Xylene3t (-15%)

Others2.2t (-26%)

Discharge into Water Systems (total)

1,510,000m3 (-5%)

Discharge (into public water areas)

1,360,000m3 (-3%)

Raw Materials and Sub-materials

Discharge (into sewage)

150,000m3 (-18%)

Metals–Steel, aluminum, brass

BOD

5t (-24%)

Plastic–Optical plastic, ABS,PC, polyethylene, polypropylene

Office Supplies
Copy paper

115t (-16%)

Transportation Fuel

Recycling andReduction
280t (1,142%)
Plastic andwaste fluid

Sales and Logistics

Transportation fuel–Gasoline, diesel fuel, etc.

Discharge (total)1

5,241t (-6%)

Landfill waste

787t (+12%)

Recycled waste

4,454t (-9%)

Recycling into valuable resources

1,265t (+24%)

CO2 emissions during transportation (total)

76,259t-CO2 (-29%)

CO2 (Japan)

1,951t-CO2 (-36%)

CO2 (international)

74,308t-CO2 (-29%)

Logistics

Product shipment
Usage of packaging Materials (total)2

2,554tCardboard

1,818t2

Major Products (total)

4,309tEndoscopes

867t

Paper

324t

Digital cameras

1,454tMicroscopes

352t

Plastic

384t

Film cameras

337t

Clinical analyzers

602t

Metal

26t

IC recorders

218t

Measuring instruments

12t

Glass

1.5t

MO disk drives

28t

Printers

439t

Only production facilities in Japan

Sales

Repair and Service

Global production facilities

1 Discharge (total) = Discharge (waste) means landfilled waste as well as recycled waste and does not contain waste recycled into valuable resources. Only the values in this section contain those of waste discharged from logistics sites.
2 Product shipment and Usage of packaging material = *Since the conventional calculation method was changed due to the introduction of a new system, product shipment and usage of packaging materials are not compared withthose of the previous year.

31

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

2005, the costs of both business investment and R&D were reduced. We
focused on Green Procurement, responses to laws and regulations
such as the Pollution Prevention Act, and environmental communications, such as Eco-Products 2005 (P. 48).

Environmental Accounting Used to Gain a
Quantitative Understanding of Environmental
Preservation Costs and Effects
Promoting effective and efficient environmental management
Olympus adopts environmental accounting as a way of obtaining
quantitative data on environmental preservation costs and related
effects (the economic effects and environmental impact). In FY

Aggregation period: April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006
Targets of aggregation: Major targets in this report(Offices and plants in Japan and China1)
Amount of capital investment by the Olympus Groupduring the period = 44,444 million yen
R&D cost = 45,935 million yen
Unit = million yen■ Environmental accounting in FY 2005 (as of March 31 in FY 2005)
Content
Reference
Pages

In Upstream
Costs

Green
procurement

R&D Costs

Creation of
Eco-products

Globalenvironment
preservation(compared tothe previous year)(compared tothe previous year)

P37-380.0(-100%)

246.4(201%)

246.4(177%)

Domestic Green Purchasing: 27.1

Domestic Green Purchasing rate (standard at theend of March 2006): 66.1%
Eco-cars as percentage of domestic company
vehicles: 69.9%
Domestic suppliers’ environmental measures survey:
99.4%

P39-410.0(-100%)

172.1(-74%)

172.1(-76%)

Total sales of Eco-products(Group consolidated): 28,621

Total sales results for Eco-products(Group consolidated):1,368,654 units

120.2(862%)

714.1(300%)

834.3(336%)

Cost of lawsuits for domestic environmental pollution and complaints: 0
Penalties for domestic environmental
pollution and complaints: 0

Domestic environmental pollution lawsuits:
0 casesComplaints from residents in surrounding
areas in Japan: 1 case

34.7(-84%)

111.7(181%)

146.4(-43%)

Energy cost: 2,063

CO2 emissions: 99,552t

3.0(-92%)

6,056.9(2,425%)

6,059.9(2,269%)

Cost of consigned intermediate waste
treatment: 14.1
Income from sales of recycled valuable
resources: 38.4

Volume of waste consigned for intermediate
treatment: 258 t

Reuse of endoscope film: 12.2

P51-52

Resource
recycling

Total

Environmental Effects

Cost

Prevention of
public nuisance

Costs Inside
Business Area

Environmental Preservation Cost
Equipment

Economic Effects Relating to(compared tothe previous year) Environmental Preservation Activities

Environmental Preservation Effects

In Downstream
Costs

Recovery of
Products
Optimizationof packaging

P41,
P44

0.1
(—)

4.5
(-90%)

4.6(-90%)

Effects of recovery & reuse of endoscope film: 45.4

Environmental
Management
Activity Costs

For ISO
management
and operation

P29-30
P51-5426.4(6,500%)802.7(143%)

829.1(151%)—

Costs forDamagedEnvironment

For damaged
environment

—

—

—

—

—

—

Costs ofSocialActivities

Contribution
to society andregional areas

P51-54

0.2
(0%)

5.4
(-50%)

5.6(-49%)——

Harmony with the Environment

Contents ofPrograms

Classification

ISO 14001 certified facilities: 17 sites(out of a total of 17 production anddevelopment sites)
Cases where voluntary standards are
violated: 2

How to aggregate Olympus’ environmental accounting
1) Starting with the FY 2004 environmental accounting, calculation is made with reference to the Environment Accounting Guidelines (FY 2005 edition).
2) The proportions of cost and depreciation expenses that cannot be clearly separated into those for environmental preservation and those for other purposes are not calculated, and their totals are not included for the purposes of environmental accounting.
3) Of the economic effects accompanying environmental preservation, those such as estimated effects2 that lack sufficient data are excluded.
4) See our web site for Olympus’ environmental accounting according to plans and the transition (standards of Ministry of the Environment) as well as details of its past environmental accounting.
1 Offices and plants in Japan and China = The reports in and after FY 2005 contain Olympus Corporation Head Office, Kamagaya Plant, and Olympus (Guangzhou) Industrial Ltd.
2 Estimated effects = Estimated profit and loss based on the calculation of the hypothetical results of implemented environmental-preservation-activities: For example, the costof avoiding environmental restoration expenses, of avoiding the need for payment of compensation for damage from environmental pollution accidents prevented by capital
investment, and of expenditures to prevent environmental pollution

http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/csr/wdata
For further information about items on this page, refer to the following support documentations on our web site.
• Global Warming Prevention Measures • Reducing Discharged Waste and Recovering Resources • Safety and Management of Chemical Substances • Total Usage of Copy Paper • Total Usage of Water • Air Pollution Prevention • Water Pollution Prevention • Environmental Accounting

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

32

Promoting Environmentally-Conscious Activities in Our Business
To reduce the environmental load that occurs through business activities, the Olympus Group makes environmentallyeffort in all relevant stages—product planning, development, including design, procurement, production, logistics, sales,
use by customers, and disposal.
In each stage of a product’s lifecycle, we are carrying out our business activities to ensure a reduction in environmental load.

Planning

P35

Development and Designing P36
Persistence in Opto-Digital Technology—
our core competence

Infusing Eco-mind

Harmony with the Environment

The nature of a product is determined in its planning stage ofmanufacturing. We regard this stage as the most importantand infuse the product with the following Eco-mind: Reduction of environmental load throughout the product’s entire
lifecycle from Manufacturing, through Use and Disposal.

Environmental consciousness is linked with Opto-Digital
Technologies including optical technology for which materials
that do not contain harmful substances are used, electronic
imaging technology that pursues downsizing and power saving, and fine technology that is fully used for manufacturing.
Since Opto-Digital Technology is a core technology, we cannot focus on the environmental consciousness without it.

Case Studies(1) Resource Saving through Product Planning, Energy Saving
through Designing and Development(2) Environment Consciousness that Starts in the Planning Stage

Case Studies(1) Realization of Arsenic- and Lead- free Lenses and Developmentof Grinding Technology(2) Image Processing Technology that Achieves Low Power Consumption

IPLEX MX,
Certified Eco-product in FY 2003

Digital single-lens reflex camera, E-330,
Certified Eco-product in FY 2005

Disposal and 3Rs

P43

Inheriting Eco-mind

Feeling Eco-mind

This is a process in which components are adequately returned
into recycling to minimize their environmental load. Parts thathave not outlived their usefulness go through a thorough inspection and are used again. Whenever they are disposed of, they
are adequately processed. With the goal of “Non-disposal” inmind, we are manufacturing recyclable products for which customers develop an attachment and make use of our services.

We hope you can sense Olympus’ commitment when you
use products—we would like to help you find new ways ofusing them. We provide products that benefit the environment through observation of the natural environment andcareful inspections of all our equipment.

Case Studies(1) Resource Recycling when Olympus Products are Repaired(2) Proper Disposal in KS Olympus Co., Ltd.
(3) Proper Disposal of PCB Waste

33

Use

P44

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Case Studies(1) Preservation of Ecosystems in Rivers and Microscope(2) Protection of Coral Reefs Using Digital Cameras(3) Industrial Endoscopes and Their Various Environmental Effects

The Olympus Group delivers Eco-products (p.42)—environmental conscious
products—to the market according to each product field.
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/eco-products/

Procurement

P37

Production

P39

Clean Factory

Material procurement for manufacturing. We focus on not
only materials but also on our business partners. This is because our Eco-mind is realized only after we obtain full cooperation from them.

The production process is where our mind is embodied in
our products. We carefully execute quality management toensure the safety of our products and strive to improve production processes and manufacturing methods to completely
eliminate waste, based on our motivation to produce nothing
but goods from our factories. We also focus on the buildings
and facilities of manufacturing sites.

Case Studies

Case Studies(1) What is the RoHS Directive?
(2) Green Procurement Survey by Olympus Imaging Corp.
(3) Green Procurement Survey of business partners(4) Establishment of Olympus Group Procurement Policy(1) Manufacturing on RoHS-compatible Production Lines(2) Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Non-Energy Systems(3) Improvement of Sterilization Processes(4) Improvement of Pressing Processes(5) Energy-Saving Presentations

Harmony with the Environment

CSR Procurement

Endoscope Video System Center
EVIS EXTRA II VIDEO SYSTEMCENTER OLYMPUS CV-180
Certified Eco-product in FY 2005
High-intensity Light Source
SystemEVIS EXTRA II XENONLIGHT SOURCEOLYMPUS CLV-180
Certified Eco-productin FY 2005

System Biological Microscope BX45
Certified Eco-product in FY 2005

Sales

Logistics

P42

P41

Customers’ Understanding of ECO-mind

Delivering Eco-mind

The sales process is where products and our policies aredelivered to customers. We deliver products that are moreenvironmentally-conscious. Furthermore, we provide clearcut information on what sort of environmental consciousness
is being practiced.

The logistics process delivers our products and mind. Just as
for other stages in a product’s lifecycle, we also focus ontransportation, which is less burdensome on the environment, and on adequate packaging. In considering the transportation effect on products, we pursue environmentallyfriendly packaging technology.

Case Studies(1) Olympus Eco-products(2) Observance of the EU WEEE Directive and RoHS Directive(3) Emphasizing Environmentally-Conscious Products in Sales
Activities

Case Studies(1) Activities for Reducing Environmental Load During the Logistics
Process(2) Improvement of Vehicle Loading Efficiency During the Logistics
Stage for Procurement(3) Downsizing of Packaging Materials of “µ-Series” Digital Cameras

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

34

Planning
The nature of a product is determined in its planning stage of manufacturing. We regard this stage as the most importantand infuse the product with the following Eco-mind: Reduction of environmental load throughout the product’s entire
lifecycle from Manufacturing, through Use and Disposal.

Resource Saving through Product Planning,
Energy Saving through Designing andDevelopment
Resource saving and energy saving through downsizing andsystem integration

Harmony with the Environment

For a video system center that controls signals required for diagnosing
body systems with a medical endoscope and for a light source systemthat provides light, different products were needed for digestiveorgans and surgery.
A newly developed video system center (EVIS EXERA II
VIDEO SYSTEM CENTER OLYMPUS CV-180), and a new highintensity light source system (EVIS EXETRA II XENON LIGHT
SOURCE OLYMPUS CLV-180) are products that have been madethrough the integration of different types of products that reflect, at the
product planning stages, the needs of medical personnel—more serviceable, downsized (space-saving), and less expensive.
As a result, the new video system center is lighter than the conventional model by more than 20%, and the new light source system by
10%. This results in significant energy savings.
Normally, when you downsize a product or integrate different
products into one while maintaining conventional functions, the rated
power1 increases. However, energy-saving-conscious development
enabled a reduction in the electricity consumed by the high-intensity
light source system by more than 20%.

Environment Consciousness that Starts in the
Planning Stage
Manufacturing to create smaller and lighter digital cameras
Many of Olympus’s customers have requested that digital cameras
should have satisfactory operability and portability. Accordingly, we
incorporated these needs in the product planning and development of ourdigital camera, the µ710/Stylus 710.
As a result, this camera is lighter than the previous model by
20%, being the world’s lightest and smallest2 digital camera. This
results in significant energy saving. In future, we will continue torespond to requests from customers and carry out product planning that
leads to the reduction of environmental load.
2 Lightest and smallest = Among compact digital cameras with approx. 7 million
pixels (as of January 2006)■ Conventional product (µDIGITAL 600) and new product(µ710/Stylus 710)

µDIGITAL 600µ710/Stylus 710

1 Rated power = Comparison of performance (electricity consumed per unit oftime) of different products. This is not a comparison of electricity actuallyconsumed.

■ Comparison of electricity consumption between conventional andnew products

700 (VA)
600
500
400
300
200
100

■ CV-180 ■ CLV-180

662.5

370
211
150
Conventional
product

New
product■ Comparison of energy-saving and resource-saving effects between
a conventional product and a new product20(kg)
15

19■ CV-180 ■ CLV-180

15.6

10

140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

(g)

128.5
103

Conventional
product

10New
product■ Comparison of volume between a conventional product(µ DIGITAL 600) and a new product (µ 710/Stylus 710)

150

(cm3)

142.7

15.4

108.1
100
50

5
0
Conventional
product

35■ Comparison of weight between a conventional product(µ DIGITAL 600) and a new product (µ 710/Stylus 710)

New
product

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

0Conventional
product

New
product

Development and Design
Environmental consciousness is linked with Opto-Digital Technologies including optical technology for which materials
that do not contain harmful substances are used, electronic imaging technology that pursues downsizing and powersaving, and fine technology that is fully used for manufacturing. Since Opto-Digital Technology is a core technology, we
cannot focus on the environmental consciousness without it.

Image Processing Technology that Achieves
Low Power Consumption

Elimination of harmful substances and integration of grinding
and polishing technologies

TruePic TURBO, Olympus’ original image processing
technology

There are lead- or arsenic-containing lenses for optical devices that areused for improving optical performance. Usually, lead and arsenic
contained in molded lenses do not leak; however they may leak out of
the glass sludge produced in the process of grinding or polishinglenses and pollute the environment.
Since 1994, in cooperation with material manufacturers,
Olympus has made efforts to develop lead- and arsenic-free lenses
for the purposes of securing occupational safety and health in lens-grinding and -polishing processes and preventing environmental pollution at
the time of waste disposal. Eliminating lead and arsenic from lead- or
arsenic-containing glass changes the glass’s characteristics, such as
light refractive index and abrasion degree. However, we have developed
new designing and process technologies and succeeded in the elimination of lead and arsenic. With these technologies, conventional
performance is preserved. As of FY 2005, the ratio of lead- andarsenic-free lenses for products uniquely developed by Olympus was
94.7%. For cameras, the ratio is 100%.
We are actively engaging in the reduction of glass sludge produced in the processes used in grinding and polishing lenses. We
developed the Laplike Method, an integrated grinding and polishingtechnology, which eliminates multiple grinding processes that havebeen required in the past. By adopting the technology that eliminates precise grinding processes, we reduced the quantity of the glass sludge generated and the quantity of waste.

The image quality and performance of digital cameras are composed ofthree elements—lens, capture device, and image processing engine.
To downsize digital cameras and realize low power consumption inuse, we have been making unceasing efforts to develop new image processing engines. A newly developed image processing engine,
TruePic TURBO, leads to the downsizing and low voltage of devices byintegrating multiple functions into one chip.
Furthermore, optimizing the software that controls a stream ofoperations relating to image processing helps to eliminate unnecessary
processes, reducing power consumption by 43%. These improvements radically increase processing speed and the number of photos you
can take, allowing customers to use the digital camera more comfortably.
In the future, we will continue to engage in further development anddesign to enrich customer satisfaction and promote environmental
awareness.

 Laplike Method = This name is derived from that fact that Laplike—a special
metal which generates surface potential in a liquid and in which diamond iscompounded. For more details of grinding and polishing technologies, refer to.
Introduction of Laplike Method =http://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/2002b/nr020919llikej.cfm(Japanese only)■ Comparison of processes between the conventional method anda new technology, Laplike Method
Conventional
process(our company)

Spherecreation (CG)

Precisegrinding 1

Laplike Method

Spherecreation (CG)Polishing

Precisegrinding 2

PolishingHarmony with the Environment

Realization of arsenic- and lead- free lenses
and development of grinding technology■ Comparison of boards of µ10 and µ710/Stylus 710µ10µ710/Stylus 710■ Reduction of energy consumed per photo(mAh/

8 No. of photos)*
7.27
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

4.11

* No. of photos are based on CIPA (Camera &Imaging Products Association) standards.

Yoshitaka Ogawa, Imaging
Development Dept. Olympus
Imaging Corp. who promotes
environmental consciousness for digital cameras
Eco-communication

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

36

Procurement
Material procurement for manufacturing. We focus on not only materials but also on our business partners.
This is because our Eco-mind is realized only after we obtain full cooperation from them.

What is the RoHS Directive?
Regulations on specific substances in the EU region

Harmony with the Environment

For the purpose of environmental preservation and human healthprotection, environmentally-conscious products are becoming evermore strongly desired; accordingly, regulations on specific chemical substances are being tightened.
In both Japan and overseas, there are movements toward controlling
specific chemical substances contained in plastics, metals, and other electronic parts used in appliances and electronic equipment.
In the EU region (25 member countries as of the end of March
2005), the amount of used electrical and electronic equipment has
increased. Most of the equipment is disposed of in landfills or byincineration. As a result, pollution caused by lead discharged fromlandfills or incineration plants has become an issue. To deal with thisproblem, the RoHS Directive, which stipulates regulations on the use of
specific chemical substances for electrical and electronic equipment, hascome into effect; the use of the substances specified below is to be regulated in and after July 2006.
Regarding the RoHS Directive, the Olympus Group is engaging in
the following measures even for products that are not targeted by it:“Green Procurement” survey—a survey on the existence of specificchemical substances at the time of procurement—and the substitution ofalternatives for these substances.

■ Chemical substances specified by the RoHS Directive
Main Uses and Parts

Remarks
Toxicity Information*

Cadmium

Cord sheathing,plastic stabilizer,
dry cells

Cadmium causes liver and kidney
disorders and osteomalacia and isalso a carcinogen.

Lead

Lead solder

Lead can have harmful influenceon the nervous system andhematopoietic organs as well as
on children’s mental development.

Mercury

Switches, electricbulbs, dry cells

Harmful influence on reproductivefunctions

Hexavalent chromium

Plating on screws,
etc.

Hexavalent chromium has harmful
influence on skin, causes ulcers,
and is carcinogenic.

Restricted Substance

Polybrominated biphenyls Flame retardant for(PBBs)
plastics

Hormone disruptor, suspected
harmful influence on childdevelopement

Polybrominated diphenyl
ethers (PBDEs)

PBDEs generate brominateddioxins and are suspected ofbeing hormone disruptors.

Flame retardant forplastics“Green Procurement” Survey by Olympus
Imaging Corp.
Conducting surveys on specific chemical substances
contained in all parts
Olympus Imaging Corp. produces products in the imaging field, such as
digital cameras—one of Olympus’s flagship products. Since digital
cameras, etc. are subject to the RoHS Directive, we need to examine
whether the parts used for such products contain specific chemical
substances. Accordingly, Olympus Imaging Corp., mainly its
Procurement and Quality Groups, has prepared a survey form foreach of the component lists by referring the design of the product,and is conducting a “Green Procurement” survey—a survey on environmentally influential substances in cooperation with our business
partners.
■ Survey form for “Green Procurement” (sample)
Item Code**2567000000**2568000000**2569000000

Item

Contact board
Printed Circuit
Board A
Printed Circuit
Board B

Survey/RoHS Final
Judgment Status Judgment

Basis of Final Judgment
and Other Information

Judgment
completed
Judgment
completed
Judgment
completed

RoHS compliancecheck completed
No inclusion(JGPSSI)
No inclusion(JGPSSI)

OK
OK
OK“Green Procurement” Survey from Viewpointsof Purchasing Personnel
Since 2003, Olympus Imaging Corp. has conducted surveys on theexistence of particular chemical substances. At the beginning,
however, the scale of the activities was small, and they were carriedout by a limited number of employees. In January 2004 when “Green
Procurement” survey started in full swing, survey accuracy andresponses to the survey were not satisfactory, and neither theProcurement Group members who conducted the survey, nor thebusiness partners who were asked, were enthusiastic.
In spite of this situation, the Procurement Group worked together,and improved the awareness of business partners by visiting themand making explanations, and repeatedly conducted surveys.
As a result, activities have expanded rapidly and become moreenergetic.
Now, not only purchasing divisions but also development, sales, andother divisions are showing an improvement in their environmental
awareness.

* These harmful influences on health will not occur during normal use of products.

Chihiro Ikeda
Procurement Group,
Purchasing Dept.
Olympus Imaging Corp.

37

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Eiji Miyashita
Purchasing Quality Group,
Olympus Imaging Corp.

Establishment of Olympus Group Procurement
PolicyConducting surveys in cooperation with business partners

Promoting CSR in purchasing activities

Each of the companies of the Olympus Group, including Olympus
Imaging Corp., participates in Japan Green Procurement Survey
Standardization Initiative (JGPSSI)1. By referring to specificchemical substances which, according to JGPSSI determination,
have to be monitored, each of them examines the specific chemical substances (P. 37) that are contained in materials or parts used for theirproducts and that are the targets of examination.
We ask our business partners to analyze information on thechemical substances contained in materials or parts and provide theinformation to us. In addition, we internally analyze the chemical
substances contained in materials or parts whenever necessary, sothat our final products do not contain chemical substances that are
subject to control.

Olympus, a set manufacturer,2 procures materials and manufactures, as well as sells, products. Without cooperation of the business partners from which we procure materials, we cannot manufacture our
products. Accordingly, with the aim of disseminating CSR to ourmaterial procurement sources, we established the Olympus Group
Procurement Policy in November 2005, seeking cooperation from
more than 4,000 business partners at procurement sites all over theworld. We will engage in procurement activities by placing anemphasis on considerations for legal and ethical compliance, humanrights, and labor standards anew, in addition to those concerning
more conventional material procurement requirements—quality,
delivery deadlines, prices, and the environment.

1 Japan Green Procurement Survey Standardization Initiative (JGPSSI) = Anorganization founded to reduce the inconvenience of surveys and improve thequality of answers through standardization of survey target lists and answer
formats, both of which are utilized in our Green Procurement survey. Currently,
more than 80 major manufacturers in Japan participate in the organization andpursue consultations toward the global standardization of Green Procurement
survey methods conducted in Japan.

2 Set manufacturer = A manufacturer that procures parts externally and in-house,processes them, and then sells final products.

■ Conventional procurement standards and material procurement
policies
Deliverydeadline
Quality“Green Procurement” survey fromthe viewpoint of business partners

PriceEnvironment

Vel Suede Ltd. (http://vel-suede.co.jp/) is a business partner of
Olympus Imaging Corp.
The company obtained ISO 14001 in May 2005 owing to strong
decision-making by its top management and to the combination ofregular environmental education provided for its employees andenvironmental activities in the area. Each employee has highenvironmental awareness.
“The chemical substance survey that we are asked to conduct
was, at first, troublesome, and we tended to be late in replying to it.
However, as our environmental awareness has improved, the survey
has come to have an influence on Vel Suede’s business partners,
and our activities are carried out more enthusiastically.
Vel Suede stores environmental information data on the parts that
we handle and that we have so far investigated. To date, thecompany has more than 3,000 data items.
Originally, these data items were created for Green Procurement.
Depending on their contents, they may bring synergy effects in fields
such as cost analyses and cleaning activities (organizing parts, etc.)

Yoshikazu Baba

Norie Harada

CEO, Vel Suede Ltd.

Planning Dept. is managing
environmental information
data.

+
d

CSR
(Corporate Social
Responsibility)
Legal and ethicalcompliance
Human rights
Consideration forlabor standards

Harmony with the Environment“Green Procurement” survey of business
partners

Olympus Group CSR Procurement Standards (extract)
1. Compliance with laws and regulations and social norms
2. Consideration for the environment
3. Promotion of impartial and fair business
4. Policies for selecting business partners
5. Strengthening of partnerships with business partners
6. Prohibition of receiving personal gains

CSR Procurement Survey
To evaluate the degree of environmental compliance achieved by ourbusiness partners, every year Olympus conducts its Environmental
Measures Survey. More than six years have passed since the start of thissurvey and the degree of environmental compliance by our business partners has increased year by year. Since the Olympus Group
Procurement Policies have been established, we are working onchanging our conventional environmental measures survey and conducting a CSR procurement survey from the following fiscal year.

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

38

Production
The production process is where our mind is embodied in our products. We carefully execute quality management toensure the safety of our products and strive to improve production processes and manufacturing methods to completely
eliminate waste, based on our motivation to produce nothing but goods from our factories. We also focus on the buildings
and facilities of manufacturing sites.

Manufacturing on RoHS-compatible
Production Lines

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from
Non-Energy Systems

Global environment controlling free from hazardous chemical
substances

Reducing 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions by replacing spray cans

Harmony with the Environment

In addition to the EU RoHS Directive, regulations on hazardous
chemical substances contained in products have recently been tightenedin major countries of the world. Responding to such demands from society, the Olympus Group has actively developed various elemental
technologies,1 such as surface treatment technologies and bonding
technologies so that hazardous chemical substances can be completely
replaced.2 Production lines free from hazardous chemical substances have been established by combination of these technologies. In
addition, to avoid effects on product or part quality caused by the
replacement of hazardous chemical substances, we have conductedmany reliability tests. We were among the first to establish one
important environmental technology, lead-free soldering—a typicalexample of the elimination of hazardous chemical substances. We
widely use this technology for manufacturing boards for electronic
components. We also have established a hexavalent-chromium-freesurface-treatment technology and are producing products on hazardous-substance-free production lines; the surface quality of products is the same as before. Furthermore, each plant and office such as the
Educational Center of Okaya Plant is making efforts to train staff—sharing know-how among engineers who support manufacturing andincreasing their skills.
1 Elemental technologies = Technologies related to elements that constituteproducts. (Technologies related to elements that improve each element andthat reduce costs.)
2 In compliance with environmental laws and regulations related to products, theOlympus Group has established its “Environmental-related Substances Used in
Product Control Rules”
and “Environmental-related Substances Used in
Manufacture Process Control Regulations”
and is strengthening its
control of chemical substances.

Olympus uses some types of greenhouse gases as spraying agents forblowing out dust, as cleaning agents, and for etching processes inmanufacturing semiconductors.3 These gases have an enormous
impact on global warming—it is said that their influence is 100 to
10,000 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.
Ina Plant reduced the usage of spraying agents for blowing away
dust, from its lens production process, by substituting gases withlower global warming potential. As a result, the plant has reduced
CO2 emissions by about 94%. In addition, Olympus Medical
Engineering Co., Ltd. also changed the spraying agents for blowing
away dust to gases whose impact on global warming was low andreduced CO2 emissions by about 72% (compared to the previousyear).
Regarding greenhouse gases that are used as cleaning agents andemitted from non-energy systems, we will continuously make efforts interms of technology development, such as through downsizing washers.
3 Etching = A processing technology in a broad sense. For example, the surface
or shape of a metal is electrochemically dissolved or removed, and thenprocessed.

■ Effect of reduction of Ina Plant CO2 emissions derived from spraycans
CO2 emissions

1,200 (ton-CO2)
1,073
1,000
800

816

767

600
400

■ Lead-free soldering reflow line

200
55

0
(FY)

'02

'03

'04

Data source: Environmental Data/HFC/File 1-HFC

39

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006'05

Improvement of Sterilization Processes

Energy-Saving Presentations

Reducing usage of ethylene oxide gas

Revitalizing energy-saving activities through sharing
information among production sites

Ethylene oxide gas (EOG), used in sterilization processes for the production of medical treatment apparatus, poses a carcinogenic risk tohumans. Rated as a specified chemical substance, EOG emissions to theatmosphere are regulated under the law. To detoxify EOG and theseemissions for release into the atmosphere, EOG needs to be burned or
passed through a catalytic treatment process. Carbon dioxide is generated in this process, however, Aomori Olympus Co., Ltd. reviewed sterilization conditions—including pressure and humidification conditions—and reduced the usage of EOG by 50%. Use of the carcinogenic
gas was reduced at the Aomori Olympus facility and 8.2 tons of CO2
emissions (contained in the EOG and produced as a result of thedecomposition processes) are avoided on an annual basis.

Catalysis reaction

Mixingchamber

HeaterPre-filter

2C2H4O + 5O2
Ethylene oxide

Oxygenin the air

Emitting the processed
gas into the air

Catalyst bed

Ethylene oxide gas
from sterilization equipment

Gas
from aeration

Harmony with the Environment■ Presentation of energy-saving at Tatsuno Plant■ Decomposition system and reaction formulaAir(for dilution)

To revitalize energy-saving activities, Tatsuno Plant held a presentation
where energy-saving activities in each workplace were announced.
Such activity included turning the announcements was as follows:
Turning off the air conditioning in the clean room at night and on
holidays while monitoring the effects on the quality of the products,
which resulted in a reduction in energy use of 30%.
Participants expressed their impressions as follows: “The sharing offamiliar examples helped me find a clue to energy saving”; and “Irealized that the improvement of production activities is linked with the
reduction of environmental load.” Although the effect of one activity issmall, the implementation of all the cases announced in the presentation
has led to an annual reduction of 500t of CO2.

4CO2 + 4H2O + heat
Carbon dioxide

Vapor■ Record of reduction of electricity usage in clean room of
production plant

Improvement of Pressing Processes

Electricity usage

250,000 (kWh)Reducing operation time by adopting parallel lines andbringing pressing process into synchronization withsubsequent process● FY 2004 ■ FY 2005

200,000

In the past, in the pressing process for digital cameras, two types of products were alternately produced on a serial line. This process required
time for changing the mold and a long time for line operation.
Therefore, by changing the production line from a serial line to parallellines, we reduced the operation time by about 25%. Now we canprocess two products simultaneously. By bringing the pressing
process into synchronization with the subsequent plating process, wereduced the number of products in progress and the overall resources
input (resources and energy).

150,000

100,000

50,0000
Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar.

■ Shortened time
Conventional
structure

Production on
two parallel lines

A

B

A

Changing
the moldB
16 hoursA
5 hours

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

40

Logistics
The logistics process delivers our products and mind. Just as for other stages in a product’s lifecycle, we also focus ontransportation, which is less burdensome on the environment, and on adequate packaging. In considering thetransportation effect on products, we pursue environmentally-friendly packaging technology.

Activities for Reducing Environmental Load
During the Logistics Process
Reducing CO2 emissions and resource usage by managing
service and improving packaging

Harmony with the Environment

We are working on the following means to reduce the environmentalload during the logistics process: reducing logistics costs; reducing
resource usage through the improvement of packaging of parts and products; improving logistics service management and loading ratio; andreducing CO2 emissions by applying a Modal Shift.1 To implement
additional measures more actively, in this FY we started recording
data on environmental load during logistics.
1 Modal Shift = To shift freight transport to railway transport or marine transport,
both of which are less burdensome on the environment■ Concept of environmental action for packaging and logistics■Examining the quantity of
CO2- Expanding management
data■Improving service
methods- Integrating sites- Running regular service- Consolidated service
efficiency and carryefficiency■Changing transportation
means- Low-emission vehicles- Modal Shift■Reducing size and weight- Digital camera (µ600, E500)- Microscope

CO2
Resource
utilization
Environmentalload during
logistics
process
NOx
SOx■Improving driving methods- Eco-driving■Utilizing resources effectively- No exterior packaging(endoscope)- One-touch cardboard
Foldable container (treatment
device)- Cleaning device (no exterior
packaging)- New plastic fiberboard- Procurement logistics in Okaya
Olympus Co. Ltd.
- Reducing film
■Changing packaging materials- Abandoning styro foamcompletely- Using plastic fiberboard fortransportation from Japan to
China- New plastic fiberboard- Recycled cushioning materials

ucts transported. Therefore, to improve loading efficiency, partitions
were installed on the bed so that the empty space could be utilized.
Accordingly, the number of trucks for transportation was reduced,
which resulted in a reduction of CO2 emissions during transportation.

Downsizing of Packaging Materials of “µ-Series”
Digital Cameras
Reducing the weight of packaging materials by 30% comparedwith conventional products
For our “µ-Series” digital cameras, we reviewed the layout of theitems in each individual packaging box2 and reduced the packaging
volume by 30%. In our new packaging, shock-absorbing functions
comparable to conventional ones are maintained. This measure
reduces not only usage of packaging resources but also CO2 emissions, thanks to the reduction in the weight of the products transported
and the improvement of loading ratio. Since the individual packaging
boxes can be folded, time for packaging is reduced, and the boxes
can easily be disposed of.
2 Individual packaging box = Packaging used to pack each product individually■ Reducing volume of individual packaging of digital camera(µ-Series)µDIGITAL 800µDIGITAL 600■ Effect of reducing CO2 emissions(tons CO2/year)

1,800

Improvement of Vehicle Loading Efficiency
During the Logistics Stage for Procurement

1,600

Improving loading efficiency by using space on the upper partof truck bed

1,200

In the logistics stage for the procurement of printer parts, we tried to
improve loading efficiency by using the empty space in our existing contracted trucks (simultaneous transport with products). Of the existing
contracted trucks, there were many that had empty space on theupper part of their bed due to restrictions—e.g. size and strength of prod-

800

1,400

1,669
429t-CO2

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

1,240

1,000

600
400
200
0
Conventional
product(µ DIGITAL 800)

41(-34.6%)

New product(µ DIGITAL 600)

Sales
The sales process is where products and our policies are delivered to customers. We deliver products that are moreenvironmentally-conscious. Furthermore, we provide clear-cut information on what sort of environmental consciousness isbeing practiced.

Olympus Eco-products
Olympus’s environmentally-conscious products■ Olympus Eco-products standard items
Standards &distinctive features

Olympus Eco-products
markDescriptions of standards & distinctive features

1. Remove hazardous
chemical substances asmuch as possible• Controlling chemical substances contained in products• Controlling chemical substances used in the productmanufacturing process

2. Reduce energy use to aminimum• Reducing electric power consumption while products are in use

3. Promote resource saving
and effective use ofresources• Developing lightweight, compact products and compact
packaging• Using a wide range of recyclable materials• Making it easy to break down and separate expendable parts• Making it easy to collect and recycle materials used for
packaging or shipping products• Indicating material quality on plastic parts• Saving resources when manufacturing and using products• Developing long-life products• Making products that satisfy upgrade requirements

4. Dissemination of information
on environmentallyconscious products
throughout society• Carrying out environmental assessments,• Providing information that helps product users to increase theirenvironmental awarenessObservance of the EU WEEE Directive
and the RoHS Directive
Observing environmental laws and regulations through smoothcommunications
The Olympus Group exports its products to and sells them in the EU
region. We are making efforts to observe environmental laws andregulations in the region such as the WEEE Directive (effective from
August 2005) and the RoHS Directive (effective from July 2006).
In particular, Olympus Imaging Europa GmbH, which conducts
marketing and sales of imaging-related products that account for WEEE Directive = WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electric Equipment) Directive,
which is based on Article 175 of the EC Treaty, for promoting the collection andrecycling of electrical appliances. The directive is also described as a directive
concerning used electrical appliances and electronics devices. Note that EU
member nations may also have their own domestic regulations that are stricter
than the WEEE Directive.

Emphasizing Environmentally-Conscious
Products in Sales Activities

Harmony with the Environment

Referring to the international standard for environmentally-conscious
products (the “environmental label” indication of the international
standard, ISO 14021), Olympus has established its own standards
and certifies those products that satisfy these standards as “Olympus
Eco-products.” By the end of March 2005, we had released a total of 32
Eco-products to the market. By improving the level of our environmental
consciousness, expanding the number of products, and enriching sales communications, wewill provide in the future more opportunities
where customers can select certified Eco-products
and make efforts to contribute to environmental
preservation.

92% (based on weight) of Olympus products shipped to the EU
region, has (a) thoroughly observed laws and regulations; (b) incooperation with Olympus Imaging Corp. who develop and manufacture imaging-related products, smoothly communicated with affiliated companies and agents in Europe that sell Olympus products in EU
countries; and (c) made efforts to comply with the WEEE and RoHS
directives. As a result, for products in the imaging field, environmental
compliance with the WEEE Directive was completed in July 2005, andwith the RoHS Directive in March 2006.

ISO 14001 activities incorporated in sales activities
Adhering to ISO 14001 activities, KS Olympus Co. Ltd. a majordomestic sales company in the Olympus Group, is making efforts to urge
customers to use products that are less burdensome on the environment
through its sales activities.
Promoting use of Olympus Eco-products and voluntarily evaluating the effects of our products on the environment help us understandenvironmental characteristics of products, which we explain to customers
as a part of our sales activities.
■ Evaluation of environmental effects caused by KS Olympus Co. Ltd.
Product

Features of its environmental effects

Using an antiseptic
solution containing 6%
Acecide (peracetic acid)for OER-2, endoscoperinser/sterilizer• The adoption of Acecide, with the benefits of its low
environmental impact and powerful sterilizing effect reduces
operating time by 67% to 89% compared with conventional
products, improving sterilizing and cleaning effects, andcontributing to energy-saving.
• The volume of the product has been decreased by about 37%,
which results in both energy and space-saving.

LED light for stereo
microscope

Cleaning liquid forwiping lenses(wiping liquid)• The LED light improves the brilliance and saves energy. Since
the light uses a long-lasting power supply that is 400 times as
durable as the conventional light, it contributes to energy saving
as well as resource saving, the reduction of fluorescent lamps
disposed of after they are changed, and the reduction of harmful
substances.
• Contrary to the conventional liquid that contains harmful
substances, the cleaning liquid is composed of silicon-derived orhydrocarbon-derived agents that are not harmful to humans. Thiscleaning liquid leads to the reduction of the use of substances
harmful to the global environment and to people.
• At present, how to cleanse lenses differs depending on
individuals. However, use of the EE cleaning liquid enables you
to cleanse lenses more easily, contributing to energy saving andresources conservation.

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

42

Use
We hope you can sense Olympus’ commitment when you use products—we would like to help you find new ways of using
them. We provide products that benefit the environment through observation of the natural environment and carefulinspections of all our equipment.

Preservation of Ecosystems in Rivers andMicroscope
Feeling the environment through a microscope

Under these circumstances, Olympus supports the Reef Check.
Every year, several employees participate in activities for the Reef
Check as volunteer divers.

Harmony with the Environment

With a microscope, you can observe minute objects, not through amonitor, but with the naked eye. Therefore, our microscopes are used toresearch, analyze, and observe the natural environment.

Observing rivers with microscopes
Mr. Kawai, a teacher of Osaka Municipal Daido Junior High School and agroup member promoting the conservation of endangered species ofwild fauna and flora program led by the Ministry of the Environment,
uses Olympus microscopes in observation meetings indoors or outdoors in connection with research to protect freshwater fish living in the
Yodo River.
He says, “You can learn many things, both tangible and intangible, fromthe river environment richly endowed with nature. For example, I
believe you can intuitively learn about the “importance of life,” which
has recently come to be an issue in the educational world.
To do so, we have to restore the productive river environment that is a“place” for learning. From now on, the most important thing will be for children who are responsible for the next generation to have correct environmental recognition. When you observe living things, not through a monitor but directly with a microscope, I can talk about basic matters of
ecosystems such as the food chain with a passion. In our observation
meetings, all the participants—children and adults—are very enthusiastic.

Observing the coral reef with adigital camera equipped with anunderwater protector

Compact digital camera, µ-720, which iswater-resistant to a depth of 3 meters,
designed to prevent dust, and is shockresistant (Eco-products in FY 2005)

1 Reef Check = An international NPO which, in a global scale, evaluates theeffects of human life on coral reefs in more than 50 countries. It engages in
activities to increase awareness among people about the value and current
status of coral reefs and establish a global network for preserving coral reefs.
2 Coral = A unique animal that photosynthesizes with solar light. Coral reefs inshallow sea areas near the land are inhabited by various creatures. Coral reefs
support human life, providing fishing resources, tourism resources, etc. In
addition, well-developed coral reefs protect the land from waves, acting asbanks under the sea.

Industrial Endoscopes and Their Various
Environmental Effects
Contributing to resource saving, global warming prevention,and ecosystem preservation

Mr. Norihiko Kawai, a teacher of Osaka
Municipal Daido Junior High School,
held an observation meeting at the
Olympus booth for “Eco-products 2005.”

Industrial endoscopes are a type of gastro-camera for industrial use that
inspects unseen parts. Accordingly, they are used for various purposes.
■ Industrial endoscopes and their various environmental effects
Usage

Protection of Coral Reefs Using Digital Cameras
Cooperation with the international NPO, Reef Check1
For digital cameras to be used in a wider range of fields, Olympus wasamong the first to provide a waterproof function for them. Using a digital camera equipped with a water protector, you can take photos at a
maximum water depth of 60 meters—the depth up to which the protector
is resistant to the water pressure. You can take photographs of thereal situation of coral reefs2 with quality digital images at a depth thatis deeper than ever before. This contributes to information sharing in the
global network.

43

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Typical use

Environmental effects expectedfrom the use

Electricity, gas,
Water service

Inspecting cracks in or
corrosion of pipes• Reducing the amount of resources input by extending operating lives• Maintaining and managing infrastructure for environmental
preservation, such as sewage facilities

Engines

Inspecting the inside ofengines• Reducing CO2, a greenhouse gas, as a result of inspections at
various stages- Checking combustion conditions of engines at the stage of
research and development- Inspecting engine quality when the engine is assembled- Inspecting the quality of diesel particulate filters so as to clean
up exhaust gases

Boilers and heatexchange equipment

Checking for corrosion
and blockages• Avoiding imperfect combustion and improving thermal inefficiency

Co-generation for
power generation

Inspecting turbine blades
and compressors• Improving power generation inefficiency and energy
inefficiency

Air-conditioning duct

Checking contamination• Preventing diffusion of dust
inside the duct

Program-production
companies, etc.

Observing inside of trees on • Observing, investigating, and researching nature and creaa TV program about insects
tures in the field and preserving ecosystems

Purposes of industrial endoscopes
http://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/insg/rvi/wir/wir_02.cfm(Japanese only)Disposal and the 3Rs
This is a process in which components are adequately returned into recycling to minimize their environmental load. Parts
that have not outlived their usefulness go through a thorough inspection and are used again. Whenever they are disposedof, they are adequately processed. With the goal of “Non-disposal” in mind, we are manufacturing recyclable products forwhich customers develop an attachment and make use of our services.

Resource Recycling when Olympus Products
are Repaired
Manufacturing for recycling with the goal of “Non-disposal”

1 Material recycling = Using waste as raw materials. Collecting used products
and waste generated in production processes, processing them into forms thatcan easily be recycled, and using them again as new raw materials.

■ Analyzer with steel cover removed

2 Manifest (Industrial Waste
Management Form) = A
form that specifies the typeof waste, the amount ofwaste, the name of thedisposer, and the final
disposal site. To prevent
inadequate disposal andillegal dumping, the form isused when the disposal ofwaste generated as a resultof business activities is
outsourced. Eachcontractor is obliged to
Industrial waste storage in Hirosaki officekeep manifestos and check
whether industrial waste is adequately disposed.

Harmony with the Environment

Olympus analyzers have a variety of users, such as hospitals and private
examination centers. Since many of the analyzers are large in size, when
they are delivered or replaced for upgrade, contractors specializing inanalyzer transportation receive old analyzers. This procedure facilitates
adequate processing and contributes to safety.
Most of the platforms and covers of analyzers are made of steel;therefore we make contracts with disposal companies that can recycle
these materials so that the analyzers are adequately processed and theresources are utilized.
In addition, our Repair Center for digital cameras (P. 22) disassembles digital cameras that are judged to be unrepairable and are to bedisposed of by Olympus. After sorting out the various parts, theCenter performs as much material recycling1 as possible to recycle
resources.

More concretely, each sales office, as a discharging business
unit, issues a manifest (Industrial Waste Management Form)2 anddelivers it to the waste disposer with the used product. When the
manifest is returned to the sales office, the disposal processes and thecontractor who engaged in the disposal are checked, and the completionof adequate disposal is then confirmed.

Proper Disposal of PCB Waste3
Completing the registration of early application for disposal
In 2004, Kitakyushu Disposal Facility started the processing and disposalof PCBs. All offices and plants of the Olympus Group that store
PCBs have completed the registration of early application for disposal.
In future, we will properly dispose of PCB-containing electronic
components (transformers, capacitors, etc.) as soon as the disposal ofsuch devices starts at designated disposal sites in Japan.

Proper Disposal in KS Olympus Co., Ltd.
Strengthening compliance, based on ISO 14001
As part of activities for strengthening compliance based on ISO
14001, an environmental management system, the sales offices of
KS Olympus Co. Ltd. in the Tohoku area, appropriately process used
Olympus products, received from customers (users) at the time of
product delivery, in compliance with the Waste Disposal and Clean-up
Law.

3 PCB = Poly-Chlorinated-Biphenyl.
Since these substances easily
dissolve in fat, it is reported thatthe substance is stored in ahuman body by chronic ingestion,and can cause various serious
problems. PCBs were previously
used for various purposes
because of their excellent
electrical insulation.

■ Storage of PCB

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 200644

Formulating a Basic Environmental Plan toward an Environmentally-Advanced Company
The Olympus Group formulates its Basic Environmental Plan and incorporates it within the Corporate Strategic Plan tofulfill our responsibilities toward the realization of a sustainable society.
In the future, the Olympus Group make its utmost effort to carry out measures that fully incorporate CSR, including
environmental measures, throughout all our business activities.

Olympus Group Medium-Term Basic
Environmental Plan
Formulating the Basic Environmental Plan 2006

Harmony with the Environment

Establishing Eco-design1 in our business activities, the Olympus
Group fulfills our responsibilities toward the realization of a sustainable
society and aims at becoming an environmentally-advanced company.
Every three years, the Olympus Group examines our activities andconducts self-evaluations; the results are then reflected in our mediumand long-term plans.
The Basic Environmental Plan 2006 is an action plan for five
years—from April 2006 to March 2011—which clarifies our corporate
philosophy for the coming years in view of changes in the business environment surrounding the Olympus Group and in which our corporate
image is embodied. The plan was formulated through discussions
and deliberations of the Olympus Group Environmental Committee
and a determination at Management Execution Meeting (P. 19) in
December 2005. The plan is composed of the following essential
environmental strategies:
I.

Products:

Creating Sophisticated EnvironmentallyConscious Products
II. Facilities:
Implementing Eco-Efficient Management
III. Management: Practicing Global Environmental
Management
IV. Communication: Enriching Environmental
Communication

The Olympus Group has newly adopted “Eco-communication”
as an essential feature of our Basic Environmental Plan. For
Olympus to become an environmentally-advanced company, internal
understanding and actions—not only for employees but also for eachstakeholder—are essential. For this purpose, Olympus believes that
improving the quality of communications with stakeholders is very
important.
Based on several essential features, the Olympus Group will
PLAN further detailed action plans, actually DO the plans, CHECK thegoals and the reality, and ACT to realize and carry out each environmental measure.
1 Eco-design = A comprehensive environment-responsive measure to reduce
environmental load in society and realize a sustainable economic society. Ecodesign aims to create new added value, optimizing manufacturing/production
technologies, business models, and social systems from the viewpoints of boththe environment and the economy.

45

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Essential Features of the Basic Environmental Plan
2006
I. Eco-products
To reduce the load of each manufacturing process—product planning, development, as well as design, procurement, production,
logistics, sales, use, and disposal, we will create sophisticated environmentally-conscious products and services through continuous
challenges and sophisticated technical capabilities and contribute to asustainable society.
II. Eco-facilities
For environmental issues such as global warming, the Olympus
Group, in all of its offices and plants world-wide, will promote thereduction of CO2 emissions, as well as the efficient use of resources, and,for CSR, contribute to a circulation society.
The Olympus Group will also utilize ISO 14001 system andactively promote the above actions through the business activities ofeach department.
III. Eco-management
Based on the notion of EPR2 Olympus will strengthen our efforts forcompliance with the environmental laws and regulations that are
being increasingly enacted all over the world. For this purpose, we willtake measures such as gathering information efficiently, focusing on
appropriate legal interpretation as well as incorporating laws and regulations in our policies, and smoothly deploying the policies within thecompany. From the viewpoint of CSR, we will strengthen environmental
risk management regarding overseas activities, including those indeveloping countries.
IV. Eco-communication
Using two-way communications—questioning and answering eachother—between the Olympus Group and stakeholders both insideand outside the group, we aim at sharing viewpoints about the environment and at feeding such viewpoints back into our activities.
2 EPR = Extended Producer Responsibility. This is the notion where a producer
is responsible for not only the stages of product manufacturing and use but also
the stages of disposal and recycling. Based on this concept, environmental
laws and regulations that specify how a manufacturer is obliged to reduce
environmental effects caused by its products are increasing all over the world.

Basic Environmental Plan 2006

Ecology Vision 21
Part II
Harmony with the Environment

Environmental management programs
as brand strategy and CSR activities
for maximizing corporate value

Becoming an environmentallyadvanced company

I

II

III

IV

Creating SophisticatedEnvironmentallyConscious Products

Implementing
Eco-efficientManagement

Practicing Global
Environmental
Management

Enriching
Environmental
Communication

To promote sustainable
manufacturing throughenvironmentally-conscious design

To enhance environmental
efficiency through businessactivities to contribute to asustainable society• Expanding the sales of environmentally-conscious products• Preventing global warming
Reducing energy-origin CO2 emissions (per sales unit) by 50% compared with FY 1990 (globally)• Accelerating the effective use ofresources and reducing waste finally disposed of in landfills
Reducing the total amount ofwaste (per sales unit) by 50%
compared with FY 2000 (globally)

To improve the system forcomplying with environmental laws
and regulations and strengthen
environmental risk management
globally

To actively provide stakeholders
with information on environmental
activities and receive feedback fromthem, and to revitalize our social
contribution activities• Improving the system for complying with environmental laws andregulations• Strengthening environmental risk
management• Contributing to environmental
preservation
Strengthening the promotion of
Olympus products and services• Increasing the standards of environmental education• Expanding contributions to society

Eco-products

Eco-facilities

Eco-management

Eco-communication

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

46

Good Relations with Community
Promoting Information Disclosure and Interactive Communication
It is very important for Olympus to let people know what we are thinking about and what we are doing, and to learn
exactly what people expect from us. Interactive communication is an essential tool for us in getting involved in thecommunity and providing value to society.

Information Disclosure Policy
Providing the right information at the right time

Good Relations with Community

Olympus releases corporate information in an appropriate manner at theright time so that the company’s shareholders and customers canfully understand it as well as find it trustworthy and in accord with our
information disclosure policy. Olympus has established internal rules on
information disclosure, including procedures, based on our information
disclosure policy. Whenever we disclose information, it is particularly
important to comply with the relevant laws and ordinances and stocktransaction regulations effective in countries where we or our subsidiaries and affiliates do business. We also pay careful attention to protect the personal information of stakeholders and respect their rights.

Method of Information Disclosure
Providing information to as many people as possible
Depending on the level of importance or content, Olympus provides
information using optimal means, such as news releases, publicity
events, news conferences, and web sites.
With the recent spread of the Internet, the role of web sites has neverbeen more important in providing information on corporations.
Olympus is therefore constantly improving its web site to better supply
information to consumers. Any particularly important piece of information concerning the Company will be quickly reflected on its web site
after official disclosure in accordance with the insider trading
regulations so that the information can be accessible to as many
people as possible.
Please refer to “Investor
Relations” sectionof our web site.

 Official disclosure as per the insider trading regulation = Companies should avoid
unofficially and prematurely disclosing any material information that may affecttheir stock value. Such disclosure of material information may provide
advantages to those who receive the information before the general public does
(insider trading), and any company that discloses information in this manner isobligated to swiftly disclose the same information to the public. Such material
information is deemed to be disclosed in accordance with the insider trading
regulation if it is put on the Timely Disclosed Information Access Service jointly
operated by the Tokyo Stock Exchange, among others.
Investor Relations = http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/ir/

Notice of Product Safety Information
Possibility of over-heating or smoking in the IZM200/210/
220PANORAMA/230Zoom
We released in Japan the notice to our customers of the above 35 mm
film cameras produced between 1988 and 1994. A failure of a circuit
element in the cameras may cause a possible over-heating and smoking
which rarely result in damage to the outer cover when the camera isturned on.
As our cameras are manufactured with flame-resistant materials,
there is no risk of a fire. However, giving customers’ safety top priority, we are providing a free inspection and prevention measures program. Please refer to our web site
for details. Overseas
Olympus Group companies
also have similar programs respectively.
Product Safety Information of IZM200/210/220PANORAMA/230Zoom(Only in Japanese) =http://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/support/cs/camera/info/if20060220izmj.cfm
Olympus Group Companies = http://www.olympus.global.com/en/global

Corporate Advertisements in Newspapers andMagazines
To let people better know about Olympus
Olympus places corporate advertisements in newspapers and magazines
to let people know about our technologies and management philosophy
behind our products and services for abetter understanding of our company.

Advertisement in newspapers“We make only environmentallyconscious products”
Olympus’ Web site

47

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Eco-Products 2005 Exhibition

Web Gallery & Magazine

Providing opportunities to use our products and holding
environmental seminars

Providing interesting and useful information
Olympus not only posts corporate information and product information,
but also provides interesting and useful information to the public on its
web site.
We welcome any comments from you to make our site evenmore interesting.
Camera Wall Paper Library
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/fun/wallpaper/camera/
Free wallpapers featuring Olympus
cameras to decorate your desktop

Web Gallery
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/
gallery/
Enjoy the world of the photography inthis web-based gallery

Good Relations with Community

Olympus participated in the general ecological products exhibition,
Eco-Products 2005, held at Tokyo Big Sight in December 2005. Our
exhibits included our environmentally conscious products and our
products that help preserve the environment, such as resource-saving
digital cameras free of hazardous chemical substances, stereo andbiological microscopes useful to understand biodiversity, industrial
endoscopes appropriate for observation during field work, andmicroscopes for asbestos measurements that are able to identify and analyze hazardous materials. In addition, we set up a corner to touch andobserve samples to provide opportunities for visitors to actually use our
products. Also, we held an environmental seminar by experts using our
products. Introducing Olympus Eco-products and our efforts regarding
the environment, which was a great success, welcoming many visitors,
ranging from elementary school students to adults.

Children actually using Olympus products
Olympus booth

Web Magazine

Questionnaire at Olympus booth–Eco-Products 2005

THE OLYMPUS PURSUIT
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/
magazine/pursuit/

Aiming to reflect customers’ voices in our activities, we ask people
who visited the Olympus booth to fill out a questionnaire.
In “Most impressive product and the reason,” we appreciate theircomments showing that they need different functions depending on
product category. We will reflect their comments on products as apart of our focus on CSR.

Features unique uses of our products, aphoto gallery, information on our latest
environmental and community initiatives,technical innovations, global businessactivities, and much more.

● Questionnaire at Eco-Products 2005: Most impressive
product and the reason
Single-lens reflex
digital camera

Biological observation
microscopes

Asbestos measurement
microscopes

Compact
digital camera(respondents: 138)

(respondents: 131)

(respondents: 102)

(respondents: 94)

7

13

30
15

70

15

19

36

Endoscopes forindustrial use(respondents: 56)(respondents: 24)

4

2
4

18

57

14

Environmentally-conscious product(Eco-product)
Useful for society in terms ofenvironmental protection andhealth and safety
Because I actually tried the productOlympus Technozone is a technologyoriented magazine published twice ayear. Here, we introduce topics such as
the latest information, technologies andour vision about new enterprises.

Useful for my hobby, life, and work

8
15

38

OLYMPUS TECHNOZONE
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/
magazine/techzone/

22

Endoscopes for
medical use

14

4
15

46

4

17

21

16

5

2

8

6

Because I didn’t know about
this productOlympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

48

Contributing to Local, Regional, and International Society
Olympus believes it imperative to carry out business while always keeping in mind how to be of service to society,if it wishes to be favorably accepted and chosen by stakeholders.

Social Contribution Policy
Active support in the field where our management resources
are effectively used

Good Relations with Community

Olympus would like to contribute to society in various ways otherthan business by using our managerial resources, such as our technology and manpower. We established our Social Contribution
Policy in March 2005, which focuses on four areas of social contribution, namely, medicine and health, culture and arts, the global environment, and natural science. It also encourages every employee toactively participate in volunteer activities.

Medicine and HealthDonating endoscopes to developing countries
Olympus has been donating endoscopic systems to hospitals indeveloping countries since September 2003, one hospital a year, as acosponsor of the Outreach Program operated by the World
Organization for Digestive Endoscopy and the World
Gastroenterology Organization. Olympus Latin America, in cooperation
with ABCD, a charity organization managed by the wives of diplomats
residing in El Salvador, has donated endoscopes to a pediatric clinic in
the country (see page 17 for details).

Japanese Foundation for Research and Promotionof Endoscopy
The Japanese Foundation for Research and Promotion of Endoscopy
was established to encourage and promote research into endoscopic
medicine, thereby contributing to the development of medicine andimprovement of the welfare of humankind. It was launched with adonation from Olympus in 1982. The foundation provided research support to 49 recipients in FY2005.

Bio Imaging Laboratory
Olympus set up the Olympus Bio
Imaging Laboratory, a joint
initiative with the JapaneseFoundation for Cancer Research.
Olympus employees are active at
this laboratory, utilizing the stateof-the-art research facilities.
Olympus Bio Imaging Laboratory =http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/
magazine/pursuit/inside/apr2005/
index.cfm

Olympus Bio Imaging Laboratory

Culture and Art
A Day in the Life of AFRICA
In February 2002, approximately 100 world-famous photographers
armed with digital cameras were dispersed all over Africa to photograph
African people on a single day. Olympus joined this spectacular
event as a major sponsor by supplying digital cameras and other photographic equipment to the participating photographers. Their work wascollected in a photographic book, with all profits from its sale donatedto the AIDS Education Fund in Africa. Olympus later held photo
exhibitions in various parts of the world using all the pictures taken anddonated the money generated by the exhibitions to the UN
Millennium Development Goals. In April to May 2005, Olympus cohosted a special exhibition, “To Achieve Millennium Development
Goals,” with the United Nations Information Centre at the United
Nations Pavilion in Expo 2005, Aichi, Japan. Also, in January 2006,
Olympus held a photo exhibition showing work from the special
exhibition.

The Japanese Foundation for the Research and Promotion of Endoscopy(only in Japanese) = http://www.endo-jfe.or.jp/©Nick Kelsh from "A Day in the Life of
AFRICA"©John Isaac from"A Day in the Life of AFRCA"

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Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

“Nature in Japan” Photo Contest
Olympus cosponsors the “Nature in Japan” photo contest based on
the theme “Your Camera Helps to Preserve the Greenery.” The event
marked the 22nd anniversary of the contest.

Family’s Day
Olympus cosponsors Family’s Day (on the fourth Sunday of July)
proposed by photographer Bruce Osborn. On Family’s Day in 2005,
Olympus held the Family Photo Contest and a photo exhibition. In addition to our employees directly responsible forthis event, many others voluntarily participated.

Natural Science
Wakuwaku Science Workshop
The intention of the Wakuwaku (“exciting”) Science Workshop is to letchildren experience the joy of science. Volunteer staff from Olympus
joined the Wakuwaku Project to take the initiative in holding seminars
for local elementary school and junior high school students. Children canlearn the joy of science, particularly properties and the wonder oflight, one of Olympus’ specialty fields, through hands-on experience.
Olympus supports this volunteer activity by supplying materials for theexperiments. This workshop was held five times in FY2005 and hadsome 1,150 participants. See our web site for details.
Wakuwaku Science Workshop (Only in Japanese) =http://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/event/wakuwaku/

Global Environment
Supporting WWF with Nature Photo Calendars
Nature Photo Calendars are the result of a unique collaboration with photographers to support the WWF. Olympus publishes Nature PhotoCalendars and donates them to WWF  Japan so that the internationalorganization can use the profits from their sales in their work to preserve
nature. The 2006 calendar uses the valuable photos that photographer
Mitsuaki Iwago took of rare kinds of wild animals that only live in South
Africa with an E-1 digital single-lens reflex camera. The calendar is anenvironment-conscious non-polluting product made entirely of recycled
paper and does not use a PVC wall-hanging folder.
WWF, or the World Wide Fund for Nature, is the world’s largest organization
concerned with the protection of nature. It is active in approximately 180
countries and has the support of over 4.5 million people. WWF was founded in1961 to protect endangered wild animals around the world. Currently, WWF isengaged in protecting nature in a wider sense with the inclusion of environmental
problems, such as global warming and toxic chemical pollution, and thepromotion of the sustainable use of resources obtained from nature. Its ultimate
goal is to realize a new society where people and the earth can coexist inharmony.

2006 Olympus/WWF Calendar

Wakuwaku Science Workshop

Good Relations with Community

Family’s Day Logo Mark and Poster

Natural Science Observation Contest
This contest provides elementary school and junior high school students
with opportunities to learn about the wonders of nature and answer questions about the things happening around them. In FY2005, over
10,000 students entered the contest, the highest number ever.
Olympus has been a cosponsor of the event since its start in 1960 as the“Microscope Observation Contest.” A prize-winners’ digest is available
on the web site.
Natural Science Observation Contest = http://www.shizecon.net/# (Only inJapanese)

Web site of the Natural Science
Observation Contest

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 200650

Efforts by Olympus Group Japan Sites
An outline of environmental protection activities and contribution to local communities by Olympus Group japan sites is
introduced on the following pages. More detailed reports are shown in the respective

sites.

Efforts by Olympus Group Japan Sites (Only in Japanese) = http://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/corc/csr/wdata/■ Ina Plant (Ina-shi, Nagano Prefecture)
Manufacture of optical microscopes

Good Relations with Community

In FY2005, Ina Plants’ efforts on environmental preservation started
with “Easy Energy Diagnosis,” hosted by the Ina branch of the
Nagano Association for Conserving the Environment. Currently Ina
Plant is implementing energy-saving efforts based on the diagnosis results. Employees from neighboring companies in charge of energy
management gather to conduct energy diagnosis for free. In addition
to their companies’ energy saving diagnosis, they also visit other companies to conduct diagnoses on request. Employees in charge of energy management at Ina Plant also participate in such diagnosis work.
Local companies in Nagano can deepen communications about theirenvironmental conservation actions using energy-saving diagnoses
as a tool to further improve the quality of their environmental management activities.

■ Tatsuno Plant (Kami ina, Nagano Prefecture)
Manufacture of digital cameras, liquid crystal inspection
equipment, industrial endoscopes, high-speed printers,
automation equipment, vegetable production, and researchand development of semiconductors
Tatsuno Plant manages the area including Tatsuno-machi (Tatsuno Plant) andOkaya-shi (Okaya plant). The aging tanks and containers buried underground within the facilities located in both sites were becoming environmental concerns. In
2005, Tatsuno Plant designated “the reduction of environmental risks” as a pillar of
its environmental objectives and made various improvements, including preventive
measures on items that affect the environment. At Tatsuno Plant, raw water tanks
and piping for the wastewater treatment facilities for glass processing installed underground 25 years or more ago were relocated above ground and double-layertanks were adopted as intermediary tanks. At Okaya Plant, the crude oil tanks installed underground 20 years or more ago were also relocated on the ground andchanged to kerosene-fueled type, aiming to reduce CO2 emissions.

Relocation of raw water tankon the ground
Easy Energy Diagnosis

Relocations of wastewater
piping on the groundDouble-layer intermediarytanks

Relocation of kerosene
tanks on the ground

Takaaki Nakamura,
General Affairs Group

Satoshi Mizutani (left), andNoriyuki Nakamura (right),
General Affairs Group

Removal ofunderground tanks■ Mishima Olympus Co., Ltd. (Sunto-gun, Shizuoka Prefecture)
Development and manufacture of clinical analyzers andprovision of services
Mishima Olympus is striving to reduce waste as a part of its environmental efforts for the local community. As with other Group companies,
Mishima Olympus utilizes returnable cases to reduce packing materials
for transportation, and totally eliminated the use of module packing materials in cooperation with local suppliers (see photo below). By expanding
trade and taking advantage of its location, Mishima Olympus will promote efforts for society and the environment, such as CO2 and waste reduction to help reactivate the local community. It was decided that a
new plant with 1.8 times more overall floor area will be constructed near
the existing plant in FY2007, with the aim of establishing an environmentally state-of-the-art plant.

Small modules after packing

Olympus Logitex is actively introducing a modal shift (switching to railway transportation in place of trucks), which is said to reduce CO2 emissions to one-eighth, on average. For the period from April 2005 to December, it employed modal shift for 26 cases (see page 41), reducing
CO2 emissions by 5,020 kg and saving 1.4 million yen in transportation
costs. In addition to product transportation, we are promoting a modal
shift for the transport of confidential documents and catalogues for disposal. In continuing these activities and achieving further progress,
Olympus Logitex reports on environmental indicators and keeps every
employee informed of its environmental activities at a company-widemorning meeting.

Kaname Hasegawa,
Purchasing Group

Symbols to indicate the site type
Sites in charge of production, such as
plantsSites in charge of product R&D including
basic research and technology development

51■ Olympus Logitex Co., Ltd.
(Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture)
Product warehousing and distribution

Sites in charge of storage and distributionof products
Sites in charge of sales
Sites in charge of product repair andprovision of service

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Loading of waste materials on
containers

Tsutomu Kubomura,the Environment Office■ Aomori Olympus Co., Ltd.
(Kuroishi-shi, Aomori Prefecture)
Manufacture of medical apparatus■ Aizu Olympus Co., Ltd.
(Aizu-Wakamatsu-shi, Fukushima Prefecture)
Manufacture of endoscopes for medical use

In 2005, Aomori Olympus was registeredas the “Environmentally-Conscious
Aomori Prefecture Promotion Office,” inrecognition of its environmental efforts, including electricity-saving measures using
electricity monitoring, provision of manure made from garbage to farmhouses
for free, and enrichment of its environmental education. In February 2006, itparticipated in “Tsugaru Kuroishi–Japan’s
Biggest Snowman Contest,” using large
amounts of snow to make a giant snowman—great entertainment for the local
community!

In FY 2005, Aizu Olympus again cosponsoredthe Environment Festa in Aizu, hosted annually by Aizu-Wakamatsu-shi. At our booth in thevenue, the company introduced the current status of environmental loading and our environmental efforts, as well as such attractions as
free distribution of manure made by recycling
leftovers at the company canteen, an environmental quiz with the theme of Team Minus 6%,
and free distribution of photos taken at thebooth, which were all appreciated by visitors.
In the “Environmental Month” (June) and the“National Occupational Safety and HealthWeek” (one week in October), Aizu Olympus
employees pick up paper scraps and empty
cans on the road and street gutters around
Aizu Plant and Kita-Aizu Plant every year.

The giant snowman made for“Tsugaru Kuroishi – Japan’s
Biggest Snowman Contest”

Nobuyuki Yamada,
General Affairs GroupAs one of its important measures for FY2005, Shirakawa
Olympus made efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. In such activities, it achieved its goals by improving production facilities, shifting to inverter fluorescent lamps for ceiling lights across the entire plant, and enhancing the running efficiency of compressors.
Every year Shirakawa Olympus holds a regular recycling bazaar
with donations from employees and plants cherry tree saplingson the premises using profits from the bazaar. The trees help absorb the CO2 emitted from the company’s processes, although
the effect is limited. As for waste reduction, separate collections
were promoted by changing cardboard boxes for delivery to returnable cases and distributing recyclable cardboard boxes toour suppliers.

Planting cherry tree saplings with theprofits made from the recycling bazaar

Hiroshi Suzuki,
General Affairs Group■ Tokyo Office (Shinjuku-ku and Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
Headquarters Administrative Department,
Sales Department, Repair Department,
and others
To promote communication with local communities, Olympus Tokyo Office participated in the
Shibuya Ward Residents’ Festival held every
November for the forth time in 2005. In such a
festival, it is important to communicate not onlywith organizers but also with local people. We
provided our digital cameras so that residents
could take photos freely, and offered prints of
their photos for free when they left. Throughthese activities, we hope that local residents
could gain a wider understanding of our products, and we were very happy to have beenable to share such valuable experiences withlocal people.

Shibuya Ward Residents’ Festival

Satoru Hayashi,Tokyo General Affairs Group,
General Affairs Department

Kazuharu Watanabe (left) andYasuo Ikeda (right),
General Affairs Group■ Hinode Plant (Nishitama-gun, Tokyo)
Manufacture of endoscopes for medical and industrial use
and ultrasonic products
Aiming to be a plant supported by the localities, Hinode Plant cooperated
with local elementary schools in their social studies field trips.
The Plant also cosponsored activities for a
vocational aid center in the same industrial
complex. The center is for handicapped people who make and sell beautiful highly
wrought artificial flowers. We held an exhibition to display and sell these flowers andthe event was highly appreciated by the em- Independent On/Off switch
ployees and the vocational center, which for each lighting apparatus
made a handsome profit. As a part of its environmental efforts, Hinode Plant saves
electricity by placing independent On/Off
switches for respective lighting apparatus in
addition to a switch for the entire floor sothat electricity consumption, which accounts
for most of the Plant’s energy consumption, Ryuji Mizusaki,
is significantly reduced.
General Affairs Group

Good Relations with Community■ Shirakawa Olympus Co., Ltd.
(Nishishirakawa-gun, Fukushima
Prefecture)
Manufacture of medical machinery and equipment

Environment Festa in Aizu

■ Research and Development Center (Hachioji)(Hachioji-shi, Tokyo)
Basic research on medical, image, and information areas,
R&D on elements, development of new products andproduction technologies
In this year’s energy-saving activities, our R&D Center (Hachioji) participated in a national campaign “Team Minus 6%,”continuously managed room temperatures and the running hours of air-conditioning
equipment, and successfully reduced 488 tons of CO2. Also, the center introduced wastewater reduction facilities as a measure to reduce
wastewater from experiments, which accounts for 35% of all waste. A
reduction of 106 tons of wastewater was achieved over the previous
fiscal year.
The center participates in cleaning activities around the premises
five times a year, and the welfare festival in Hachioji-shi held in May,and the Fureai (interaction) Sports Festival in October. Employees of
the center (Hachioji) participate in such festivals as volunteers andthereby deepen their communications withhandicapped people in Hachioji-shi.

Noboru Nakano (left),
Masahiko Tanaka (center),Akiyoshi Takami (right),
Environment Team,
Facility Environment Group, Wastewater reduction
General Affairs Groupfacility

Fureai Sports Festival

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 200652

Efforts by Olympus Group Overseas Sites
An outline of environmental protection activities and contributions to local communities by Olympus Group overseas sites
is introduced on the following pages. More detailed reports are shown in respective

sites.

Efforts by Olympus Group Overseas Sites = http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/corc/csr/wdata/■ Olympus Winter & Ibe GmbH
Development, manufacture, sales and service of endoscopes

KeyMed has been educating employees on its environmental strategies
through the company’s intranet. An ‘Environmental’ section has proved
popular with staff, containing articles on various ‘green’ topics, including
the company’s new biodegradables waste stream, the ‘wormery’.
Originally holding 2,000 earth worms (Lumbricus terrestris), thewormery is helping to reduce landfill by taking food scraps from the Day
Nursery, while also being a novel educational tool. KeyMed’s ISO
14001 registration is being extended to cover other parts of the KeyMedgroup.

In January 2006 Olympus Winter & Ibe GmbH (OWI) has received
the certification of the environmental partnership from the city of
Hamburg, which honors the largest-scale cooperation between
business and government authorities in northern Germany. The
certificate recognizes the voluntary environmental efforts OWI has
integrated into the production processes. For several years OWI
has maintained the certification of the environmental management
system acc. to ISO 14001. The additional activities implemented
for the constant efforts at making efficient use of natural resourcesin the production area led to the remarkable recognition.

nyEarth worms are used as a novel
educational tool in Nursery

e
G

U

.K

.

rm

a

A J Vaughan,Group Environment
Manager, KeyMed Ltd.

Peter Gaedicke,
Head of Quality andEnvironmental
Management

The certification of the environmental partnership with parties
concerned. Joern Pagels, Head of the Energy Section in the
Department of Urban Development (left), City of Hamburg,Peter Gaedicke, Head of Quality & Environmental Management (center), Heinz Jacqui, Managing Director of Olympus
Winter & Ibe GmbH (right)

Ir

e

la

n

d

Good Relations with Community■ KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd.
Sales, repair, development and manufacture of endoscopes

Liam McGregor,
Human Resources Manager (left),
Susan Keane, Environmental
Health & Safety Manager (center),
Rachel Kelly,
Senior Environmental Health &Safety Officer (right)

University students on an educational
field trip of the OLMEI effluent & reed
bed system

Symbols to indicate the site type
Sites in charge of production, such as
plantsSites in charge of product R&D including
basic research and technology development

inh
C

OLMEI continued to successfully achieve ISO 14001 audits
and put recommended improvements in place. OLMEI’s Effluent treatment system required an expansion of the vermiculture units to facilitate the extra capacity required for the digestion of sludge, a by-product of Effluent. OLMEI have welcomed
visits from local schools and universities to view our Environmental Systems. In November 2005 OLMEI hosted the launchof the County Clare Wood Energy Project. This projects encourages company’s to switch to wood heating burners instead ofoil heating burners.

a

C

h

in

a

■ Olympus Life and Material Sciences Europe[Irish Branch] (OLMEI)
Development and manufacture of reagent forhemanalysis equipment■ Olympus (Guangzhou) Industrial Co., Ltd.
Manufacture of imaging products
Olympus Guangzhou invited its employees to submit short essays on thetheme “environmental conservation and energy saving” in September ofthe environmental month and received 151 essays. The best ones wereawarded with cash incentives and prizes. The company also informed its
employees by posting more than 30 essays, such as “Contributing to the
Achievement of an Energy-Saving Society,” on its company notice board“Environment Column,” thereby enhancing awareness of the importanceof water and electricity saving. As for waste, the recycling rate improved
to 92% from 85% thanks to the strict control of waste and supervision
and administration of recycling processes.

Sites in charge of storage and distributionof products
Sites in charge of sales
Sites in charge of product repair andprovision of service

Staff at the Environmental Safety
Office53

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Philippine

Prize-giving ceremony for the outstanding performance award during
Environmental Month■ Olympus (Shenzhen) Industrial Ltd.
Assembly and parts processing of cameras (lens mold)At the “Shenzhen City Beacon Hill Tree-Planting Activities by a Million
people,” hosted by the Shenzhen municipal government and Shenzhen City
Green Fund, 40 employees of Olympus Shenzhen planted 20 trees tocontribute to the city's greening. In the company's environmental month, itposted information on the collection of old batteries to be disposed and on
environmental protection via the intranet and posters, to enhance theenvironmental awareness of employees. In the external audit for ISO14001,
its energy-saving activities—including efforts to turn off unnecessary lighting,use of energy-saving fluorescent lamps, and control of air conditioning
systems—were highly regarded.

Baofeng Di (left), Ying Luo (center), Zihui Lin (right) of theEnvironmental Development Department in the Personnel
Supervising Division

Tree-planting activities■ Olympus America Inc. / Olympus Imaging America Inc.
(Corporate Headquarters)
Marketing and sale of imaging,medical and analytic products,
distribution, and repair of microscopes

Robert D. Morse, P.E ,Chief Compliance
Officer■ Olympus America Inc. [Irving Facility]
Distribution, repair and service of analytic
systems, customer service of medical andanalytic equipment
Irving facility expanded its environmental reporting and recycling initiatives in 2005. Through improvements in forecasting
accuracy and supplier quality assurance, a 5-year plan expects to reduce the amount of expired, off-specification anddamaged product waste by at least 20%. Recognizing its role
within society, the OAI Irving facility continues to give back to
its community through regular contributions to local parks, theNorth Texas Food Bank, and the Vogel Alcove Childcare Center for the Homeless.

*1 U.S. Green Building Council*2 LEED: A voluntary, consensus-based national standard for green buildings*3 Details of colorectal cancer prevention activities:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/crcawareness

A

A

m

er

ic

a

■ Olympus Optical Technology Philippines, Inc. (OPI)
Manufacture of biological microscopes
OPI was certified with ISO 14001 May, 2005. Wastewater
treatment facility was established to expand to manage thewastewater generated from the lens, washing, oil separationand painting process. Concerning community-based environmental and social contributions, OPI is committed to support
projects, like tree planting, of the local government, as well as
the national government concerning environmental preservation, such as a tree planting activity which was carried out lastNovember 27, 2005 in support of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) program in saving andprotecting the environment.

Henrey Donguines,
Team Leader of Maintenance &Environment Team and
Pollution Control Officer

The planting activity

A

m

er

ic

The Olympus corporate headquarters was
located so as not to disturb any wetlands.

m

a

er

ic

Good Relations with Community

Olympus America and Olympus Imaging America recently relocated to Pennsylvania. For its new headquarters, several
U.S. Green Building Council*1 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED*2) features were utilized including energy-efficient mechanical, electrical and lighting systems; water-conserving fixtures; ozone-friendly refrigerants; light
pollution-limiting exterior fixtures; and local material and supplier use. Olympus has become actively involved in its newcommunity with donations to numerous social service, historicpreservation and other non-profit organizations including a digital imaging center with classes for all levels of digital photography provided year-round and colorectal cancer prevention
activities.*3.

aCharles Zerbo, Manager,
Irving Distribution Center (left) and
Brian Burgess,Quality Assurance Engineer (right)

Improved forecasting and supplierquality surveillance is reducing theamount of expired, off-specificationand damaged reagents that must be
disposed.

■ Olympus Medical Equipment Services America, Inc.
National Service Center (NSC)
Front desk for repair and service of medical
equipment, distribution center
The NSC’s ambient air emission reduction program ofencouraging employees to car pool is an example of OMES’contribution to maintaining a sustainable healthy environment
in California’s Bay Area. The program is incentivized by an
employee car pool matching service and gift card lottery
drawing for car pool employees. Also, the NSC's proactive Ewaste recycling program began well before legislation was
introduced. Discarded and end of life electronic items arecollected and periodically shipped to an external recycling
vendor. Metal and plastics are recovered and recycled bysmelting of metals and reprocessing of plastics.

Pad Kemmanahalli,
Environmental Health, Safety &Facility Senior Manager

Reserved car pool parking slots

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

54

Ensuring the Objectivity and Reliability of Our CSR Information

Communication through the Corporate Social
Responsibility Report

Corporate Social Responsibility Report andthe Olympus Web Site

Ensuring the Objectivity and Reliability of Our CSR Information

Olympus has published the Olympus Environmental Report since2000 as a means of communicating its environmental approach to thegeneral public. In 2003, we started publishing a Chinese version of ourreport in addition to Japanese and English versions so that a greater number of people around the world can read it. In FY2005, we changed thetitle of the Environmental Report, which was limited to environmental
information, to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report toreflect the expanded content that now includes social and governancedata about the Olympus Group. We issued 20,000 copies of theJapanese version, 3,000 of the English version, and 1,300 of theChinese version.
Our Web site provides further detailed information and updates thatare not included in the CSR Report.

■ Number of copies for
Olympus CSR Report 2005
Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility ReportJapanese version

20,000English version

3,000

Chinese version

1,300

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report
2005 Questionnaire
Olympus thanks the readers of the Corporate Social Responsibility
Report 2005 for their comments and opinions. As we distributed theJapanese version to all Japanese employees of the Olympus Group, we
received a lot of comments from them and their family members.
Many of their comments have been reflected in the CSR Report
2006.

Q1
In what social capacity did you read the report?

Olympus Group
employees and theirfamily members: 91%

As of March 2006

Toward Greater Involvement with Society and the Realizationof a Better Livelihood and Happiness● Customers: 1.84%● Olympus dealers and suppliers: 2.18%

Olympus CSR Report● Government and administration: 0.08%● Research and education: 0.84%● Media: 0.08%● Environmental organization: 0.59%● Environmental staff of companies: 1.51%● Students: 0.42%● Others: 1.26%
Consultants, general public,
environmental counselors, consumers,
those who are interested in CSR
activities, former members of theEnvironmental Development
Department, former management in thefield of medical, science, chemical
technologies, and steel workers

55

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Q2

Q3

Q4

Understandability of the Report

Details of our activities

Number of pages

Comments from employees andtheir family members(Total respondents: 1,083)
1. Very poor: 0%
2. Poor: 5%

5. Excellent: 7%

Comments from employees andtheir family members(Total respondents: 1,083)

Comments from employees andtheir family members(Total respondents: 1,083)

1. Very poor: 0%
2. Poor: 2%

1. Very poor: 4%
2. Poor: 27%

5. Excellent:

5. Excellent:

7%4%

4. Very good:20%

4. Very good:49%

3. Good: 43%

4. Very good: 45%

3. Good: 42%

1. Very poor: 0%

5. Excellent: 32%

2. Poor: 1%
3. Good: 15%

4. Very good: 52%

External comments(Total respondents: 88)
1. Very poor: 0%

5. Excellent: 39%

2. Poor: 0%

External comments(Total respondents: 88)
1. Very poor: 0%
2. Poor: 9%

5. Excellent:

3. Good: 30%

4. Very good: 44%

17%

3. Good: 18%

4. Very good: 43%■ Favorable comments by readers of Olympus CSR Report 2005

Favorable comments

Responses in the Olympus CSR Report 2006

● Explains efforts by Olympus in anunderstandable way

Olympus will create such reports that allow readers to understandits efforts more easily● Understandable as it uses many figuresand photos

Reference
page

Entire report

sss

Ensuring the Objectivity and Reliability of Our CSR Information

External comments(Total respondents: 88)

3. Good: 45%● Compiled in a brief and understandable
manner■ Recommendations for improvement by readers of Olympus CSR Report 2005

Recommendations for improvements● Too many words on each page and too
much information in the entire report.

Responses in the Olympus CSR Report 2006
We explained our major efforts for FY2005 in the “Report digest.”
Also, to provide concrete information on our CSR concept andsss
activities, we introduced examples within the Group that symbolize
CSR concept in the “Special Feature” section.

● More drawings, pictures and graphs areneeded to improve visual understandability.
● If Olympus truly considers the environment,a Web-based report rather than paper ispreferable.

In order to communicate overall CSR activities of Olympus Group,
we provide detailed information and actual cases on the Web.

Reference
page

P4-18

P2

sss

● Larger graphs, tables, pictures and fonts
for descriptions are needed.

sss

We reduced the number of letters per page by 11.8% (to 2,000 from2,268), making graphs, tables, fonts for descriptions larger.

Entire report● More detailed explanations of terms areneeded as they are hard to understand.

sss

Explanatory notes on special terms have been added to improve
comprehensibility.

P2

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

56

Third-Party Verification

Ensuring the Objectivity and Reliability of Our CSR Information* See our Web site for details.

Purpose of Third-Party Verification
Olympus, to ensure that its report was correct in content, easy to read, andsufficiently transparent, was subject to a third-party verification at its CSR
Department, Environmental Development Department, Research andDevelopment Center (Hachioji) and Aomori Olympus. The independent
third-party auditor, TÜV Rheinland Japan, an ISO 14001-certification
organization that checks the environmental promotion capability of
Olympus (see page 29), undertook a review to see if 1 all important
information and environmental data had been gathered, totaled, anddisclosed by valid means; 2 if the report was complete with important
information from the guidelines referenced in the CSR Report; 3 if suchinformation was accurately described.

Having Received the Third-Party Verification
and Opinion
TÜV Rheinland Japan gave us high marks for our efforts on CSR,
our active information disclosure utilizing printed materials and our Web
site, and our environmental accounting system.
It was, however, pointed out that the report lacked completenessbecause we used both paper media and the Web in conjunction, andfailed to clarify our concrete strategies and policy commitments
towards the future. Olympus will promote interactive communication
with stakeholders to create and implement better policies and actions
regarding CSR.

1 Validity of the report: Verifying whether any information that is damaging to the management of the company was omitted or judgment on the importance of the report withrespect to the necessity of descriptions was arbitrary i.e., the degree of influence that false data or omitted data could have on the judgment of stakeholders
2 Completeness of the report: Verifying whether all the information was disclosed in accordance with guidelines referred to in the report3 Accuracy of the report: Verifying whether the data in the report was accurately measured or calculated

57

Editor’s Note

About the Cover of this Report

To create this report, we requested many of our colleagues in related
departments, including those overseas, to write reports, and discussed theseagain and again by forming working groups. For the first time we made interviews with our people and introduced the activities of departments and people, who are implementing our CSR philosophy in their own activities, in the“Special Feature” section.
Olympus Group will make further efforts to achieve a sustainable
society. We are pleased to receive any comments you may have about us.

For the cover of this year’s CSR Report, Olympus adopted a work by
Susumu Endo, whose works are based on the theme of “a new relationshipbetween humans and nature”. This conforms to our CSR andEnvironmental Philosophy aimed at contributing to the forming of sustainable society and environment.

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

Susumu Endo, a graphic designer and a print artist, has been awarded many prizes athome and abroad, including the 1st Prize at Poster Biennale, Finland and the Grand Prix
at the BHAVAN International Biennale of Print in India. His works are owned by wellknown art museums in 20 countries, including the British Museum in the U.K. and theWarsaw National Museum, as well as major museums in Japan. Most recently, he waspresented with the highest award in the SDA Awards for a neon sign that used energysaving, high-tech neon lights developed by Olympus.

History of Olympus’ Social and Environmental Activities
Year

Month

1960

Description
Co-sponsorship for Microscopic Observation Contest (currently the Natural Science Observation Contest) started

1975

March

Pollution Prevention Committee established

1976

June

Activities during Environment Week held at various plants

Latter half of the 1970s

Companywide standards and regulations on pollution prevention, waste disposal, and chemical management arranged and improved

1982

April

Support of WWF (currently the World Wide Fund for Nature) started

1984

April

Pollution prevention inspection started (carried out until 1996)

Latter half of the 1980s

Procedure to put together annual environment preservation actions of all plants into the Environment White Paper for submission to the Director in charge ofthe environment established

1992

January

Environmental Affairs Office (in charge of companywide environment-related matters) established

AugustOlympus Environmental Charter formulated

1993

July

Specified chlorofluorocarbons and 1,1,1-trichloroethane totally eliminated from use

1994

October“Social IN” management philosophy formulated

December

Polystyrene foam used in small-camera packages totally eliminated from use

1995

July

Awarded for the promotion of the cleaning and protection of the Tenryu River (from the Chubu Construction Bureau, Ministry of Construction)

1996

March

1996 Companywide Environmental Basic Plan formulated

June

Companywide Olympus Environment Management Manual formulated

1997

February

Ina Plant obtained ISO 14001 certification; the first member of Olympus Group to do so

1998

June

PRTR data for FY 1997 put together and disclosed

October

Tatsuno Plant won the Japan Greenery Research and Development Center President Award as a 1998 Good Greening Plant

February

Tatsuno and Ina Plants won the 1998 Energy Management Achiever’s Award (from the Chubu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry)

July

1999 Companywide Olympus Environment Basic Plan formulated

September

Shenzhen Plant, Shenzhen, China, obtained ISO 14001 certification

February

Hinode Plant honored for superior rationalization of energy by the Kanto Electric Association

March

Technology Research Institutes (Hachioji) obtained ISO 14001 certification; the last among the 12 major plants in Japan to do so

OctoberGreen Procurement Guidelines introduced, and investigation of parts suppliers completed

Product environment impact assessment started

1999

Guidelines for the purchase of products for daily business use formulated
2001

February

Hinode Plant honored for superior rationalization of energy by the Kanto Electric Association in the second straight year.

March

Use of trichloroethylene in washing process decreased
Use of garbage processor at Tatsuno Plant started
Risk Management Committee established

2002

May

Olympus Winter & Ibe GmbH obtained ISO 14001 certification

June

Use of garbage fermentation processor at Technology Research Institutes (Hachioji) started

AugustOlympus Logitex Tokyo Center started up as a center of distribution activities

March

KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd. obtained ISO 14001 certification
Recycling center at Technology Research Institutes (Hachioji) started
Companywide Basic Environmental Plan 2002 (Ecology Vision 21) formulated

April

Environmental Development Department established
Environmental committees organized (e.g., Olympus Group Environmental Committee and plant managers’ meetings)
Environmental site assessment for soil and groundwater started (for domestic production sites)

2003

September

In-house Eco Forum launched

February

Ina Plant won the Director-General of the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy Award

September

Five major development and production sites in Japan achieved “minimumization of landfill”
Olympus Shenzen won the Clean Production Corporation Award

October

Olympus Logitex won the 20th (2003) Logistics Grand Prize from Japan Institute of Logistics Systems

November

Olympus Logitex obtained ISO 14001 certification

December

Olympus participated in Eco-Products 2003 Exibition

Ensuring the Objectivity and Reliability of Our CSR Information

2000

In-house certification system for eco-friendly products launched; SZX7/SZ61 stereoscopic microscope and E-1 digital single-lens reflex camera certified as
Olympus eco-products.
E-1 granted Eco Leaf Environmental Label; the first digital single-lens reflex camera to receive it
2004

January

All environment promotion functions of the Company obtained ISO 14001 certification
Olympus Diagnostical GmbH (Irish Branch) obtained ISO 14001 certification

March

All major plants in Japan achieved “minimumization of landfill”
Sales subsidiary KS Olympus obtained ISO 14001 certification

April

CSR Promotion Department established
KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd. won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development

June

Environmental training for developers started
Illuminations at Olympus turned off in support of environmental campaign for a million people, Lights-Down 2004 Black Illumination

September

Olympus Group Corporate Conduct Charter and Olympus Group Code of Conduct announced

October

Olympus participated in UN Global Compact
Panyu Plant, China, obtained ISO 14001 certification

2005

2006

November

Environmental training for sales staff started

March

ISO 14001 (2004) revision response training started

May

Olympus Optical Technology Philippines, Inc. obtained ISO 14001 certification

July

Olympus participated in the national campaign “Team Minus 6%” to help prevent global warming

OctoberCompliance Department established

November

Procurement policy formulated

December

Olympus Medical Equipment Service America Inc. obtained ISO 14001 certification
Olympus Winter & Ibe GmbH certified as an environmental partner by the city of Hamburg

Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006

58

This logo mark symbolizes the environmental activities of
the Olympus Group, which is involved in beneficial activities forthe earth and human beings, so that together we can smile like this.

Contact

CSR Department, CSR Division

Environmental Development Department,
Quality and Environment Administration Division

Shinjuku Monolith, 3-1 Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome,

Kuboyamacho 2-3,

Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0914, Japan

Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-8512, Japan

Tel.: +81-3-6901-3960 Fax: +81-3-3340-2062

Tel.: +81-42-691-7288 Fax: +81-42-691-7291

E-mail: csr_info@ot.olympus.co.jp

E-mail: environ@ot.olympus.co.jp

Olympus Web site www.olympus.co.jp/en/

T05

This report is printed with soybean oil ink via waterless printing on non-woodTake-pulp key G A paper made from 100% bamboo pulp.

Issued in August 2006
Next volume scheduled to be issued in August 2007
X020-06E①0605T Printed in Japan