Safety and the environment

The stage upon which we operate is a clean foundry that is both people and environmentally friendly.

Occupational health and safety initiatives

-Company health and safety policy

Basic policy

The Kimura Group manufactures and supplies users with a variety of casting products. Against the backdrop of our manufacturing operations, we promote autonomous activities on an all-hands basis in order to prevent labor accidents and illnesses in line with a basic policy of no production without assurances of safety. We endeavor constantly to improve and ameliorate the work environment for the purpose of further ensuring the health and safety of our employees.

Action guidelines

  1. We galvanize health and safety activities to take on the challenge of shifting from a focus on zero accidents to a focus on zero risks with the cooperation of employees.
  2. Thorough efforts are made to ensure compliance with health- and safety-related laws and internal regulations by disseminating the need for compliance to each of our employees.
  3. We appropriately operate the OSHMS, endeavor to sustain continuous plant operations, and promote the following actions in order to upgrade our health and safety activities:
    • Promote risk assessments to eradicate hazardous factors;
    • Thoroughly promote pointing and calling (an occupational safety method) and intervals in order to have the safety checks become an engrained habit;
    • Thoroughly develop written work procedures and provide guidance and education on the on-site use thereof;
    • Promote visualization in order to promote the sharing of information and improve safety awareness;
    • Promote 5S activities in order to ameliorate the work environment;
    • Promote the safety of equipment through the construction of safety-verification systems.
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Health and safety education

  • Educating new employees;
  • Training of third-year, sixth-year, ninth-year, and twelfth-year employees (health and safety education is incorporated into our group-education program);
  • Supervisor education (statutory);
  • Education provided at the time of a job-site transfer (education regarding past incidents of occupational accidents).
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Maintenance of health

Exercise to prevent lower back pain

Our exercise to prevent lower back pain, which is undertaken by all employees from the president on down every morning and prior to the start of each shift, is an original program devised by the Kimura Group. This program is noted to be especially effective at our casting plants, which are associated to a considerable extent with the performance of heavy manual labor.

Mental health care

  • The state of mental health care is verified through regular stress checks;
  • An environment that allows employees to consult with counselors at any time has been established.
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Preventing occupational accidents

Conducting risk assessments

Risk assessments were introduced in 2005. We have broadened our efforts to carry out measures to address potential risks, in addition to measures to deal with accidents that have occurred. Even for cases in which the implementation of engineering measures is considered difficult, we are able to identify residual risks and thereby chart a course for raising levels of safety awareness. Furthermore, we hold a presentation to highlight effective examples of risk assessment cases each year in order to have exceptional improvement contents shared throughout the company.

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OSHMS occupational health and safety management system certifications obtained

Health and safety matters are being pursued as a system (framework) and improvements designed to achieve a rate of zero occupational accidents are being promoted under the OSHMS.

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Omaezaki Plant, Kimura Foundry Co., Ltd.
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Gunma FM Plant, Kimura Foundry Co., Ltd.
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Gunma Plant, Kimura Foundry Co., Ltd.

Initiatives concerning the management of the environment

Omaezaki plant environmental policy

Basic policy

The Omaezaki plant manufactures and processes and supplies users with castings for press dies, castings for machine tools, casting materials for industrial machines, and castings for energy-related applications using the full mold casting process. Initiatives for conserving the environment in the context of activities undertaken to manufacture castings are positioned as one of our most important issues in terms of plant management, such that the community will benefit from efforts on our part to reduce the environmental load of every aspect of plant activities.

Action guidelines

  1. We shall endeavor to continuously ameliorate and improve environmental-conservation activities by precisely ascertaining the impact of our business activities and products on the environment and setting forth and periodically reviewing environmental objectives and targets as much as it is technically and economically feasible.
  2. We shall endeavor to prevent pollution and reduce the environmental load in all areas in which business activities are carried out and strive to collaborate with the local community.
    1. We shall, with awareness that we are situated in an agricultural area, make sure to undertake operations and maintenance work to ensure that the water discharged from our plant is not degraded and that dust leakages and other forms of atmospheric pollution do not occur.
    2. We shall endeavor to inhibit the generation of waste products, conserve resources, conserve energy, and reuse resources.
    3. We shall endeavor to streamline shipping processes to prevent environmental pollution outside our plant and prevent the depletion of natural resources.
  3. We will comply with statutes, ordinances, and agreements relating to the environment.
  4. We shall promote environmental-conservation activities by harnessing our entire workforce in an effort to attain our environmental policy.
  5. We shall endeavor to disseminate our environmental policy to our employees and anyone else engaged in work at this plant and raise awareness of environmental matters through environmental education and information activities carried out within the plant.

Gunma Plant environmental policy

Basic policy

We manufacture and supply users with castings for press dies, castings for machine tools, casting materials for industrial machines, and castings for energy-related applications using the full mold casting process. In order to minimize the environmental load of activities undertaken to manufacture these castings, we will continuously improve our environmental-conservation activities by setting forth and periodically reviewing environmental objectives and targets.

Action guidelines

  1. We will comply with statutes, ordinances, and agreements relating to the environment and set forth environmental objectives and targets in order to deploy measures to conserve the environment and minimize the environmental load as much as it is technically and economically feasible.
  2. As long as our production activities have an impact on the environment, we will endeavor to carry out activities on a priority basis with respect to the following items in particular and thereby conserve the environment and prevent pollution:
    1. We will make sure to engage in monitoring and maintenance work to ensure that dust leakages and other forms of atmospheric pollution are not emitted from collector discharge ducts.
    2. Appropriate soundproofing measures shall be applied to address noises generated by production equipment and production activities.
    3. Production equipment will be effectively operated, energy will be conserved through a thorough commitment to turning off lights, and efforts will be made to make long-term energy efficiency improvements.
    4. Recycling will be improved through the sorting of waste products.
    5. The purification of wastewater generated by the plant and the management of hazardous substances will be thoroughly undertaken and efforts will be made to prevent environmental pollution and a depletion of natural resources.
  3. Our environmental policy, objectives, and targets will be thoroughly disseminated to our employees and anyone else engaged in work at this plant and efforts will be made to promote an understanding of the importance and necessity of environmental conservation and raise awareness among such individuals through environmental education and information activities carried out within the plant.
  4. We will seek to communicate at all times with the relevant government offices and local residents and thereby contribute to the local community.
  5. We will comply with statutes, ordinances, and agreements relating to the environment.

Environmental management system certifications obtained

The Kimura Group is engaged in efforts to conserve the environment by internally deploying ISO 14001 within the company.

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E0331: Omaezaki Plant, Kimura Foundry Co., Ltd.
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E0346: Gunma Plant, Kimura Foundry Co., Ltd.