Safety and Environmental Audits

In FY2010, sites with ISO14001 or OHSAS18001 certification underwent the audits required to update or maintain such certification. These audits uncovered six nonconformities, half the number of the previous year.
The root causes were analyzed and corrective action was promptly taken in response to each issue. The nonconformities were minor issues relating to our management systems, and were not directly linked with environmental pollution or occupational accidents.

FY2010 internal site audit items were further expanded from the routine fixed-item audits carried out up until the previous year, with audits examining safety and environmental compliance and risk management from the viewpoints of: people, machinery, materials, methods and measurements. The audits clarified issues that needed addressing and assisted in raising safety and environmental standards at the sites. Of the six sites targeted for the audits, all were conforming, but many issues were discovered. The audits conducted this time will help management systems at each site to be autonomous and sustainable into the future.

• It is still unknown at present whether or not corrective action taken with regard to past accidents has been effective. Improvement is needed to make it easy for anyone to check and see.
• There is no meaning in bringing up the topic of target values that have already been met. These target values need to be properly reviewed and updated.
• Noise from the nitrogen gas generators (contractor's equipment) is very loud and systematic measures are needed.
• The root causes of past accidents were not well understood. From now on, methods and skills need to be improved to find the root causes.

All sites conducted internal audits of their departments in accordance with their management systems. Priority areas were determined for each site, and 28 nonconformities were uncovered as a result of conducting internal audits (for the group in Japan). Corrective action was completed in all cases without delay, and after a follow-up check, it was reported to the managers that the audits were effective for complying with our company group's policies and goals.

FY2010 saw on-site inspection and audits of 17 operators: two refuse haulers and 15 intermediate processors. As a result, it was confirmed that all currently contracted operators are processing and disposing of waste in an appropriate fashion. Thirty-five items were inspected on-site and permits and other legally required signs attesting to legal compliance were checked; ratings were also given to areas that show the character of each company, such as whether or not environmental activities are being disclosed and employees' attitudes toward visitors (greetings, etc.).