Creating a Safe and Secure Work Environment

To create a safe and secure work environment in which employees can perform at their full potential, we are actively working on measures to prevent long working hours, occupational accidents, infectious diseases, and harassment, and to improve productivity through the implementation of ICT in sales sites.

Promotion structure

Our group’s health management system consists of a Group-wide Health Committee (held four times a year, for labor union executives and company executive officers to discuss company-wide health and safety policies), consisting of labor and management representatives at the head office under the direction of top management, Health Committees at business sites with 50 or more employees and at business sites with fewer than 50 employees designated in accordance with our own standards (as of FY2023: 75 business sites), and health promoters, who are department heads at other business sites with fewer than 50 employees who promote health and safety in their workplaces.

Measures against long working hours

Long working hours are said to have a significant impact on physical and mental health problems, and we believe that reducing them is effective in terms of health and productivity, which is why labor and management are working together to implement measures to prevent them.

  • “Declaration of work style reform“ by top management
  • Promotion of “no overtime day” for every day
  • Promotion of inter-work interval system (interval time: 11 hours)
  • Continuous review of store operating hours, including reduction of operating hours

Measures against workplace accidents

We are striving to reduce the number of accidents and employee absences due to the work environment.

  • Immediate internal sharing of accidents and corrective actions
  • Conducting risk assessments at all business sites
  • Sharing of near misses within business sites
  • Safety management for work at height (equipment and behavior management)
  • Introduction of Cut-Resistant Gloves Combining Cut Resistance and Workability
  • Wearing Safety Shoes and Back Support Belts When Handling Heavy Objects
  • Dust control measures for asbestos, etc.
  • Safe driving training (for selected employees based on company standards)
  • Sharing of Accidents and Implementation of Countermeasures through Regular Meetings with Logistics Contractors

Items

FY2021

FY2022

FY2023

Frequency rate

0.92

1.35

1.51

Severity rate

0.01

0.03

0.01

■ Frequency rate = “Number of fatalities and injuries due to workplace accidents” / “Total number of actual working hours” x 1,000,000
Frequency of workplace accidents expressed in terms of the number of fatalities and injuries per million actual working hours.


■ Severity rate = “Total number of workdays lost” / “Total number of actual work hours” x 1,000
Severity of accidents expressed in terms of the total number of workdays lost per total of 1,000 actual working hours.

Measures against harassment

Harassment is a serious human rights issue that can damage workplace relationships and reduce productivity. Since 2003, our group has been working to eliminate harassment by establishing an internal harassment consultation counter.

  • Establishment of an internal harassment consultation counter (seven male and female counselors in total)
  • Declaration of elimination of harassment by top management
  • Implementation of harassment training for various levels of employees

Measures against infectious diseases

As a major electronics retailer that welcomes a large number of customers, our group is taking measures to prevent infectious diseases in the workplace as an essential part of our efforts to prevent infection among customers and employees.

  • Installation of equipment to improve air quality in the workplace, including backyards (humidifiers and air purifiers installed at all business sites)
  • Regular monitoring of ventilation conditions
  • Providing financial assistance for infectious disease vaccinations
  • Implementation of workplace vaccinations

Measures for fire and disaster prevention

  • Formation of voluntary disaster prevention teams
  • Fire and disaster drills (conducted at least twice a year)
  • Disaster supplies stocked at all business sites
  • Inspection of disaster prevention equipment (conducted on the 29th of each month)
  • Safety reporting drills (conducted four times a year)

Initiatives to improve productivity through ICT implementation

We will continue our efforts to improve the efficiency of store operations, as this will contribute to measures against long working hours and workplace accidents.

  • Increasing the percentage of self-service cash registers
  • Promoting the introduction of digital signage

Due to the efforts to shorten operating hours, which have been promoted as part of the work style reform during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of staff assigned during business hours has increased and the customer service rate has improved, leading to an improvement in customer satisfaction (CS). As a result, the gross profit margin has increased by three percentage points compared to FY2018. Going forward, we will continue to implement ICT to save labor and increase points of contact with customers to improve CS.

Status of absence due to injury or illness

FY2021

FY2022

FY2023

0.74%

0.76%

1.05%

* Total number of days absent per year / (Average number of employees per year × 365 days)