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Environmental Management
Sustainability Report 2009 |
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| Creating an Attractive Working Environment |
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| Kobe Steel's personnel policies respect the personality and individuality of company employees while creating a lively and attractive working environment. We also work with Group companies in various ways to achieve one of the principles of the Kobe Steel Group Corporate Philosophy: "We support each employee in developing his or her abilities, while respecting mutual cooperation." |
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| Human Resource Development |
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The goal of Kobe Steel's human resource development program is to foster employees' pride and help them find fulfillment in their work. To that end, it's important for every employee to have specific goals for personal growth and make progress in achieving those goals day by day. The company gives comprehensive support for this policy, with the expectation that every employee will grow and develop through constant improvement.
Concerning career development, we have adopted a self-assessment system that provides a forum where management and employees can discuss future business goals and engage in career planning. On this basis, we engage in periodic job rotation that, while keeping the desires of the employee and the business needs of the company in mind, is implemented with the aim of fostering job skills. Also, to promote self-directed career development, we have instituted a personnel recruitment system.
To help employees develop their abilities more fully, emphasis is placed on on-the-job training. This is supplemented with offline training programs aimed at improving their specialized abilities while accommodating different business capabilities and expertise.
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| Personnel Benefits System |
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Kobe Steel's system of personnel benefits is performance based. We have introduced an employee system that has employees set targets, as well as a formula for calculating pay and bonuses related to employee performance. In fiscal 2007, the personnel benefits system in general and the employee system in particular were overhauled with the aim of increasing the capabilities and morale of individual employees and nurturing greater job satisfaction.
Kobe Steel's system of personnel benefits emphasizes two evaluative criteria: an "employee system" that categorizes workers according to the targets they are expected to meet; and a "wages and bonuses" system, which is based on performance and looks at employees' roles and responsibilities.
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| Accommodating Diverse Values and Lifestyles |
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To create and maintain a working environment in which employees can work securely over the long term, Kobe Steel has established various types of welfare support and care programs (including leave of absence) that they can use if they or their families need medical treatment or nursing care. These programs are matched to employees' individual life stages.
Recognizing the diversity of values and lifestyles among our employees, we introduced in fiscal 2006 the cafeteria-style Kobelco Cafe Plan that offers a flexible approach to the company's benefits package.
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Kobelco Cafe Plan Manual |
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| Eliminating Gender Bias |
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Kobe Steel recognizes the importance of maintaining an employment environment in which diverse employees can fully exploit their individual abilities regardless of gender.
To that end, we have actively implemented policies designed to create an environment in which women can give full play to their abilities. These include: 1) improving the work environment and culture; 2) reforming hiring, placement, and training programs; 3) providing assistance so that women can work while maintaining their families; and 4) providing networking help.
In fiscal 2006, we introduced a mentoring program for women engaged in corporate planning in order to provide psychological support for those developing careers and abilities. |
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| Supporting a Balance Between Work and Personal Life |
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| To maintain an energetic and attractive workplace, Kobe Steel actively creates a work environment that supports both the jobs and the personal lives of employees. |
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Formulation and Implementation of a Private Sector Employer Action Plan Based on the Next Generation Education and Support Promotion Act
[First Action Plan] (April 1, 2005 to March 31 2009) |
- Training for managerial positions
- Creating a backup system for childbirth and childrearing (establishing counseling access at all locations of operation, opening a website for work/personal-life support on the company intranet)
- Reviewing
the paid-vacation system (making annual
paid vacation days available in half-day
units; expanding the total number of
care leave days (accumulated leave)
and the reasons for which they can
be used)
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[Second Action Plan] (April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2012) |
- Continuing
training for administrators and supervisors,
and expanding both the target audience
and training content
- Further
enhancing the formats in which information
regarding childbirth and childrearing
is provided, and disseminating knowledge
about the company's in-house support
system and public benefits system.
- Conducting
studies aimed at further enhancing various
support systems related to childbirth
and childrearing.
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Developing efforts to reduce overall working hours by having employees take more
annual paid vacation days and by increasing
worker productivity.
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Expanding support for childrearing and home care beyond what is required by law
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- Extending
parental leave (until the child reaches
the age of three)
- Expanding
flexibility in working hours for childrearing
(until the child graduates from elementary
school)
- Extending
leave for home care (to a maximum of
three years)
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| Employing Older People |
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Kobe Steel has introduced a system to reemploy older workers, through which employees who reach retirement age can be rehired if they so desire. This system, which includes the reemployment of Kobe Steel personnel by other member companies of the Kobe Steel Group, enables us to continue to benefit from the skills and abilities that are possessed by veteran employees. This arrangement helps to maintain and enhance workplace vitality by facilitating the transfer of skills to younger workers, while giving older employees a greater sense of fulfillment on the job.
Other companies in the Kobe Steel Group have introduced similar systems. |
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| Reemployment of Retired Employees (FY2008) |
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| Employment of Disabled People |
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The Kobe Steel Group actively promotes the employment of disabled people by such measures as holding periodic joint seminars on employment and is striving to make the workplace one where individuals can make full use of their abilities and work comfortably.
In FY2008, disabled people accounted for 2.24% of the work force in Kobe Steel, superseding the ratio of 1.8% required by law. The company will continue with measures designed to increase this ratio further.
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| Employment Ratio of Disabled People (Kobe Steel) |
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| Respect for Human Rights |
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| To maintain a working environment where human rights are respected, and that is free of any sort of discrimination, the Kobe Steel Group runs educational programs on human rights, such as human rights awareness training for different management levels. We are also giving training to recruitment staff on unprejudiced recruiting. |
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| Preventing Sexual Harassment |
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Kobe Steel's Guidelines for Business Conduct in our Corporate Code of Ethics clearly state that sexual harassment is unacceptable. Our labor contracts and rules of employment stipulate that sexual harassment will be met with disciplinary action.
A system has been set up whereby a counselor is available in every working location for consultation on sexual harassment and swift action is taken. In addition, a Sexual Harassment Prevention Manual has been produced and training is also given as part of our training on human rights. These measures are intended to create a working environment that allows all personnel to work comfortably and with peace of mind.
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Sexual Harassment Prevention Manual |
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| Health and Safety Management Policy |
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| Kobe Steel believes that health and safety are fundamental to business management and take priority over all business activities. In keeping with this principle, we strive to create a vital workplace where employees can safely pursue their careers with peace of mind. |
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| Goals of the Health and Safety Management Plan |
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Correctly understanding all relevant laws, regulations, and company rules, and building an organization and structure that reliably abides by them. |
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Quickly and comprehensively responding to changes occurring in such fields as production, product quality, personnel, company organization, and the environment. |
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Creating a corporate culture in which all employees work to protect not only their own health and safety, but those of their fellow workers. |
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| Safety |
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In 1979 Kobe Steel started a drive to reduce accidents at work over the medium to long term. Since then, we have formulated and implemented medium-term health and safety management plans approximately every three years. As a result, the number and frequency of accidents have greatly declined. Unfortunately, this progress has slowed or in some cases been reversed in recent years.
We take this trend seriously and recognize that protecting the lives and health of our employees is an especially important part of our social responsibility as a corporate group. Therefore, in fiscal 2009 we adopted the following three items as high-priority elements in our safety management program. |
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Working to ensure the strict observance of all related laws, ordinances and safety rules, and the thorough implementation of health and safety management activities. |
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Recommitting ourselves to preventive measures related to past incidents and applying the lessons that are learned in a lateral way to similar situations. |
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Paying attention to new risks created by changes in the working environment or by new processes or types of work. Restoring an on-site approach to identifying and ameliorating such risks (more effective risk prediction and more complete and reliable risk removal). |
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| Frequency Rate of Accidents That Halted Operations |
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| Health Management |
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To create a work environment that promotes employee health, we are enhancing our management system in both the mental and physical realms, with an even greater emphasis on prevention.
With regard to mental health, we continue to expand our system of consultation offices where employees can discuss any matter of concern with occupational counselors and specialized doctors, while promoting mental health education at all company levels.
In the area of physical health, we work to prevent the onset of lifestyle illnesses by ensuring that all staff have regular health check-ups and follow-ups. We also strive to prevent work-related illnesses by dealing with changes that occur in the working environment.
Several health-related issues, such as the problem of asbestos contamination, have led to widespread public concern. It is our policy at Kobe Steel to deal with these concerns in a thorough and straightforward manner. |
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