Risk Management Activities at Overseas Locations

In accordance with our Basic Environmental Management Policy, the Kobe Steel Group aims for thorough environmental management at Group locations throughout the world.

On-Site Environmental Inspections at Overseas Group Companies

On-site audit (Kobe Works)

On-site inspection (Shinko Wire Company, Ltd.)

On-site environmental inspections (Thailand)

As with business locations and Group companies in Japan, the Kobe Steel Group implements environmental management systems for overseas Group companies in line with Japanese standards. To this end, since fiscal 2009 Kobe Steel has been carrying out environmental inspections at its manufacturing locations worldwide, aiming to confirm environmental management conditions on-site, implement necessary corrective measures and strengthen management.

In fiscal 2016, inspections were carried out at Group manufacturing companies in Thailand. The purpose of the inspections was to grasp actual environmental management conditions and identify related problems. Improvements were implemented based on the results. Management procedures were also established and implemented for manufacturing Group companies in China. In the future, we will continue to engage in initiatives to strengthen environmental management at overseas locations.

Information Sharing and Coordination with Overseas Locations

Exchange meeting in China

Exchange meeting in China

In China, where our production sites have increased in recent years, Kobelco (China) Holding Co., Ltd. (KCHD), which is our headquarters in China, appointed an environmental manager in April 2015, in order to provide detailed support in greater cooperation with Group companies. In order to support environmental management at Chinese Group companies, the KCHD environmental manager regularly disseminates the latest information on environmental laws and holds regular exchange meetings for environmental managers at Chinese Group companies.

In the United States, which is home to many Group production sites, the environmental manager at Kobe Steel USA Inc. (KSU), our U.S. headquarters, shares information with environmental managers at production sites through EHS (Environment, Health & Safety) meetings. In other areas, we are practicing communication in various ways such as upgrading the level of our systems for sharing environmental information and holding environmental seminars. Going forward, we will continue these kinds of initiatives in an effort to reduce our environmental risk.

Topics

PRO-TEC Coating Company

PRO-TEC Coating Company

Award Received for Initiatives to Drastically Reduce Environmental Impact

PRO-TEC Coating Company, established in 1990, produces hot-dipped galvanized steel sheet and cold-rolled high-strength steel. In 2016, PRO-TEC was awarded the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Encouraging Environmental Excellence (E3) Award for initiatives to reduce environmental impact.

Environmental training

Environmental training

Plant Environmental Management Training (Samut Prakan Province, Thailand)

A range of environmental training is carried out for employees at Thai-Kobe Welding Co., Ltd. and Kobe MIG Wire (Thailand) Co., Ltd., both of which produce a variety of welding materials. In fiscal 2016, training was carried out on such topics as the management of production process wastewater and assessing and calculating the transfer of chemical substances.

Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products (China) Co., Ltd.

Kobe Aluminum Automotive
Products (China) Co., Ltd.

Acquisition of ISO 14001:2015 (Jiangsu Province, China)

Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products (China) Co., Ltd., which was established in 2010 for the manufacture and sale of aluminum forgings for automotive suspensions, acquired ISO 14001:2015 certification in January 2017.

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