Disaster Prevention Initiatives

Recognizing facility accidents, natural disasters and violations of disaster prevention laws and regulations as risks that have a significant impact on Group management as a whole, the KOBELCO Group is working on risk countermeasures across the Group.

At the KOBELCO Group, the head office, business units, business locations, and Group companies implement respective disaster prevention management activities under the supervision of the president and the chief officer responsible for companywide disaster prevention.

We organize the KOBELCO Group Disaster Prevention Conference every year in an effort to share information and strengthen disaster prevention initiatives. A total of 89 employees from 34 Group companies took part in our fiscal 2019 meeting. This year we had MS&AD InterRisk Research & Consulting, Inc. give a talk entitled “Towards the Development of a Business Continuity Plan” on specific initiatives for BCP enhancement. We also reaffirmed the importance of disaster prevention initiatives by sharing information on the Group’s responses to wind and flood damage and case studies of disaster prevention problems.

Recognizing facility accidents (fires and explosions) at production sites as a risk to be addressed across the Group, we make Group-wide efforts to prevent them before they occur. We will keep striving to prevent accidents throughout the KOBELCO Group by taking measures such as sharing information internally and externally; making thorough efforts to prevent recurrences of accidents, including similar accidents; and taking special initiatives in coordination with voluntary action plans from industry associations.

The KOBELCO Group is proceeding with the formulation of a BCP, the basic policies of which are: (1) ensuring the lives and safety of employees, and (2) ensuring the supply of products and services to customers. As one of our ongoing initiatives, we have conducted seismic reinforcement and taken anti-flood measures according to the location conditions of each site, in order to reduce damage from natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. At present, we are mainly working at further enhancing business plans for the restoration period.

In order to prepare for wind and flood damage, which has been becoming increasingly severe in recent years, the Group checks hazard maps and other information to consider and systematically work on countermeasures to anticipated disaster risks at each site within the Group.

To prevent us from forgetting the Great Hanshin Earthquake, we held the KOBELCO 1.17 Walk on January 18, 2020 to check the commuting routes that are used in the event of a halt of public transportation due to an earthquake or other disaster.

Each of the 95 participants took a Map to Help You Return Home in a Disaster, which had been distributed in advance, and walked the route paying attention to areas that would be submerged in a tsunami as well as the location of convenience stores, public toilets and other points of interest. At the Kobe Head Office, which was the finish point of the walk, we held an event called “Disaster Prevention Fair” to raise awareness and enhance knowledge about disaster prevention. This included a disaster prevention quiz, a home preparation check, a CPR and AED experience, a first aid experience, and a Great Hanshin Earthquake panel exhibition.

We plan to continue this event at the Kobe Head Office and Tokyo Head Office.