The Environmental Health and Safety Department (EHS) of Shin-Etsu Magnetics Philippines (SMP) has established an occupational health and safety management system, staffed with company doctors and nurses in addition to safety officers and pollution control officers. I develop and lead the EHS planning to ensure a safe work environment.

Specifically, we conduct risk assessments on new processes, machinery, and work areas, and take appropriate measures to address those risks. For example, we take measures to protect employees from the moving and rotating parts of machinery and equipment, and conduct 5S workplace organization audits (the five Ss are sort, systematize, shine, standardize, and sustain). We also pay attention to the health of our employees.

In addition to providing SDSs (safety data sheets) for the chemicals used in the manufacturing process, we conduct regular audits to ensure that environmental health and safety measures are being implemented in accordance with Philippine law, and we review and update our procedure manuals.

SMP began new risk assessment activities in 2023, with the EHS Safety Officer, the person in charge of the process, and the actual operator coordinating on a monthly basis on specific processes to identify and assess potential risks, including their likelihood of occurrence.

I believe that ensuring all employees are fully aware of the hazards and risks lurking in their work areas is the first step in preventing future incidents and accidents. Therefore, all new employees attend a General Safety Orientation. We are also planning to have yearly discussions of previous incidents and accidents encountered in SMP along with their root causes and corrective actions. Most of the accidents encountered from previous years are the result of non-compliance with the set safety procedures, such as wearing inappropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) or not wearing it at all. We therefore enforce strict compliance with rules and regulations and regularly check that corrective and preventive measures are being implemented.

We have a responsibility to provide a stable supply of magnet products, which play an important role in electronic devices, industrial machinery, automobiles, and other applications. The sustainability of our magnet products is therefore a top priority. We emphasize high-quality, long-lasting design, which is one of our advantages over our competitors, and we are also recovering and reprocessing the magnet sludge to reduce our consumption of natural resources and minimize our impact on the global environment.

We also operate facilities to separate non-hazardous waste from hazardous waste and recycle it into materials such as cardboard, paper, plastic, and metal. Additionally, we collaborate with packaging material suppliers to recycle waste into new products, such as bricks, rulers, and toys. SMP is also equipped with a wastewater treatment facility that ensures that the wastewater we generate is treated prior to discharge to the sewer line, and we have installed dust collection facilities in the sludge collection area to prevent contamination of soil, water, and air. We have also installed solar power generation systems in our major plants and are working towards becoming carbon neutral by supplying a portion of our electricity consumption with renewable energy.