Organizational Culture, Health & Safety

Information on occupational accidents is disclosed in Employment and Human Resources Data.

- Employment and Human Resources Data

Due to the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been reimaging the future of work more seriously. Santen announced the "New Work Style" in May 2021 as a guideline to be shared with all its employees working around the world. In order for the company, who is aiming to become a "Social Innovator", to achieve further growth, it is pivotal for every single employee to realize the most suitable "way of working" so that we can leverage our potential as individuals and as a team.

The global guideline of New Work Style at the company is touching initiatives such as Flexible Workplace, Digitalized Processes, Well-being and lifestyle, Flexible Worktime as well as community contribution, all based on our Santen 2030 VALUES. For example, We adopted the concept of 'Digital Workplace' to accelerate the new way of working and are deploying IT infrastructure for all the members of the company can work comfortably from anywhere anytime. In addition to 'go paperless', digital signatures and streamlined online approval system, the company is expanding internal online communication tools so that we are able to be motivated and improve our productivity even working from home or elsewhere. Our employees have a choice of where, when and how to co-create our success through meaningful work and interactions to positively impact Happiness with Vision worldwide.

The company strives to create a working environment where employees can make the best use of their abilities regardless of their life stage or gender, with full, mutual respect for their diverse values, and can also achieve a good work-life balance while performing their duties effectively and efficiently. In Japan, for example, we are adopting the following systems,

The company has introduced a wide variety of employee welfare and benefit systems, for example in Japan: asset-building support systems such as employee stock ownership and asset-building savings; systems to support employees in child or family care according to their life stage, including leave and shortened working hours; medical examinations on many items, which help employees continue to work in good shape; and survivor's pensions.

Santen's Listening framework is integrating the voice of our people into data-driven business decisions and increases our team member's engagement & commitment to work for Santen. In FY2021, we conducted a survey about our values and corporate culture in R&D and corporate planning division, as well as engagement surveys in selected European countries through Great Place To Work®. Santen is conducting a series of targeted pulse listening exercises in addition to measuring our people's engagement through Great Place To Work® in participating countries. We are leveraging results of our listening exercises for continuous improvement of people-centric policies and practices.

To further improve the health and safety of our employees, Santen has introduced and begun to operate health and safety management systems according to the characteristics and scales of each of our operational sites. When an occupational accident occurs, we take measures such as identifying its causes, checking similar points at our operational sites, and enhancing safety education, to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents.

In FY2021, no Santen operational sites had work-related fatalities, including temporary or part-time employees, caused by occupational accidents. Occupational accidents at each site are listed in Employment and Human Resources Data.

- Employment and Human Resources Data

At each Santen operational site in Japan, the Health and Safety Committee, comprising both the company representatives and employee union members, meets every month. The Committee checks whether or not there are long-hour workers, and the working environment, including the temperature, humidity, air quality, luminous intensity, and noise level of each workplace; patrols the workplaces to check whether or not there are actually dangerous spots; and takes measures to assure greater workplace safety and prevent occupational accidents. The Committee also offers health and safety lectures to employees, to maintain safe and healthy working environments and further improve them.

Research and Development Center and Plants of the company are making efforts to avoid chemical-related troubles, in the manner whereby, before handling newly introduced chemicals, a specialist committee assesses the safety of the chemicals beforehand, and provides the employees who handle them with information on the results of the assessment. Since the revised Industrial Safety and Health Act, which came into force in June 2016 in Japan, obligates the relevant employers to investigate the toxicity and danger of chemicals, Santen is taking necessary measures concerning the chemicals we use, through stocktaking. Additionally, Santen continuously conducts work environment examinations to promote safety management.

Santen tackles disaster risk management, including not only fire prevention management provided for in the Fire Service Act but also preparedness for disasters such as large earthquakes. In Japan, we continuously conduct drills in confirming the safety of each employee as an important initial action in the case of a disaster, checking emergency contact networks, and making the movement useful for ensuring physical safety and reporting the safety of employees based on the Disaster Risk Management Card, for example. We have made up deficiencies detected during the drills.

Materials and equipment for fire and disaster prevention are installed in our major operational sites, while emergency supplies are stored at all operational sites and offices.

Santen has stationed industrial health staff, including industrial physicians and public health nurses, in each workplace in order to ensure primary prevention, that is, the prevention of diseases through the maintenance of employees' health, and secondary prevention, or the early detection of employees in poor health. Furthermore, we have established a support system to help employees on sick leave return to work and prevent them from falling sick again, thereby encouraging employees, from a health perspective, to continue to demonstrate their talent at Santen in the medium to long term, in collaboration with each workplace and other employees.

In 2018, the company published the "Santen Declaration on Health," which proclaims that Santen actively tackles the promotion of colleague mental and physical health. Since then, we have implemented our original eye-health-related initiatives, including ophthalmological examinations of employees on not only legally required items but also additional items. We have also been actively committed to various mental-health-related measures. Moreover, since FY2021, we have adopted a Company-wide remote work system while fully respecting employees' lifestyles and work styles, allowing them to work without any limitations on time and place.

To help employees easily become sufficiently aware of their own stress-related symptoms or disorders, Santen conducts self-check-based health tests (stress checks). When a health test finds employees in need of special care, we take appropriate measures, for example, providing them with medical consultations mainly with industrial health staff, who will introduce them to external specialized institutions as needed. In addition to providing support to individual employees, we make positive efforts to improve workplace environments by analyzing the health test results on an organization basis and involving each workplace in improving its own environment.

In Japan, when we conduct health examinations required by the Industrial Safety and Health Act and other applicable laws, we add our original examination items, including a fundus examination and an eye pressure test, to the legally required items, in order to raise employees' health awareness and detect any diseases in them as early as possible. We also conduct various statutory types of special medical examinations of employees engaged in special duties, such as handling certain specific chemicals, and have established an environment for them to receive hepatitis screening and preventive vaccinations. Industrial physicians check the medical examination results to judge whether each employee can continue to do their current work. Employees found in need of special care are advised to consult specialized doctors or are provided with online healthcare guidance. Since FY2015, to ensure and support employees' eye health appropriately as a specialized company in ophthalmology, we have conducted ophthalmologic examinations of employees, including interviews about eye-related lifestyles, dry eye tests, visual field tests, and slit-lamp microscopy, where light is shed on the eyes to detect any abnormalities. We therefore strive to ensure the early detection and treatment of eye diseases in our employees.

The major certifications and awards we have received are listed in External Assessment.

- External Assessment