The Sakai Chemical Group Basic Human Rights Policy
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Since our founding, the Sakai Chemical Group has been conducting business that contributes to safe and healthy living. The management philosophy of our core company, Sakai Chemical Industry, "Creating a friendly future through chemistry," expresses our thoughts toward people, and we believe that respecting the human rights of all stakeholders in every country and region where we operate is vital to achieving this philosophy. This Human Rights Policy is a commitment by the Sakai Chemical Group to fulfill its responsibility to respect human rights based on our management philosophy and international standards.
- 1. Basic Philosophy
The Sakai Chemical Group complies with the laws and regulations related to human rights standards in the countries and regions where we operate.We also support and respect such international human rights standards as the United Nations' International Bill of Human Rights, which encompasses the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which stipulates the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of forced labor, the abolition of child labor, and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. We also strive to respect human rights based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as well as the National Action Plans (NAPs) on Business and Human Rights. - ２. Scope of Application
This Human Rights Policy applies to all officers and employees (including full-time, contract, advisory, temporary, part-time, and all other types of employees) of the Sakai Chemical Group. We also encourage all Sakai Chemical Group business partners to understand and comply with this Human Rights Policy. - 3. Human Rights Due Diligence
The Sakai Chemical Group has established a human rights due diligence system to identify negative impacts related to human rights and strive to prevent their occurrence or reduce the risk of their occurrence. - 4. Building a Remedy System
The Sakai Chemical Group will establish a system through which stakeholders can report concerns on human rights, and will work with stakeholders to reduce negative impacts related to human rights in cases where such negative impacts are discovered or suspected. - 5. Dialogue
The Sakai Chemical Group recognizes the importance of dialogue with stakeholders to identify negative human rights impacts related to human rights and will engage in timely dialogue to understand, reduce, and resolve human rights issues. - 6. Employee Education
The Sakai Chemical Group will provide necessary education to ensure that this Human Rights Policy spreads throughout the Group and is understood correctly by all officers and employees and effectively reflected in our business activities. - 7. Information Disclosure
The Sakai Chemical Group will disclose information on its human rights initiatives as appropriate through its website and reports.
This Human Rights Policy was approved by the Board of Directors of Sakai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. on September 26, 2022
See the Environmental and Social Report for details on the system to promote our Human Rights Initiatives.
oct. 1, 2022
SAKAI CHEMICAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
President Representative Director
Implementing Human Rights Due Diligence
High Priority Human Rights Risks
The Sakai Chemical Group has established a human rights due diligence system and identified high-priority human rights risks under three themes. In identifying high-priority human rights risks, we conducted a survey targeting domestic and international Group companies, evaluated each human rights risk, and exchanged opinions with experts, then passed a resolution at the Board of Directors after discussions at the Human Rights Subcommittee. We will continue to engage in dialogues with stakeholders as we periodically review these high-priority human rights risks.
High Priority
Human Rights Risks
You can view the entire table by scrolling horizontally.
| Themes | High Priority Human Rights Risks | Major Stakeholders |
Initiatives | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | ||||
| Human Rights in the Supply Chain | (1) Human rights issues throughout the supply chain | Human rights issues in the supply chain (Child labor, forced labor) |
・Workers in the supply chain ・Customers ・Employees ・Local communities |
・Implement human rights education (Officer training/employee training) ・Develop procurement policies ・Conduct supplier audits ・Promote procurement of environmentally-friendly raw materials and fuels ・Create and distribute Safety Data Sheets (SDS) ・Establish personal data protection regulations |
| Personal data protection in B2C business | ||||
| Product safety and appropriate communication of information | ||||
| Use of natural resource and consideration for the environment (Water, energy, industrial waste) |
||||
| Bribery and corruption | ||||
| Relations with anti-social forces | ||||
| (2) Responsible mineral procurement | Responsible mineral procurement | ・Workers in the supply chain ・Local communities |
・Develop a policy for responsible mineral procurement | |
| (3) Responsible palm oil procurement | Responsible palm oil procurement (Including fatty acids) |
・Workers in the supply chain ・Local communities |
・Acquire RSPO certification for cosmetic material products | |
| Occupational Health and Safety | (4) Health and safety | Health and safety (Accidents, occupational hazards, etc.) |
・Employees ・Workers in the supply chain ・Customers ・Local communities |
・Develop a basic health and safety policy ・Promote health and safety efforts among Group companies ・Conduct seminars on fire and explosions ・Develop a BCP and implement disaster prevention training |
| Safety considerations during product development and prototyping | ||||
| (5) Proper storage and management of chemical substances | Proper storage and management of chemical substances | ・Employees | ・Chemical substance risk assessment ・Conduct training sessions |
|
| Diversity and Human Rights in the Workplace | (6) Mental health | Mental health (Harassment, etc.) |
・Employees ・Workers in the supply chain |
・Employee education on mental health ・Follow-up by industrial health staff and mental health specialists ・Efforts to improve the work environment based on stress check results |
| (7) Promotion of diversity | Promotion of diversity (Promotion of women's advancement, etc.) |
・Employees | ・Promotion efforts by the Diversity Working Group ・Support for women's advancement ・Acquire the "Kurumin" certification ・Support for male employees taking paternity leave |
|
See the Environmental and Social Report for details on the system to promote our Human Rights Initiatives.
Comments from external experts
Emi Omura
Attorney admitted in Japan and the state of New York
Officer, Steering Committee, Business and Human Rights Lawyers Network Japan
Comment from an Outside Expert
Lawyer Emi Omura
The Board of Directors of Sakai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. has adopted three priority areas of human rights risks, after the management proactively engage in the process of identifying such areas. The Company plans to conduct “corporate social responsibility assessment” for business partners, as well as to consider reviewing the current audit check lists, aiming at preventing and mitigating potential negative impacts. In December 2023, the Company also sent out a “human rights week quiz” to all the employees of Sakai Chemical Group companies, thereby promoting understanding on the first priority area, “human rights throughout supply chains”.
The second priority area, “occupational health and safety” has been recognized as important human rights both in Japan and at the international level. “A safe and healthy working environment” was added to the ILO core labour standards in the year 2022. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that work related casualties in the year 2022 hit the highest record during the past 20 yearsi.In FY 2023, the Company conducted the “business and human rights training” for the Health and Safety Committee, aiming at strengthening related measures from human rights perspectives.
As shown in the third priority area, “diversity and human rights at the workplace”, the ILO core labour standards require prohibition of discrimination including harassment on the grounds of race, sex, age, disability, or sexual minorities. The Company develops training targeting at employees in various life stages, including women of reproductive age, workers with elderly care responsibilities, and men and women suffering “menopause”. Also, the ILO and other international bodies have issued recommendations on gender gap, including the rate of men and women in management positions and gender pay gap. It falls under business responsibility to take measures for improvement. Addressing this human rights issue as the priority area shows an important commitment by the Company to rectify such gap and to facilitate comfortable working environment. I look forward to the implementation of concrete measures in this regard.
iStatus Report on Industrial Accidents” for the year 2022. The casualties mean those requiring leave for 4 days or more. The statistics exclude sickness due to COVID-19 infections.
Joining the Grievance Handling Organization JaCER
To establish the remedy system outlined in our Basic Human Rights Policy, we became a full member of the Japan Center for Engagement and Remedy on Business and Human Rights (JaCER) in November 2022.JaCER is an organization working to establish a non-judicial grievance handling platform based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and to support and promote grievance handling for participating companies from an expert perspective. We are working to establish a more effective remedy system starting with the use of the JaCER grievance reporting form.
