Commendation Systems for Achieving Zero-Accident
Records in Japan
|
A large number of industrial accidents, including
fatal ones, are still occurring in
Japan.
At the same time, however, a number
of worksites
continue to maintain their zero-accident
records for many years as a result
of cooperation
between management and labour.
|
Various awards, including zero-accident certificates,
are provided to these worksites that
have
achieved an excellent safety and health
performance.
As outlined below, these commendations
are
awarded under several public and private
systems on the basis of applications
submitted
by these worksites.
|
(1)Zero-accident record certificates issued
by the director of the Labour Standards Bureau
of the Ministry of Labour
|
| a. |
Target industries: Nearly all industrial
sectors, including forestry, construction,
transportation, manufacturing, wholesaling/retailing,
and food service sectors.
|
| b. |
Type of certificates
- Type-I through Type-V zero-accident record
- For Type-I certificates, the standard length
of time during which zero-accident
records
should be maintained (total working
man/hours
for a worksite) is predetermined
depending
on the type of industry and the scale
of
business (whether the number of workers
of
less than 100 or 100 or more). Any
worksites
that successfully qualify under such
standards
will be awarded a Type-I zero-accident
certificate.
(In the textile industry, for example,
the
standard length of time for zero-accidents
is 2.5 million man/hours for worksites
employing
less than 100 workers, and 5 million
man/hours
for those employing 100 or more workers).
- Type-II record certificates are awarded
to
worksites that qualify under the Type-I
standard
described above multiplied by 1.5,
and Type-III
record certificates require a zero-accident
record for a period that is 50% longer
than
that for Type-II certificate. The same
calculation
method applies to other higher ranking
certificates.
|
| c. |
Examples of the longest zero-accident records
(as of December 1999)
|
| Type of Industry |
Longest zero-accident record |
Type of certificate |
Length |
| Food manufacturing |
9,661,411 |
4 |
20 years |
| Textiles |
5,229,942 |
1 |
13 years |
| Casting |
7,790,800 |
4 |
2 years |
| General lumber processing |
1,400,000 |
3 |
4 years |
| Metal processing machine manufacturing |
18,820,000 |
4 |
9 years |
| Plastics manufacturing |
13,035,209 |
2 |
4 years |
| Synthetic fiber manufacturing |
28,848,835 |
3 |
10 years |
| Cement and cement product manufacturing |
10,328,603 |
4 |
9 years |
| Switchboard and electrical control equipment
manufacturing |
121,866,710 |
5 |
23 years |
| Communications equipment manufacturing |
116,707,228 |
5 |
21 years |
| Private railways |
11,083,601 |
3 |
35 years |
| Road cargo transportation |
6,299,278 |
1 |
12 years |
| Port transportation |
12,985,191 |
5 |
14 years |
| Hydroelectric power generation |
29,270,440 |
5 |
39 years |
| Gas supply |
11,666,913 |
2 |
21 years |
| Tunnel construction |
2,361,655 |
4 |
1 year |
| Electrical engineering |
19,846,308 |
5 |
19 years |
(2)Construction work zero-accident commendations
issued by the director of Labour Standards
Bureau of the Ministry of Labour
|
| a. |
Target industries: Building construction,
civil engineering and other construction
projects completed without any accidents
throughout the work period. (Projects
for
which a workmen's compensation insurance
contract was concluded with insurance
benefits
of \1 million or more per incident)
|
| b. |
Type of commendation: Zero-accident commendation
for the construction industry
|
| c. |
Number of awards: Some 5,000 cases annually
in recent years
|
(3)Zero-accident record certificates for SMEs
issued by the chairman of the Japan
Industrial
Safety and Health Association (JISHA)
|
| a. |
Target worksites: Small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) capitalized at \100
million
or less, or individual worksites employing
10 to fewer than 300 workers, which
are part
of enterprises employing fewer than
1,000
workers.
|
| b. |
Type of record: Type-I through Type-V zero-accident
records
|
|
Zero-accident records are calculated by the
number of accident-free days. Standard
numbers
are pre-determined depending on the
type
of industry and worksite scale (workers
of
10-29, 30-49, or 50-99).
|
|
Example: Electrical machinery and equipment
sales (Number of accident-free days)
|
|
| Scale: Persons |
Type-I |
Type-II |
Type-III |
Type-IV |
Type-V |
| 10~29 |
1,400 |
2,800 |
4,200 |
6,300 |
9,450 |
| 30~49 |
1,050 |
2,100 |
3,150 |
4,750 |
7,100 |
| 50~99 |
800 |
1,600 |
2,400 |
3,600 |
5,400 |
|
| c |
Number of cases: Some 20 worksites per industrial
sector have received the gold award annually
in recent years.
|
| (Note) |
In calculating these records, "zero-accident"
means no fatal accidents, accidents requiring
work absences or accidents involving physical
injuries have occurred in the course of carrying
out worksite business, excluding accidents
that occur while utilizing public transportation
systems during business trips.
|
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Here is the List of Workplaces Establishing Zero-Accident Record by Industrial
Category in 2000. |
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