Reflecting on the fire that broke out at the Kashima Plant in December 2007, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) formulated a basic policy for fiscal 2008 RC1 activities under the theme of reemphasizing Safety First Awareness, with all Group companies proactively engaged in recurrence prevention. In addition, committees have been established at the Kashima Plant, where five measures to cultivate a safety culture have been established.
1 RC: Responsible Care. Voluntary actions that companies handling chemical substances take to improve the environment, safety and health in every stage of the product life cycle, beginning with the development of chemical products and continuing through their production, distribution, use and final disposal. Companies pursuing RC activities report the results of their efforts and engage in a dialog with society regarding them.
Since December 21, 2007, when the fire broke out at the No. 2 ethylene facility of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation's Kashima Plant, MCC has undertaken a companywide effort to investigate the cause of the accident. To prevent recurrence, under the guidance of the Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation Kashima Plant Accident Investigation Committee, established by Ibaraki Prefecture and related agencies, we have installed safety equipment, enhanced our safety management systems and implemented measures to prevent recurrence.
At the sixth meeting of the Accident Investigation Committee, held on April 21, 2009, recurrence prevention measures and measures to cultivate a safety culture formulated by MCC after the accident were approved.
In response to the indication by the Accident Investigation Committee that "MCC must resolve the problems and issues inherent in its staff and organization, which are considered to be among the causes that prevented a culture and climate focused on safety from thoroughly penetrating every aspect of its operations at the Kashima Plant, which is also considered to be the background of this accident," MCC, with the cooperation of a third party (Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc.), identified and analyzed the problems and issues inherent in its staff and organization. As a result, we confirmed that, among such other problems and issues as excessive on-site supervisor duties, a gap existed between our organizational safety awareness and the fact that our rules regarding safety and security were complex and enormous, making their practical application difficult. In light of these discoveries, we formulated a policy for the way we should be .a plant that places the highest priority on safety.and measures centered on initiatives that will realize our goal of cultivating a safety culture.
To realize the way we should be, we formulated five priority measures for the Kashima Plant. To ensure these measures are faithfully implemented, one committee was established to oversee implementation of each measure. In addition, the Safety Culture Promotion Meeting, chaired by the plant manager, will be held each month to discuss and manage the overall progress of the activities overseen by each committee. These committees and meetings are managed by the Safety Culture Promotion Office, which was established after the accident.
[ Safety Culture Cultivation Measures ]
Masayuki Watanabe
Leader Enhanced Safety Capabilities Committee
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
We are engaged in the promotion of a PDCA cycle for reform to "notice, tell, change and confirm."
The Enhanced Safety Capabilities Committee provides opportunities and systems to discover potential accident failures from tense and frightening moments at work, construction, operation and facilities and to go through a PDCA cycle to Notice, Tell, Change and Confirm. We are also involved in activities to raise the reform and awareness capabilities among all our employees through various recognition systems, presentations and enhanced know-why collection. By implementing reforms, if we can feel that we have heightened work safety, everyone will agree and voluntarily undertake reforms and be able to work with a sense of satisfaction and meaning. I want to contribute as much as I can to creating this kind of workplace climate.
MCC proactively participates in RC Regional Dialogue, an event featuring discussions with regional communities on safety and the environment organized by the Japan Responsible Care Council.
RC Regional Dialog
At the RC Regional Dialog held in 2009, the Kashima Plant presented its current countermeasures and long-term initiatives under the title of Aiming to Create a Safe Plant and the Prevention of a Recurrence of the Fire Accident at the No. 2 ethylene facility of MCC to 135 attendees, comprising residents, local authorities and NPO groups. Also, the procedures to minimize damage from future accidents and a communication system to inform local residents were confirmed.
Shouichi Sato
Director, Liaison Council Kamisu City Council Member (City Council)
Doai Eastern District, District Chief
I want the image of production facilities to change in the eyes of local citizens through a continued attitude of safety as proposed to the citizens.
Although the production of new chemical substances is necessary for our modern society, we cannot deny that we have considered the facilities a symbol of potential danger from explosions and poison gas leaks since the accident. In February 2009, I attended my first meeting of the Japan Responsible Care Council's Kashima Region Dialog as a city council committee member, and listened to the report on the progress, causes and countermeasures related to the fire that broke out at the end of 2007. The report, which was produced from the perspective of the average citizen, greatly exceeded my expectations, and I fully understood MCC's sincere attitude in striving to prevent any recurrences. Through this dialog between regional communities and corporations, I felt confident that the image of chemical substance production had changed for the better in the eyes of the citizens.
At each MCC plant, in accordance with reemphasizing efforts to make safety first the basic policies for RC activities, in all Group companies, in fiscal 2008 we implemented four safety measures aimed at preventing recurrence: (1) facility safety measures, (2) safety management measures, (3) fire safety measures and (4) safety measures to prevent the spread of damage. While considering the special characteristics and differences among products manufactured at each plant, we concentrated on effective safety measures for facilities and the formulation of valid criteria for management and audited the status of implementation. We requested corrections of the safety measures that the fiscal 2008 RC audits indicated to be insufficient, and confirmed thorough efforts to implement safety measures in the areas of facilities and management.
To enhance the dialog with related parties and partner companies as established in The Way We Should Be, we listen to our partner companies' staff, reflecting their ideas in our initiatives and regularly conduct joint emergency drills where we can confirm our understanding and procedures with each other.
November 2008: 1,378 participants
March 2009: 985 participants
