Occupational Health and Safety Occupational Health and Safety

Approach to Materiality in Occupational Health and Safety

Advantest sees the assurance of safety and the preservation of health of our employees a major prerequisite in executing our business activities, and it recognizes the need to continually raise awareness.

Advantest Group Occupational Health and Safety Policy

Advantest Group recognizes that Health and Safety (H&S) is an important aspect of our business operations. This policy is set forth to ensure the Health and Safety of every Advantest employee.

1. Health and Safety First

   We will make H&S the first priority for employees in all Advantest operations, including product development, design, manufacturing, customer service, and others.

2. Compliance with Laws and Regulations

   We aim to achieve compliance with legal requirements through good occupational health and safety performance.

3. Regular Review of Health and Safety Compliance

   To support this policy, we will provide employees with an annual activity plan which will address every business location's H&S regulations through management support.

4. Education and Training

   We will ensure that employees receive appropriate training, and are competent to carry out their designated responsibilities.

5. Disclosure of Occupational Health and Safety

   We will communicate this basic policy and other H&S-related information to all employees in the Advantest Group, and work to raise awareness. We will also disclose information outside the company as necessary.

Promotional System

At Advantest, every year we convene the "Health and Safety Committee Meeting" which decides the health and safety direction and policy for the whole group. The approach to health and safety is based on the main activity themes decided on at this meeting, upon which the health and safety committees at each location set their annual targets and plans.
We also regularly hold horizontal health and safety committee secretariat meetings, and strengthen each location's health and safety activities through this sharing of information about relevant activities.
Members of the company-wide Health and Safety Committee is made up of the chair for the Health and Safety Committees at each business location while the members of the Health and Safety Committees at each business location is composed mostly of representatives of both the company and union employed at the business location.

Organization of Health and Safety Management (Japan)

Implementation of Occupational Health and Safety Activities

Advantest strengthened preventive safety and avoidance of accident recurrence in fiscal 2017. We look into measure to clearly prevent recurrence using new chronological analysis methods for occupational accidents that occur while conducting risk assessments of operations in conventional manufacturing processes toward the prevention of recurrence of occupational accidents. Advantest has examined measure to respond to risks in 91 incidents.

In addition, we have identified and shared superior safety measures at research and development sites as well as factories in Japan by conducting a total of 16 patrols in addition to regular rounds with managers at each business establishment as well as chemical substance experts.

In our "Aiming for Zero Serious Accidents Activity" in fiscal 2018, we promoted safety education to enhance the safety of operations. We not only strive to provide the education required by law to enhance operational safety but also expand our own unique education. Advantest has also begun strengthening cooperation with overseas affiliates as well as collecting information about accidents during operations.

Occupational accident rate in Japan (frequency rate*)

* Number of injuries or deaths due to labor accidents per total actual million working hours
* Scope of data: Advantest Group in Japan (non-consolidated)

There have been no fatalities in operations in the last five years. In addition, the rate of occupational accidents (frequency) was 0.5 at affiliate companies worldwide in fiscal 2017.

Occupational Health and Safety Education

The Advantest Group regular conducts occupational health and safety education and strives to build a safe workplace everyone can work with piece-of-mind by preventing occupational accidents before they happen and raising awareness about occupational health and safety.

Mental Health

At Advantest we believe that vigorous employees make for a vigorous workplace. Accordingly, our Health Promotion Office supports efforts to ensure both the mental and physical health of our employees, so that we can provide a safe and comfortable workplace environment for them. We introduced testing of stress levels around preventative safety in fiscal 2012 before they became required by law. By quantifying stress (thus making it visible), we promote stress awareness among all employees, which is useful for self-care.

The fiscal 2017 stress diagnosis test drew an 85.7% response rate. The 10% of employees with the highest diagnosed stress levels were invited to attend health consultation (and 12% did). We have incorporated e-learning to reinforce self-care with a 95.7% participation rate.

As a result of group analysis (organizational analysis), Advantest held two separate management trainings for managers of departments that showed high levels of stress with an 80% participation rate. Managers worked to learn how to handle stress in the workplace through this training in an effort to cultivate a workplace which mitigates the occurrence of mental health disorders. We have also formulated recovery plans with industrial doctors from the latest reports as well as support for employees to return to the workplace to allow employees to take time off without worry even when their healthy mental state worsens under a variety of stress. In addition, the establishment and operation of an eight-stage process up to a follow-up interview after the employee returns to work is a measure to ensure no excess stress when the individual does return to work.

Health Consultations

Advantest provides regular health check-ups to maintain and improve the health of employees in addition to regular physicals through subsidies from the health insurance society. The Advantest Group in Japan, North America, China, Taiwan and Malaysia provide health examinations once to twice each year by region with an examination rate of 90% to 100%.

We have also established programs in which employees can have be examined individually at each site in Singapore, Germany and other European sites.

At Advantest's Health Management Office, a comprehensive range of health professionals (including occupational health physicians, clinical psychologists, public health nurses, nurses, industrial counselors, etc.) provide counseling services for physical and mental problems of all kinds. Applications for counseling can be submitted easily by telephone or e-mail, or via the company's intranet. In fiscal 2017, counseling services were provided on 947 occasions.

Health Guidance

Advantest has provided health guidance, email support, staff, and consultation with industrial physician as well as other medial measures for the main purpose of improving lifestyle diseases for 97% of the 69% of Group employees throughout Japan who showed signs in medical examples. We will provide the programs below as part of these efforts and strive to maintain and improve the health of every employee.

Diet Support Program (Dietary Consultation)

Diet Club Event: Slim Down and Feel Great! One Week Program
70% of those who have participated have completed the program with an average waist reduction of 1.06 cm.