Sustainability

Sustainability

Health and Safety

Approach to Health and Safety

In Japan, where a labor shortage has become a social issue, the role of a company that protects the safety and health of its stakeholders is considerable.
Our Group believes that on-site safety, the health of our employees, contractors and other stakeholders is essential to the growth of our business, and we are working to strengthen and operate our management system in accordance with social conditions, based on compliance with various laws and regulations.
In the Construction Division, the Safety and Health Committee of the Construction Business manages safety and health at construction sites.
Severe disasters and accidents that could lead to fatal accidents are reported to the Board of Directors. At the same time, the Health Committee and various vendors' associations discuss the pursuit of causes and measures to prevent recurrence, which are communicated and thoroughly implemented to employees and contractors.
In 2021, we established a new specialized department for employee health and assigned members to Business divisions in an effort to appropriately check working conditions and maintain employee health.

OPEN HOUSE Group’s Health and Safety Policy

Across all of our workplaces we strive to improve work environments and aspire to achieve a track record of zero accidents or other calamities underpinned by the notion of “health and safety are top priority” serving as the basis of our health and safety management. We will furthermore persist in developing healthy workplaces that provide positive and rewarding environments with the aim of maintaining and improving the health of every employee through the following initiatives.

First

We will actively provide health and safety training to employees while striving to further our health and safety management efforts in compliance with health and safety laws and regulations, and in-house standards.

Second

We will prevent occupational accidents through risk assessment tailored to eliminating even relatively minor hazards.

Third

We will help our employees maintain and improve their mental health by actively promoting mental health care.

Fourth

We will hold Health and Safety Committee meetings and establish a support framework with respect to both the mental and physical health of our employees enlisting occupational health physicians.

Fifth

We will be committed to taking action toward preventing unforeseen accidents in order to create safe working environments.

Sixth

We will improve safety levels by informing everyone serving at our workplaces of their obligations with respect to labor health and safety, in conjunction with our partner companies.

Health and Safety System

The Group convenes a Safety and Health Committee once a month, consisting of worker representatives (chief safety managers, safety managers, health supervisors, occupational physicians, and external experts such as certified social insurance labor consultants) from each work site. The meeting is held to share information and exchange opinions on matters related to occupational safety and health, such as the number of work-related accidents, the status of health checks, and the situation of overtime work. Important agenda items are reported to the Board of Directors, and all content is disseminated to all employees via the company's internal portal.
Furthermore, we carry out the following initiatives throughout the year for construction site employees and subcontractors, creating opportunities for them to safely continue their business activities with subcontractors in order to achieve zero accidents at construction sites.

Initiatives for Ensuring Construction Site Safety*

Initiatives involving the supply chain (partner companies)

NameOverviewObjectivesFrequencyParticipants
General meetingSafety conferences and lectures by expertsEstablish initiatives to instill health and safety awarenessOnce annually
During National Safety Week
Partner companies
Approx. 1,000 companies
Participation options depend on a respective craftsman’s region and occupation
Regional committeeOn-site tours and theme-based discussionsDevelop shared awareness with partner companies regarding on-site safety management and occupational accident prevention5 locations, twice a year
SubcommitteeChecking of work manuals and safety trainingDevelop shared awareness with partner companies regarding on-site safety management and occupational accident prevention
Carpenters’ meetingOn-site safety and etiquette training course, etc. for carpenter contractorsHeighten awareness of on-site occupational accident prevention and safety
Support for skills training course for partner companiesWorkshops for on-site safety and skills improvement, etc.Support obtaining qualifications necessary for performing work to ensure on-site safety Total of 20 times (2023) Total of 460 participants (2023)

In-house initiatives

NameOverviewObjectivesFrequencyParticipants
Safety patrolsOur departments in charge of safety management confirm status of on-site health and safety management using check sheetsAchieve thorough on-site health and safety managementWithin two weeks from building’s framework completionAll sites
Safety education for new employeesLectures based on our proprietary curriculum and exams to check levels of retention (participants must pass the exams before being allowed to visit work sites)Acquire skills and knowledge required as a site supervisorOnce per week (three to six months, depending on the individual) New graduate recruits
Mid-career recruits
Regular study sessions for site supervisorsStudy sessions for site supervisors of each construction zone and sharing details of on-site scenariosDevelop greater knowledge and share details of problematic scenariosAs needed (once a month depending on the location)Site supervisors

* Single-family homes related business of Open House Development
Certain initiatives have been canceled in view of the situation regarding COVID-19.

Risk assessment in the detached house business

In the OPEN HOUSE Group's business, we recognize that accidents at construction sites are of high importance and conduct risk assessments to ensure occupational safety.
In formulating annual health and safety management plans and conducting risk prediction activities at construction sites, we conduct safety patrols and introduce checklists that summarize guidance items. In this way, we work to prevent accidents in advance by confirming the risks that occur in advance and by considering the likelihood and degree of impact.

Employee Health Initiatives

We believe that maintaining and improving the health of our employees contributes to improved organizational energy and productivity.
Through our health management promotional system led by the President & CEO, we strive to create an environment in which our employees can continuously work in good health as part of our corporate social responsibility.

Establishment of mental health care consultation desk

The Group has established a mental health care consultation desk to help maintain and improve the health of our employees. The consultation desk appropriately understands the content of the consultations, cooperates with related departments and points of contact both inside and outside the company. They provide support for managers and supervisors, and mental health measures for all employees.
As part of our corporate social responsibility, we strive to create an environment where our employees can continue to work in a healthy manner.

Encouraging health and stress checks

We conduct annual health and stress checks for all employees.
We have established a system to support the health of our employees in both mental and physical aspects by organizing the appointments for health checks and individually notifying the employees, encouraging them to take stress checks via mobile phone, and other means, while minimizing the burden on the employees as much as possible.

Influenza vaccinations

We offer all of our employees influenza vaccinations at no cost and send them notification urging them to get such vaccinations. Furthermore, we offer influenza vaccinations every year on-site at our major business offices. We have accordingly established an environment where such vaccinations are available to employees at their discretion.

Online health support

We have introduced an online occupational health physician consultation scheme that enables employees to seek consultation with such healthcare professionals virtually.
Amid a scenario where there has been a drastic increase in our number of business locations and employees as a result of rapid growth of the OPEN HOUSE Group, we have established such online mental and physical health support schemes for our employees. For instance, this makes it possible to cope with situations that would be difficult to address through face-to-face consultation alone, and it enables employees to readily seek physician consultation by means of video conferencing and an online chat service.
Moreover, we promote Health and Productivity Management by administering quarterly employee questionnaires that help in assessing their health and carrying out consultation when necessary.

Mandatory comprehensive brain exams

In 2021, the OPEN HOUSE Group started making comprehensive brain exams available to employees aged 40 and older as part of its fringe benefit plan. Although cerebrovascular disease stands as one of the three leading causes of death in Japan, the Japanese government does not currently list comprehensive brain exams as one of its comprehensive medical exam options recommended to companies. As such, measures taken to prevent brain disease are lacking in Japan. We accordingly provide a workplace environment that affords employees peace of mind through our commitment to early detection of cerebral infarction and other such conditions and thorough health management as a result of access to comprehensive brain exam screening.

Status of occupational accident

Number of work-related fatalities (including contract employees)

FY2021FY2022FY2023
000

Lost time injury frequency rate (including contract employees)

FY2021FY2022FY2023
0.19%0.17%0.29%

*Lost time injury frequency rate: Number of injuries requiring absence of 1 day or more / Total work-hours ×1,000,000
*Aggregation Target: Open House Group Co., Ltd., Open House Co., Ltd., Open House Development Co., Ltd., Open House Real Estate Co., Ltd., Ouchi Link, OPEN HOUSE REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT ADVISORS Corporation, IB Net Co., Ltd.