Responsible Care Management

Basic Policy on Responsible Care

Based on the “Kumiai Chemical Group Corporate Philosophy,” we will endeavor to protect the environment and ensure health and safety throughout the life cycle of our chemical products, and continuously work to improve the quality of people's lives and create a sustainable society as we implement Responsible Care with the goal of contributing to its realization.

1. Kumiai’s executives will take the lead in demonstrating leadership and promoting Responsible Care.
2. We will willingly make effort to protect and improve the environment and health and safety throughout the life cycle of our chemical products; from development to disposal.
3. We will promote conservation of resources and energy, and work to reduce and effectively utilize waste.
4. We will protect the environment and the health and safety of people throughout the supply chain.
5. We will disclose the results of our activities and endeavor to engage in dialogue and communication activities with society in order to meet the expectations of stakeholders regarding our efforts for the environment and health and safety.
6. For “Protecting and fostering life and nature,” we will continue making effort to create new value that will lead to the sustainable development of an affluent society.

We have signed the Responsible Care® Global Charter to promote and strengthen our proactive Responsible Care initiatives.

System for Promoting Responsible Care

The Responsible Care Promotion Committee, which is headed by the President, includes full-time Directors and Executive Officers and department heads, and is operated by the Responsible Care Promotion Section as the secretariat. We are focusing on the following efforts to continuously improve our Responsible Care activities.

1. Creating goals and plans for Responsible Care activities
2. Progress management for Responsible Care action plans
3. Matters related to the Responsible Care Management System
4. Responsible Care internal audit reports and management reviews

Initiatives for Responsible Care

Our Responsible Care activities are to protect the safety, health, and the environment of related people inside and outside Kumiai throughout all processes including research and development, production, sales, and use by customers through to disposal. We are implementing Responsible Care activities as part of sustainability management. In order to improve our activities, we leverage working groups and cross-functional collaboration.
Furthermore, our group has established the Basic Policy on Responsible Care, and management is exercising leadership in promoting Responsible Care activities. We also share information with our seven group companies that are engaged in the chemical business, to protect the environment, ensure safety and health, and to make continuous improvements.

Specific Initiatives concerning Responsible Care

Response to Mandatory Fit Testing

Dialogue and Communication with Society

Each year, we organize tours of its factories and institutes for local residents and users. These tours are a great opportunity to help visitor understand our safety awareness and initiatives through business presentations and site visits. As part of our efforts to raise awareness and deepen stakeholders’ understanding of agriculture and agricultural chemicals, we have created a series of brochures on agricultural chemicals used for crops and distributed them to elementary schools in various regions in Japan. We also visit elementary schools near our offices to give classes designed to raise awareness about the importance of agriculture and agricultural chemicals. Through these initiatives, we aim not only to enhance our corporate value by disseminating accurate information on agricultural chemicals, but also to foster an environment in which growers and our employees can handle agricultural chemicals with confidence.

Response to New Chemical Substance Regulations

In order to prevent occupational accidents caused by chemical substances, laws and regulations on occupational safety and health were significantly revised in April 2023, and the "New Chemical Substances Control Law" began. The chemical substance management system has shifted from a system centered on individual-specific regulations to one based on voluntary management in the future. We provide education at its factories, research laboratories, and group companies on the changes in regulations and the items that must be observed. We are strengthening our efforts in chemical substance risk management, a key element of the new chemical substance regulations, to ensure safe product development and production.

Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) on All Products Made Available

SDS is a document that conveys information on product handling and safety so that our customers can use our products safely. We prepare SDSs for all our products and publish them on our website.
We reviewed our SDS operation system along with new restrictions on chemical substances with revisions of laws and regulations. As a result, the whole process has become more efficient and SDS can be provided quickly in response to changes in laws and regulations.

Responsible Care Internal Audit

In FY2024, we selected factories and institutes, which are central to our Responsible Care (RC) activities, as the subjects of our audit. The audit reviewed the management systems (MS) and the current status of RC activities in the areas of environmental conservation, process safety and disaster prevention, industrial health and safety, logistics safety, chemicals and product safety, and dialogue with society. It was confirmed that the MS were properly implemented in each office, and that continuous improvements were being made through the application of the PDCA cycle. It was also confirmed that the processes of RC activities were clearly defined through the establishment of management regulations and procedure manuals. Going forward, we will conduct audits with a focus on on-site operations to further enhance the effectiveness of RC activities.