• Health Management at Epson
• Health Management Objectives and Organization
• The "Health Action 2025" Health Management Policy
• Other Initiatives

Epson believes that providing and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment and promoting physical and mental well-being are the foundation of a healthy company. We understand that safety and health are the lifeblood of the company and have instituted occupational health and safety activities globally, so that all workers in the Epson Group can enjoy working in a healthy environment and in the knowledge that they are safe and secure.
In April 2020, the president of SEC made free and open communication, enjoyment of work, and changes in the organizational climate priorities. In conjunction with this, Epson publicly committed to the Health and Productivity Management Declaration below. We aspire to achieve sustainability and enrich communities and believe that we can do so by helping our employees manage and maintain good health.
In Japan, we regularly revise mid-range health plans. The latest mid-range health plan, “Health Action 2025,” was established in April 2022, and is linked with work reforms and actions of the health insurance association. Outside Japan, Epson Group companies are promoting employee health in line with local occupational health and safety laws.

Organization
Epson established a Human Capital & Well-Being Management Division to drive initiatives under the president, who is responsible for health and productivity management. The functions of the former Health Management Office were transferred to a new Health Management Department within the Division. The Health Management Department, Human Resources Department, and DE & I Strategic Promotion Department are working closely together to manage employee well-being.
The General Administrative Manager of the division is responsible for overseeing all health management initiatives. As an Executive Officer, this individual participates in the Corporate Management Council and serves as the Chair of the Health Insurance Association as well as the Overall Health and Safety Controller.
A Health and Productivity Management Committee, which is jointly run by the Company and the health insurance association, is responsible for health and productivity-related information analysis and for establishing, evaluating, and improving health-related measures. The committee regularly meets to coordinate activities of the health promotion committees at the various plants and offices. Health promotion committees are chaired by the general managers of the General Affairs Departments at Epson plants and offices. An officer of the labor union serves as the vice-chair. An occupational physician and a public health nurse serve in an advisory capacity.　

• See the following links for more information about actions being carried out with the Human Capital & Well-Being Management Division:

Epson has been establishing and regularly updating mid-range health plans since 2001. The latest is Health Action 2025, which we established in 2022.
Significant changes are happening in the workplace. More diverse work arrangements are being introduced and the workforce is aging. To adapt to these changes, we believe employees need to understand the state of their own health and to work toward personal wellness. We are working on two important areas. One is mental and physical health, where we are looking to foster autonomy and strike a harmonious balance between work and health. The other is workplace health¹, where we aim to ensure safety and foster an organizational climate in which teams work in an enjoyable and dynamic manner. Health Action 2025 programs are being carried out under the slogan "Notice, learn, act, and acknowledge."

¹ Epson has used the term "workplace health" since FY2016. It is based on the World Health Organization’s definition of health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being" but also incorporates the idea of health and productivity management, which has elements of both mental and physical well-being coupled with how we work. It is creating a safe, dynamic, communicative workplace in which everyone feels energized and enjoys job satisfaction.

Key areas

We have a duty as a company to provide a safe working environment and have safety programs geared toward this. But we also have programs to address mental and physical health1 and workplace health2. These programs are designed to deal with changes that could impact health, such as new work arrangements and an aging workforce.

Slogan

In the midst of diversifying work arrangements and changing employee demographics, we anticipate major changes in things such as lifestyle and communication methods. These changes have the potential to improve work-life balance, but they could also adversely impact health. To adapt to these changes, it will be more important than ever for employees to understand themselves and to work toward personal wellness. On top of this, workplaces must embrace diversity and foster relationships where there is mutual acknowledgement and respect.
Therefore, to translate the intent of the policies under Health Action 2025 into action, we added “acknowledge” to the key words “notice, learn, act” to emphasize the importance of mutual respect and cooperation.

Objective and targets

Objective
Promote the self-management of mental and physical health and achieve a balance between work and health among all employees.

Objective
Pay sufficient attention to safety to prevent impairment of health due to work or the work environment.
Develop a vibrant workplace climate where there is good teamwork.

Click on the links below to see the Epson Group’s health and productivity management strategy map, as well as the targets and achievement during the first year under Health Action 2025.

We have established a health information analysis platform that integrates and visualizes the health information held separately by the company and the health insurance association. Our focus is on maintaining a cycle of health management by collaborating with outside professional services to swiftly identify and address health issues affecting employees and the workplace.

In March 2024, Epson was recognized under the Health & Productivity Stock Selection Program for the third consecutive year.

The Health and Productivity Management Stock program was launched jointly by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The program selects publicly traded companies that pursue strategic health management initiatives to promote the health of employees and other personnel from a management perspective. By highlighting companies that are attractive for investors who prioritize long-term improvement in corporate value, the program seeks to encourage companies to engage in health management efforts.

Epson received high scores in all four areas of health and productivity management: management philosophy and policy, organization, program and action implementation, and evaluation and improvement. As a result of its ongoing efforts, Epson has also been certified for eight consecutive years under the Certified Health and Productivity Management Organization Recognition Program (White 500), which was started in 2017 by METI and the Nippon Kenko Kaigi as a way to recognize companies that practice excellent health and productivity management.

Increasing health literacy

We provide various education and training courses as part of our mental and physical health and workplace health initiatives. These courses are tailored to different echelons and roles within the organization and are designed to encourage people to manage their own health.

In the area of mental and physical health, the courses focus on key topics such as stress management, healthy lifestyle habits, weight management, and locomotive syndrome prevention. They are offered primarily online to accommodate diverse working arrangements.
In the 2022 fiscal year, all employees were asked to take online courses in stress management and in understanding locomotive syndrome. (Completion rates were 94.9% and 86.5%, respectively.)
We also provide self-care education tailored to different age groups from the time people join the company. Currently, we are exploring educational initiatives targeting employees up to the age of 60.

Wellness activities

The health promotion committees at our various sites have been operating since the 1990s in a cooperative effort among management, the union, and the health insurance association based on THP (Total Health Promotion Plan) guidelines to maintain and improve health and to revitalize and energize the workplace. Employees selected by their workplace plan and lead activities from an employee perspective.
To achieve the targets in Health Action 2025, we have cited key topics and are strengthening our activities on both the site level and company-wide.
Each site has a Health Promotion Committee composed of employees. These committees plan and run a wide variety of events to promote health awareness and a healthy lifestyle. They have organized things such as events to measure body composition, walking workshops, events to encourage vegetable consumption, sleep seminars, and more.
Walking events, which we began in 2021, have become annual company-wide events. Participation has been increasing with each iteration, contributing to the establishment of a regular exercise routine, mental and physical refreshment, and improved workplace communication.

Individual support

The Health Management Offices at Seiko Epson sites have medical professionals, including occupational physicians and nurses, who are available to provide counseling. Communication is emphasized, and employees are encouraged to seek counseling and mental and physical health support whenever they feel the need. Particular emphasis is placed on getting employees who show signs of potential cardiovascular or brain disease at the annual physical checkup to seek medical care to prevent the progression of symptoms. Furthermore, supervisors, HR, occupational physicians, and others collaborate to provide personalized support to enable individuals who are receiving treatment to continue to work in good health.
Meanwhile, we have employee counseling offices staffed by industrial counselors who provide both mental health and career counseling.

Mental health and wellness programs

In the area of mental health and wellness, employees whose mental health issues have caused them to take time off from their jobs can benefit from our back-to-work program. The program has helped smooth the transition back to the workplace and prevent relapses. We have strengthened our efforts to review what led each individual to take a leave of absence when they return to work and have been successful in reducing repeats. Medical professionals and industrial counselors come together to consider how to respond as a team, and they work closely with the individual’s primary care physician, manager or supervisor, and human resources department to provide better support. Apart from this, individuals whose stress check scores indicate that they are highly stressed are encouraged to speak with a physician. Those who do not wish to do so are encouraged to come in for counseling with a member of the occupational health staff. Moreover, we educate managers, supervisors, and leaders regarding mental health by providing online courses and group training seminars. These are designed to enable them to better foster a healthy, vibrant workplace climate.

Workplace environment improvement activities (sharing of good practices & support for improving high-risk workplaces)

To avert work-related mental health issues, we conduct stress checks to assess the situation in each department and provide support to relieve stress in collaboration with senior management.
We began providing workplaces with feedback on analysis results in 2017 with the goal of further enhancing workplace support. The main actions that started from 2020 were the use of workplace improvement sheets and the facilitation of discussions.

In addition to thinking about what the ideal workplace would be like and then implementing the management cycle to advance toward it, the workplace improvement sheets are used to apprise business unit senior executives of the situation in their organizations and to drive improvements (e.g., structural changes, additional staffing). High-risk workplaces are thus required to submit workplace improvement sheets.

The role of facilitators is to lead discussions that take place in a positive environment where people feel safe. During the discussions, everyone in the department, and not just managers and supervisors, collectively thinks of actions to make the workplace better, and everyone has a part in implementing them.
Good practices and examples of workplace improvements are shared on the company intranet for use as reference by other workplaces.
These actions have helped us to reduce the percentage of workplaces with a high total risk from 5.9% to 1.0%. (Graph) The total health risk value improved from 94 in 2020 to 86 in 2022.

Global roll-out of measures to prevent infections

Epson considers infectious diseases to be a serious risk to its global business activities. To eliminate disease-related plant closures, we have been taking action to ensure that our people are alert to infectious diseases and that they practice measures to prevent their spread in the workplace. Epson Group companies around the world maintain their own business continuity plans (BCP) to control risks associated with emerging infectious diseases. These BCP are tailored to their specific needs and serve not only to protect their employees but to minimize harm and ensure the continuity of business operations.

Measures to prevent COVID-19 infections

The health and safety of our employees, customers, and other stakeholders are our top priority. Since COVID-19 infections were first confirmed in Japan in the 2020 fiscal year, the Epson Crisis Management Committee, under the direction of senior management, has remained at the forefront of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Effective from May 2023, we have been following national policy guidelines to prevent infections. We will keep a close eye on trends, compile the knowledge we have accumulated, and work to strengthen activities through inspection and improvement.

We have set up a global health support desk to provide consultation services and health-related information to Epson employees from Japan who are working overseas. Previously, occupational physicians and public health nurses visited Epson Group companies to help reduce mental and physical health risks, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, we began using an IT tool.
An occupational physician in charge of overseas provides information and education about the three priority diseases (HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis) to employees before they are transferred overseas. Expats are provided with the same level of support to promote health as our employees in Japan. During the time they are stationed overseas, we regularly send them health-related information, conduct physical and mental health assessments, provide follow-up, and post information on the company intranet.

In February 2022, we surveyed our female employees about health issues that are unique to women. Based on the topics in which women showed particular interest, we held an online seminar titled “Understanding Gender Differences and Acknowledging Each Other - The Function of Female Hormones” at Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fair 2022 organized by the department responsible for promoting diversity. The seminar drew an audience of 500, not all of whom were women. Male managers and men who wish to better understand and respond to their partners’ needs also attended. In addition, we emailed information to female employees on four separate occasions on other topics about which they expressed interest, including menstruation, cancer screening, and fluctuations in female hormones.

There have been incidents in the past in which individuals have suffered cardiopulmonary arrest at Epson sites. In view of this, Epson began to spread awareness of emergency procedures at Group companies in Japan so that we can provide the best first aid and life-saving treatment if we should ever be present when someone suffers such an event.
Executives and other personnel have been given online and hands-on training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). As of the end of March 2023, over 16,000, people had taken the courses.

We consider the self-management of physical and mental health to be relevant to everyone who works at Epson sites, so we invite external partners who work on our sites in Japan to participate in health literacy education and company-wide walking events. The company-wide walking events that we organize not only create an impetus for physical activity but also promote communication among participants and within the workplace.

As part of our efforts to promote health management, we respond to surveys requested by other companies, contribute articles to health-related magazines, provide information about Epson’s health management initiatives, and organize inter-company networking events.