Head Office

Total site area

Main Office 1,760 m2

Number of employees

666 (as of December 2021)

Location

5-36-11, Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8685, JAPAN

Message from the Head of the Corporate Social Responsibility Division

Gota Matsuo

Yokohama Rubber’s Head Office operations acquired ISO 14001 certification in 2007. Since then, in executing its duties, the Head Office has continued to promote target management practices with respect to those environmental issues that should be addressed.

At currently, the operations of the Head Office are continuously promoting activities that focus on operations that comply with the CSR and environmental requirements set out by the expectations of society, such activities including the “Yokohama Rubber Group’s Development and Promotion of CSR and Environmental Management Practices,” the “Planning and Sales Promotion of Environmentally Sound Products,” the “Advancement of CSR Procurement and Green Procurement Practices” and the “Advancement of Energy Saving Activities in Distribution,” etc., in line with the principles of ISO 14001: 2015.

Additionally, at the end of 2009 at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Company announced its participation in the “Manifest Declaration on Energy Saving of Office Buildings.” Subsequently, we have been actively engaged in achieving energy savings throughout the offices of the Yokohama Rubber Group.

From now on, we will promote ESG management as a head office structure in line with the new medium-term management plan YX2023.

Organizational Governance

Internal control measures

The Compliance Promotion Office staff who are assigned to each department of the Company make use of instructional materials when conducting educational activities. Moreover, concerning the issue of statutory compliance, commencing with corruption-prevention measures, the associated reporting and confirmation functions are executed via monthly reports.
With respect to overseas business offices where there exist particular concerns regarding matters such as bribery and embezzlement, etc., information is exchanged closely with local offices and training of staff is also conducted.
For the purpose of both monitoring and auditing the management situation, five outside directors and three outside corporate auditors were appointed after March 30, 2021.

Investor relations (IR) activities

A number of domestic institutional investors have been visited annually since December 2013 for the purpose of enhancing both IR and SR activities. These visits offer us an opportunity to engage in direct dialogue with investors.

Human Rights

Education on respect for human rights

We provide opportunities for all employees to take compliance studies and learn about respect for human rights.
In addition, the Corporate Compliance Department has distributed to each employee a compliance card that describes the "Action Guidelines" to be followed by all employees of the Yokohama Rubber Group, in order to raise the level of awareness of respect for human rights.
In April 2022, we formulated the Yokohama Rubber Group Human Rights Policy based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We will provide appropriate education and training to all employees to ensure that this policy is understood and effectively implemented.
As stated in the management policy of Yokohama Rubber which reads, “create a workplace that values, improves, and energizes people,” the Company will continue to build an environment where a diverse group of people can both acquire the skills they require and then be able to exert them. Moreover, we aim to create a comfortable workplaces where our employees can balance their work and lifestyle commitments.

Labor Practices

Occupational safety and health

Safety and health are the basis of everything. Through the cooperation received from all Group employees, we aim to prevent occupational accidents while creating comfortable and healthy workplaces, such environments also being achieved through the strong leadership exercised by managerial and supervisory personnel. The Head Office Safety and Health Committee conducts meetings each month, and in addition to filing reports on the safety and health status of the Head Office, it implements activities aimed at heightening safety consciousness, for example by sharing information about accidents that have occurred at individual facilities horizontally throughout the Group. The specific measures that are implemented are outlined as follows.

(1) Establishing the foundations of safety and health based upon the Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OHSMS)

→ By focusing upon the important keyword of “people” with respect to matters of safety, and by also establishing periods during which the reporting of “near misses”* in the workplace is strengthened, we are endeavoring to improve both employee safety and employee awareness with respect to the anticipation of danger. This is being done by encouraging each employee to report one or more “near misses” during the aforementioned reporting periods.

(2) Safety awareness

To raise employees' awareness of the prevention of unsafe behavior, we regularly conduct employee awareness and safety and health education programs.
Topics for awareness-raising and safety and health education are based on near-miss reports from employees, and are designed to be effective.
→ To strengthen consciousness so that employees do not engage in unsafe behavior, we regularly encourage employees to participate in activities to promote health and safety, and conduct health and safety training at the workplace. The Health and Safety Committee discusses and decides which topics to raise awareness of, and which topics to include in health and safety training, based on near-miss reports from employees, to ensure that the program is effective.

(3) Equipment safety

Additional handrails have been installed on the landing to prevent falls from stairs. In addition, water-absorbent carpets were installed in the entrance hall to prevent slipping and falling due to wet floor surfaces in the event of rain. We will continue to improve all facilities to prevent accidents and create a safe and comfortable environment by referring to the results of near-miss reports and safety patrols.

(4) Improving the workplace environment

Based on the principle of "on-site, actual, and actual phenomenon," the Safety and Health Committee members conduct safety patrols on a regular basis, and promote improvements to unsafe and unsanitary conditions identified during the patrols to create a safe workplace where employees can work with peace of mind.

(5) Creating mental and physical health

As the ratio of telecommuting employees is increasing due to reforms in work styles, prevention of infectious diseases, etc., we collaborate with industrial physicians and public health nurses to conduct reexaminations of employees whose regular health checkup results show findings, interviews with industrial physicians for employees subject to overwork based on internal guidelines, interview guidance based on stress check results, and daily health consultations, either in person or through online communication. We are working to manage the health of our employees through face-to-face or online communication. In particular, for employees with mental health problems or those requiring special attention, we have established a system of interviews with specialist physicians, and we are working to quickly connect them with reliable specialists according to the situation, providing detailed support from the start of leave to follow-up on their return to work.

(6) Prevention of traffic accidents

In cooperation with related organizations and affiliated companies, we conduct regular training courses not only for company car drivers, but also for a wide range of car and bicycle drivers.

(7) Countermeasures against infectious diseases

As a countermeasure against COVID-19, we have made all staff members eligible for telecommuting and recommend off-peak commuting when they do come to work.
In addition, we are making efforts to prevent infectious diseases by limiting the rate of attendance at work and the number of people in meetings according to the infection situation in the region (especially under the declaration of a state of emergency, the rate of attendance at work is set at 30% or less in accordance with the government's request).

Promotion of gender equality

Since fiscal 2011, the ratio of female new hires has been in the vicinity of 30%. This has resulted from us proactively engaging in activities that have increased female applicant numbers, and then fairly selecting successful applicants irrespective of their gender. As of April 2021, there are 10 female managers in the company. In line with the implementation of the Act Concerning Promotion of Women’s Career Activities, in the future we will be working to maintain and if possible increase the pool of potential managers from which female managers are drawn, by setting a target of having female recruits account for at least 25% of all new management career track recruits. In addition, we are working together with the company’s labor union to implement measures to encourage employees to take more paid leaves, flextime system, and telecommuting systems, so as to help employees maintain an appropriate work-life balance.

Employment of people with disabilities

In March of 2012, we commenced operation of Yokohama Peer Support Co., Ltd. This location employs people with disabilities so as to provide a workplace where more of them can work. On May 31st of the same year, Yokohama Peer Support acquired certification as a specially designated subsidiary under the “Act for Promotion, etc., of Employment of Disabled People (the Disabled People Employment Promotion Act).” Furthermore, at Head Office as well, we hired a total of four people with disabilities in 2012, 2013 and 2017.

The Environment

Noise, vibration and odor

With respect to noise, the air-conditioner units that we have installed outdoors have been registered as specific facilities.
With regard to the issues of odors and vibration, there are no relevant matters to report.

Environmental data

Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions
  • Base year: In principle 1990 is taken as the base year.
  • Method of calculation of greenhouse gases (GHG): this is in compliance with the “Calculation and Reporting Manual for Greenhouse Gas Emissions” issued by the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy.

Effective use of resources / Reduction of waste

Waste disposed
Water usage

Fair Operating Practices

Dissemination of CSR procurement activities to business partners and initiatives for sustainable natural rubber procurement

We prepared the “Purchasing Ethics (Rules for Purchasing Staff).” These guidelines indicate matters to be noted by purchasing staff when conducting fair and impartial transactions in accordance with the “Basic Purchasing Policy.” They also indicate unethical behavior that must not be engaged in. These ethics were combined with the “Basic Purchasing Policy” in 2011 to become the “Purchasing Code of Conduct.” We have already distributed the "Code of Conduct for Purchasing" to all domestic and overseas offices.
For suppliers, we have revised our CSR Procurement Guidelines and strongly request them to take appropriate actions regarding human rights, environmental protection, anti-corruption, and compliance in their supply chains.
We distributed a CSR self-assessment sheet based on these guidelines to encourage suppliers to evaluate their own CSR efforts and thus encourage them to conduct appropriate CSR activities themselves.
In 2020, due to the effects of COVID-19, the previous face-to-face study meetings were cancelled, but we continued our activities through electronic questionnaires.
With regard to natural rubber, which is an important raw material for our operations, In 2018, Yokohama Rubber formulated and announced its own Procurement Policy for the Sustainable Natural Rubber.
Specifically, we participated in the Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), conducted an independent survey of natural rubber farmers in Thailand (visiting 179 farmers by the end of 2020, with a target of 500 farmers by the end of 2022), and held seminar events and provided fertilizer to support farmers in collaboration with the Natural Rubber Authority of Thailand.
In 2021, we will further improve our CSR procurement activities based on the CSR Procurement Guidelines and Yokohama Rubber's initiatives to make natural rubber procurement more sustainable.

Consumer Issues

Communication with customers

Inquiries received from customers by telephone or e-mail can generally be divided into the following three categories.
Firstly, there are consultations on the selection and matching of products. For example, what type of products should be chosen by the customer? In responding to such inquiries, we ask about the features to which the customer attaches the most importance. After obtaining this information, we then recommend the type of product that most closely matches the preferences of the customer.
Secondly, we receive inquiries about product malfunctions, etc. Taking tire products as an example, we first ask customers the size and pattern of the tires in question, the model and model year of the vehicle to which they were fitted, when the failure occurred, and any detailed circumstances that the customer can recall. We then offer an assumed cause of failure based on the information received. If it is necessary to check the actual tires, we ask the nearest sales office of Yokohama Tire to respond to the customer’s request and conduct an investigation. The sales office then reports on their findings.
Thirdly, we receive opinions and comments on the content of our website and product catalogues. We promptly distribute the opinions and comments thus received within the Company in order to reflect them in improvements made to web content and future product catalogues.
We will continue to respond to our customers quickly and politely as we strive to further improve customer satisfaction (CS).

Response to opinions and complaints

Each business division has an established contact point that is able to respond to the opinions and complaints of customers.

Tire Customer Consultation Office

Tel: 0120-667-520 (Toll free number, available only in Japan)
Hours: Weekdays (Monday through Friday) 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Customer Service Center (PRGR Ltd.)

Tel: 0120-81-5600 (Toll free number, available only in Japan)
Hours: Weekdays (Monday through Friday) 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. / 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Additionally, a list of inquiry contacts may be found on our official website at the following URL.
http://www.y-yokohama.com/global/contact/

Community Involvement and Development

Involvement with local societies

We proactively participate in organizations comprised of local companies, etc. that are located within the jurisdictions of local fire stations. At the request of local police stations, we also actively cooperate with national road safety campaigns.
We also participate in the Committee Responding to Congestion in the Vicinity of Shimbashi Station.