Health Management

• Each fiscal year, all employees are provided with the opportunity to receive a standard health checkup. Sojitz takes steps to increase the percentage of employees undergoing this exam, including by distributing individual reminders to employees who have yet to complete the checkup. Moving forward, we will continue to actively encourage employees to take any additional recommended medical tests in order to prevent illness through early detection and treatment.

• 	FY19	FY20	FY21
  Percentage of employees that received an annual health check	100%	100%	100%

Sojitz partners with a well-known cancer research hospital to not only offer the standard cancer-related screenings included in the health check, but also conduct examinations such as endoscopies, colonoscopies, chest CTs, and tumor marker tests. Employees aged 40 years and older undergo these additional screenings once every three years. In this way, we strive to detect cancer at an early stage and ensure employees are provided with the appropriate treatment. Alongside these cancer tests, we hold cancer seminars to give employees basic information about cancer and provide them with an explanation of the exams. In the event that an employee or family member requires advanced cancer treatment (as defined by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), Sojitz provides subsidies for these advanced interventions to ensure that employees and their families can prioritize the treatment and recovery process.

As of FY2022, all female employees are eligible for routine cervical and breast cancer screenings, and Sojitz is strengthening its efforts to support women’s health. Sojitz also invites medical specialists to hold seminars on methods for maintaining good health, including self-care techniques to reduce health risks specific to women and address physical changes due to aging.

In June 2019, the Health Support Office introduced a health management system to better monitor changes in employee health. Regular medical checkups (annual physicals, health exams for lifestyle-related diseases, cancer screenings) and stress assessments are carried out routinely for all employees. If changes are observed in an employee’s health, the Health Support Office has a system in place with dedicated staff to reach out to these individual employees and provide support services that include a place to discuss work-related stress.

• In an effort to reduce the potential for passive smoking, Sojitz has closed the smoking booths at its Tokyo Headquarters and Kansai Office. We have offered a smoking cessation program since FY2020 to support employee health and set a goal to reduce the smoking rate from 22% (FY2019) to 12% by the end of FY2023.

• 	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023Target
  Percentage of employees who smoke	20%	18%	18%	12%

Sojitz aims to support the healthy lifestyles of its employees and aid in preventing lifestyle diseases. The company has therefore set a goal to support employees over the age of 35 with a BMI higher than 30 in order to reduce high-risk BMIs to less than 1% by the end of FY2023. In order to achieve this target, we have set up health counseling services and also provide nutritional guidance with a registered dietician to those with pre-diabetes and other lifestyle-related diseases. We also offer nutritious, low-sugar boxed lunches to employees. Sojitz aims to support employee health through a wide range of comprehensive initiatives.

With the help of our industrial psychiatrist, we have been conducting various programs for prevention of onset, early detection, early treatment and recurrence prevention from the FY2020. Also, we conduct annual stress assessments, as called for by Japan’s Industrial Safety & Health Act, and strive to improve the working environment by having occupational psychologists provide counseling to employees experiencing high levels of stress, in addition to conducting group analyses of each organization within the company. With mental health specialists and a clinical psychologist on site, we have established a system whereby employees can receive counseling at any time. Additionally, we work to increase awareness of mental health management by holding seminars for management-level staff who are in a position to communicate closely with their staff. Through these programs, we are aiming to reduce the percentage of employees taking a temporary leave due to mental illness by half by the end of the FY2023.

• As part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Sojitz provided workplace vaccinations for Group company employees and their families in order to ensure that all Sojitz Group members can work in a safe environment. Sojitz also conducts COVID-19 antigen testing of employees (approximately JPY 17 million was allocated for antigen tests in FY2022). Sojitz’s Safety & Sanitation Committee cooperates with the industrial physicians at Tokyo HQ and the Kansai Office to share the latest updates and information relating to COVID-19. Other prevention measures include placing hand sanitizer on every floor and monitoring the status of all individuals reporting a fever. Sojitz also encourages employees to receive the flu vaccine each year and provides subsidies to cover the cost of vaccination (approximately JPY 3.3 million has been provided in subsidies since FY2019).

• 	Workplace vaccination (total doses)	Antigen testing
  FY2021	10,359 doses	38,957 tests

• At both Tokyo HQ and the Kansai Office, Sojitz has a Health Care Room where employees can receive massages to help them recover from work-related fatigue and stress. In order to promote the health of employees and proper work-life management, Sojitz offers a service that allows employees to use fitness clubs at a discount.

• 	FY2019	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022
  Number of employees using Health Care Rooms	888	1,080	1,341	2,168

• Initiative	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022
  Participation in annual health checks	100%	100%	100%
  Participation in detailed (follow-up) examinations	24%	49%	67%
  Obesity rates (individuals with a BMI of 30 or above)	2.3%	2.3%	2.6%
  Employees receiving company support with ongoing medical treatment	100%	100%	100%
  Employees receiving specialized healthcare guidance	21%	20%	20%
  Smoking rates	20%	18%	18%
  Employees who exercise regularly *1	17%	22%	33%
  Walking Campaign participants	638	691	751
  Participation in the annual stress check	94%	91%	95%
  Employees experiencing high stress levels	4.8%	6.3%	6.4%
  Employees on leave of absence due to illness/injury	0.2%	0.3%	0.2%
  Absenteeism rate *2	0.2days	0.8days	0.7days
  Satisfaction with health-related initiatives	-	84%	-
  Health literacy	-	83%	-

  • “Do you perform 30 minutes of exercise (in which you break a sweat) twice a week or more, and have you maintained this habit for a year or longer?” and, 2) “On average, do you perform a moderate physical activity like walking for an hour or longer per day?”
  • Calculation method: Absenteeism is calculated as the total number of leave days taken by employees on leave due to illness/injury (1,847 days in FY2022) divided by the total number of employees at the company as of the end of the fiscal year (2,523 people in FY2022).

• Presenteeism

  	FY2022	FY2023
  Presenteeism rate *1	39%	21%
  Employees surveyed	2,435people	2,420people
  Response rate	95%	94%

  • Method for measuring presenteeism rate
    FY2022: WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire
    FY2023: The University of Tokyo Single-item Presenteeism Question

  Overall evaluation: The percent of employees undergoing follow-up examinations is improving, but we intend to work with our occupational physicians to continue to increase this figure. The percent of employees that report regularly exercising is increasing along with the number of Walking Campaign participants, and the percent of employees who smoke is also decreasing. Moving forward, we will implement measures for improving employee habits and lifestyles in order to decrease the obesity rate. We aim to continue to enhance collaboration with our occupational psychiatrist as we strive to decrease the percent of employees taking leave for mental health reasons and reduce absenteeism.

Sojitz has measures in place which aim to gradually help employees acclimate to work after extended absence for treatment by limiting working hours as necessary. We also enable employees to balance treatment with work by encouraging them to utilize remote work and the super flextime system, which no longer includes a core time requirement. Sojitz is also focusing its efforts on supporting the health of employees’ families, such as through a counseling service available to employees and their family members.

In accordance with the aims of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, Sojitz has established safety and sanitation management regulations to prevent work-related accidents and employee illness, promote health, and encourage the development of workplace infrastructure. These regulations include details on the company’s health management system, the Safety & Sanitation Committee, and health initiatives including health checkups and stress assessments.

• In addition to employee health management and health checkups conducted by the Health Support Office, both Tokyo HQ and the Kansai Office are equipped with Health Care Rooms that employ specialists in a variety of fields. Tokyo HQ has an occupational physician, internists (cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology), specialist psychiatrist, one occupational nurse, and four nurses on site at all times. The Kansai Office also has an occupational physician, internist, specialist psychiatrist, and one nurse on location. These medical professionals are on site to discuss daily health-related concerns and provide medical treatments.

• Employee usage of Health Care Rooms

  	FY2019	FY2020	FY2021
  Total number of users	2,625	1,711	1,436

Based on the Sojitz Healthy Value charter, we implement a range of initiatives for protecting and improving the health of Sojitz Group company employees. Specifically, Sojitz offers services including medical referrals for cancer screenings, second opinions offered by on site occupational physicians, overseas pre-dispatch trainings, and additional medical support through partnerships with treatment providers overseas. Sojitz holds regular liaison meetings with Group companies to provide updates on health management activities. The company invites outside experts and psychiatrists for lectures and information sessions on a wide range of topics including work style reform initiatives and changes to Japan’s work style reform laws. Through these educational initiatives, Sojitz aims to support the health of employees throughout Sojitz Group.

For four consecutive years, Sojitz has been recognized for its efforts to actively promote employee health and implement superior health management systems under the Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program, an initiative organized by NPO Nippon Kenko Kaigi and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
In addition, Sojitz received a DBJ Health Management Rating from the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) in June 2018. The company was recognized for its superior initiatives focused on employee health.