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

Epson considers the health of all people in the Epson Group to be our top priority. We are thus working to create an enjoyable and dynamic workplace environment to ensure their physical and mental well-being in line with Epson’s Purpose Statement, the Epson Way, the Epson Group’s Basic Occupational Health and Safety Policy, and the Epson Group Health and Productivity Management Declaration.
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.
In April 2024, Epson partially revised the Health and Productivity Management Declaration to clearly state that our health management programs are for all Epson Group contributors and not just our own employees. In June, we also established English and Chinese translations of the Declaration and are rolling it out globally to 62 of our overseas sites (as of March 31, 2024). Occupational health laws and regulations may differ from country to country and region to region, but our efforts to ensure a healthy organizational climate and employee happiness do not change. Our overseas affiliates will manage health in line with their local laws and culture and will strive to support continuous improvement in health through initiatives tailored to prevailing conditions. In this way, we are reiterating our commitment to promoting the health and well-being of everyone in the global Epson Group and to achieving our corporate aspiration of achieving sustainability and enriching communities.

Health Management Goals

The goals of health management are employee happiness and contributions to society. We want all who work at the Epson Group to enjoy a dynamic workplace and to feel that their job is worthwhile and rewarding, with the result that even more societal issues get resolved. We believe that this will lead in turn to achieving sustainability and enriching communities.
We recognize that this will require each individual to engage in health practices that suit their needs and situation, which may change as different work arrangements are introduced and the workplace environment evolves. Our efforts are thus being directed toward the self-management of mental and physical health and fostering a positive, healthy workplace climate.

Organization

Epson Group companies overseas began implementing initiatives to maintain and improve employee health at the start of the 2024 fiscal year. The initiatives are tailored to the specific needs of each company and are aligned with the local culture and occupational health laws and regulations. In June 2024, we introduced the Health and Productivity Management Declaration globally and are collaborating with our overseas sites to promote certain unified actions Group-wide.

• 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 second 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, and weight management. They are offered primarily online to accommodate diverse working arrangements.
In the area of workplace health, we conduct self-care education courses focused on fostering a healthy workplace climate. The courses are mainly provided online, but some also combine online study with face-to-face workshops.
In FY2023, we provided an online course in body weight management for all personnel. (The completion rate was 88.2%.) In FY2024, we plan to offer online courses in sleep, cancer, and communication. We also provide self-care education tailored to different age groups from the time people join the company.

Wellness activities

・Well-being Activities Created By Employees Themselves
The health promotion committees select health issues at their sites and organize events that help to address them in a way that people enjoy. For example, there are events for measuring body composition, events that encourage people to get on a regular exercise program, lectures on nutrition to improve dietary habits, and sleep seminars. Some of the more unique events meant to encourage regular exercise include a photo contest in which people post the best photo of something they found on a walk and a quiz in which people look for answers that can be found along a walking course.

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.

Cancer screening

Epson and the health insurance association work together to provide cancer screening at the annual physical.
They help build awareness and increase the cancer screening rate and follow-up testing by distributing informational materials and encouraging symptomatic individuals to seek further testing.

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.

We continue to provide traditional workplace support because we are seeing the average overall health risk across the company decrease. On the other hand, the percentage of high-risk workplaces has stopped declining, so we continue to provide workplace support while also enhancing training for managers and supervisors to prevent further increases.

Measures to prevent the spread of infectious disease

・Common infectious diseases
In March 2024, we provided an online course on infection prevention in the workplace. When designing the course, which was completed by 90.3% of the workforce, we used the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to teach personnel how to avoid becoming infected and how to avoid infecting others.

・Emerging infectious diseases
To eliminate Epson Group plant closures caused by outbreaks of disease, 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 views infectious diseases as a major risk affecting its global corporate activities. We are advancing efforts across the global Epson Group to keep employees safe, minimize damage, and ensure business continuity. These efforts include formulating regionally tailored business continuity plans (BCP) to control risks in the event of an outbreak of emerging infectious disease, conducting contingency drills, and stockpiling of epidemic prevention supplies.

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.
Prior to assignment, our occupational physician responsible for overseas provides information and education on three major infectious diseases (HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis).
To reduce mental and physical health risks associated with overseas assignments, the physician interviews expats when they temporarily return to Japan during the first three to six months after assignment. In addition, individual interviews are conducted online within the first year of the assignment.
Expats are provided with the same level of health-related support health as our employees in Japan. We regularly send them health-related information, conduct physical and mental health assessments, provide follow-up, and post information on the company intranet.

Counseling services

Epson aims to create a work environment where employees can work comfortably together, regardless of gender. We offer counseling and support for health issues related to childbirth, childcare, menopause, and more. Support is available not only to the employees themselves but also to their supervisors and coworkers. 　

Education programs

・The company provides education on women's health issues at various echelon-based seminars.
・The Human Resources Department, the DE&I Strategic Promotion Department, and other related departments are working together to explore additional initiatives and programs.

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 June 2024, over 17,000, people took 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 employee health, 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.
We also presented the results of our analysis from the perspective of positive mental health at the 97th Japan Society for Occupational Health at the conference and provided information on our activities.