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Occupational Health and Safety and Health Management

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Basic Approach and Policy

For the Canon Group, the safety and health of employees form the foundation of its business activities. The principle of its safety and health activities is "safety is essential for management."
Under this principle, the Canon Marketing Japan Group (hereinafter the "Canon MJ Group") engages in health and safety activities based on the broken windows theory,*1 guided by the key phrases "no safety, no work," and "no health, no happiness," in an effort to build a workplace environment that permits employees to work comfortably. At the same time, we advance initiatives to provide health support to our employees and realize health and productivity management*2 based on the "Health First" principle set in the Canon Code of Conduct.

  • *1
    The broken windows theory is an environmental criminological theory developed in the United States, which states that crimes, including violent crimes, can be controlled by thoroughly controlling minor crimes. It was named based on the idea that "if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, the rest of the windows will soon be broken."
  • *2
    The term “health and productivity management” is a registered trademark of Nonprofit Organaization Kenkokeiei.

2025 Canon MJ Group Safety and Health Activity Policy

Safety: Reduce occupational accidents and build a comfortable workplace environment

  1. Reduce occupational accidents, aiming for a target of 9 or fewer work accidents, including one task-related accident in the workplace.
  2. Promote the operation of the Canon Group Occupational Safety and Health Management System and risk assessment
  3. Raise safety awareness by enhancing awareness-raising and training programs
  4. Build a comfortable workplace environment

Health: Realize health and productivity management that helps employees and the company remain energetic and healthy

  1. Improve health literacy and develop health culture
  2. Enhance mental health measures
  3. Ensure thorough safety consideration and prevent the worsening of illnesses
  4. Make it a habit to receive effective cancer screening and prevent cancer

Promotion of the Effective Operation of the Occupational Safety and Health Management System

To promote autonomous safety and health activities at business sites, the head offices of Canon MJ, Canon IT Solutions Inc. and Canon System and Support Inc. have introduced and are running the Canon Group Occupational Safety and Health Management System with a checklist that reflects the standards and rules of Canon Inc. based on the requirements of the Japan Industrial Safety & Health Association occupational safety and health management system.

Philosophy and Policy on Health and Productivity Management

We believe that when each one employee is able to work energetically with good health, they can demonstrate their individual capabilities to the full, not to mention make themselves and their families happy. This in turn leads to the development and sustainability of the company.

Health and Productivity Management at the Canon Marketing Japan Group

Figure of the Health and Productivity Management at the Canon Marketing Japan Group

Health and Productivity Management Declaration

The Canon Marketing Japan Group upholds the principle of “Health First” as the Canon Code of Conduct, believing that efforts to maintain and promote employees’ health lead to the happiness of employees and their families, and ultimately to the sustainable enhancement of corporate value. Based on this belief, we have established the policy of “realizing health and productivity management that supports employees and the company to work in a healthy and vibrant manner,” and we hereby declare our commitment to proactively promoting health and productivity management.

Minoru Mizoguchi, Director & Senior Vice President

Health and Productivity Management Strategy Map

Structure

Safety and Health Committee

The Group Executive of the General Administration & Human Resources Management Headquarters, who is a director, supervises matters regarding safety and health within the Canon MJ Group. The Canon MJ Shinagawa/Keihin Region Safety and Health Committee chaired by the safety and health supervisor has been established as the top-level body for safety and health and it reports matters regarding safety and health to the Board of Directors. The committee has adopted the Canon MJ Group Safety and Health Activity Policy and works to eradicate industrial accidents, maintain and promote health, improve traffic safety, fire prevention and disaster preparedness and create comfortable workplaces.
At each company and district of the Canon MJ Group, a Safety and Health Committee has been established under laws and regulations. The committee conducts activities guided by the Canon MJ Group Safety and Health Activity Policy. The Workplace Safety and Health Committees subordinate to the Safety and Health Committees promote day-to-day safety and health activities in the workplaces.
Labor and management engage in safety and health activities together within the Group. Each committee includes representatives of the Canon Workers' Union or other employee representatives, and the committee members work together to implement measures for employees.

Structure of Safety and Health Committees

Organizational Structure for Health and Productivity Management

We promote health and productivity management under the supervision of our Chief Safety and Health Manager, and with the Canon MJ Group Safety & Health Dept. playing a leading role. We have established health support offices at seven sites across Japan, and we have one health nurse for every 750 employees.
Additionally, we unified our employee health support and health support measures within the Group in 2018. Since then, we have continually worked to maintain and improve the health of every one of our employees by working together with people in charge of human resources and health support at the individual Canon MJ Group companies.

Organizational Structure for Health and Productivity Management

Targets

Under the Health First principle and our health management policy, we have worked to build the foundation of a health‑conscious culture by achieving a 100% health checkup rate, a 100% detailed examination attendance rate, and implementing various initiatives to improve health literacy. We added absenteeism, presenteeism and work engagement indicators as ultimate health and productivity management goal indicators in 2020. We regularly measure and analyze these indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of our initiatives.

Final target indicators

Indicators   2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 target Indicator value in the findings of the prior study for comparison
  Number of people surveyed 4,915 4,779 4,676 4,507 4,425
Absenteeism*1 Results 2.4 days 2.0 days 2.0 days 2.4 days 2.7 days 2.0 days or below 2.6 days
Response rate 99.9% 99.9% 99.9% 100% 99.8%    
Presenteeism*2 Results 90.8% 91.2% 91.3% 90.2% 88.7% 91.3% or above 84.9%
Response rate 99.9% 100% 100% 100% 99.9%    
Work engagement*3 Results 2.64 points 2.66 points 2.68 points 2.67 points 3.34 points 2.68 points or above*4 2.52 points*5
Response rate 99.9% 100% 100% 100% 100%    

We surveyed all employees by interviewing them when they received regular health checkups (excluding the health checkups they received when they joined the company).

  • *1
    Average number of days off work in a year in the previous year due to respondents' own diseases and injuries
  • *2
    Average of respondents' work performance in the past four weeks evaluated as a percentage of their full performance without diseases or injuries in the survey with the Single-Item Presenteeism Question (SPQ) developed by the University of Tokyo Working Group.
  • *3
    Up to 2023: Average of respondents to two questions relating to work engagement in the simplified questionnaire on new occupational stress. 2024: Average of respondents to the three-item version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES)
  • *4
    Target value set in 2022.
  • *5
    Indicators in the results of prior research using the simplified questionnaire on new occupational stress.

Specific target indicators (in percent)

Health literacy indicators 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 target
  Percentage of employees in the Implementation Stage of lifestyle improvement awareness and activity 40.8 43.3 44.3 43.3 42.5 47.3
Percentage of employees engaging in about one hour of physical activity per day 50.3 46.3 43.2 47.2 56.0 48.0
Percentage of employees eating at least 350 grams of vegetables per day 17.0 19.0 18.3 16.9 17.0 19.8
Percentage of employees sleeping at least six hours per day 42.7 47.4 49.4 49.3 50.7 50.4
Percentage of employees consuming an appropriate amount of alcohol 37.6 40.5 41.4 39.6 41.9 44.4
Percentage of employees who smoke 21.3 20.4 20.0 20.4 20.2 17.0
Percentage of employees measuring their own weight regularly 63.4 64.1 65.6 63.5 63.2 68.6
Mental health-related indicators 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 target
  Percentage of employees with high stress levels 8.5 8.7 9.3 9.0 8.8 9.0
Percentage of employees with headaches 13.0 13.1 14.8 15.2 15.8 13.0
Percentage of employees with symptoms affecting their neck or shoulders 44.3 44.5 48.3 47.0 46.7 44.0
Percentage of employees with symptoms affecting their backs 27.3 27.0 31.5 29.7 29.6 27.0
Indicators related to a high risk of lifestyle-related diseases 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 target
  Percentage of employees with high blood pressure 3.5 3.0 2.9 3.8 4.1 2.9
Percentage of employees with poor control of blood sugar levels 2.6 3.0 2.9 2.2 2.1 2.9
Percentage of young obese employees (younger than 40 years of age with a BMI of 25 or higher) 11.6 13.5 13.7 12.4 13.1 11.2
Percentage of employees who receive cancer screening 48.7 59.6 60.9 58.6 58.7 68.0
Indicators related to other health checkup results 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 target
  Percentage of employees whose weight is in a healthy range (All age groups) 70.1 68.8 69.7 70.1 69.6
Rate of continuation of blood pressure treatment 83.0 87.4 86.5 83.6 83.0
Rate of continuation of diabetes treatment 76.8 76.1 72.8 78.4 80.2
Rate of continuation of blood lipid treatment 71.7 69.8 71.9 72.5 73.4
  • *
    Indicators are calculated using health checkup results, excluding mental health-related indicators, which are calculated using stress check results.

Initiatives for Occupational Health and Safety

Promotion of safety and health activities in accordance with Group-wide common rules

A poster for preventing occupational accidents

We have developed more than ten kinds of unified safety and health standards and guidelines in the Group (including the 5S Standards, the Standards for Safe Handling of Heavy Goods, and the Guidelines for Preventing Fall from Height) by discussing and considering them with relevant departments in light of actual work environment.
We will continue to enhance initiatives for safety and health and health support at each Group company and drive group-wide activities.

5S Activities

To work in a safe, secure, comfortable workplace environment every day, we are engaged in Group-wide 5S (Seiri for organizing, Seiton for keeping things in order, Seiketsu for keeping things clean, Seiso for cleaning up, and Shitsuke for self discipline) activities as the foundation of safety and health.
To maintain good 5S conditions, we promptly improve problematic points and recognize April, August, and December as the 5S Months of the overall Group, when we set and address issues and targets in each region and workplace.

Risk Assessments and Their Effective Use

The Canon MJ Group conducts risk assessments for jobs within the scope of the Canon Group Occupational Safety and Health Management System according to the common management standards of the Canon MJ Group. The Group identifies every job with risks of accident or disease and implements appropriate risk reduction measures and residual risk management measures to prevent industrial accidents and diseases.
We also conduct risk assessments regarding health and safety for new businesses and appropriately manage the businesses based on the results of these assessments.

Number of Occupational Accidents in the Group
  2022 2023 2024
Total number of work accidents (of which, lost time accidents) 2 (1) 22 (7) 11 (3)
Total number of commuting accidents (of which, lost time accidents) 20 (3) 18 (7) 22 (7)
Total (of which, lost time accidents) 22 (4) 40 (14) 33 (10)
Number of work accidents and accident incidence rates at Canon MJ
  2022 2023 2024
Number of work accidents (of which, fatal accidents) 1 (0) 7 (0) 5 (0)
Frequency rate 0 0.514 0.388
Severity rate 0 0.001 0
Accident rate per 1,000 persons 0 0.865 0.657
Industry average (based on the Survey on Industrial Accidents (wholesale and retailing businesses with establishment size of no less than 100 workers) conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)
  2022 2023 2024
Industrial accident frequency rate 1.98 2.43 2.60
Industrial accident severity rate 0.05 0.06 0.05

Implementation of industrial safety and health training

The Canon MJ Group regularly provides industrial safety and health training for newly appointed managers, safety and health education for newly recruited employees, first aid training courses, and other training programs. For more information about the status of these training programs, such as the number of attendees, please refer to the listed results for “Training and Seminars for Safety and Health" on this page.

Initiatives to Enhance Health Literacy and Develop a Health-Oriented Culture

We are engaged in activities to raise awareness of lifestyle improvements by taking individual and group approaches, so that each of all employees will be conscious of their health and take actions based on the Health Management Three-Year Plan.
Since 2014, we have been implementing Health Actions, under which individuals and workplaces set health action targets and work to achieve them. In 2020, we began to distribute cards to visualize and further drive their initiatives and encourage active communications. In 2022, officers disclosed their Health Actions internally. Since 2023, we set Health Actions 7 as lifestyles recommended by the Canon MJ Group, aiming to further promote healthy lifestyles.
In 2016, we introduced a health promotion app jointly with our health insurance union. The app registration rate has remained above 90%. We have introduced incentives for use of the app and participation in events, thus helping improve health literacy and lifestyles.
As a result of a number of activities, we have steadily produced achievements. For example, the percentage of employees trying to improve their lifestyles has been 2.6 times higher compared to 2010.

Cards of the Health Actions
Registration Rate for Health Promotion App
Intention to improve lifestyles

Exercise-Related Initiatives

We hold walking events using the health promotion app twice a year. We take measures such as granting incentives to participants and those who have achieved their goals, as well as holding regional competitions. With the number of participants increasing each year, it has been established as a widely known event. In 2024, we also held walking events at each site after working hours.
Further, in 2024, we began to take an initiative that we call "Stand Break," which means standing up and moving your body during breaks at meetings, as a measure for employees to avoid remaining seated for too long.

Participation rate for walking event
Walking event
Initiative to Prevent Prolonged Sitting: Stand Break Roulette

Nutrient-Related Initiatives

An analysis has found that people who eat a lot of vegetables are more likely to "feel energetic during work" than those who don't. Based on this finding, we take steps to encourage employees to consume 350 grams of vegetables daily to improve their work performance.
Since 2024, we held an event measuring the carotenoid levels (estimated vegetable intake). A total of 10,077 Group employees including officers took part in 2025.

Relationship Between Estimated Vegetable Intake and Performance
Employees measuring the carotenoid level

Initiatives Related to Sleeping

In 2025, an e-learning seminar on improving the quality of sleep has been provided with the aim of improving employees’ sleep when at rest. A video encouraging the use of power naps is shared in an effort to share individualized ways of taking a rest throughout the Group.

Initiative to Promote Appropriate Drinking Habits

We have created a video to raise awareness about setting dry days and practicing appropriate drinking habits, and promoted it through our internal portal site and e-learning programs.

Anti-Smoking Initiatives

To prevent passive smoking by employees, we have imposed a total ban on smoking on the premises and during business hours. Further, in 2019, we launched a quit smoking program based on online medical services, which use smartphones, thus encouraging employees to give up smoking.

Percentage of employees who smoke and number of participants in the quit smoking program
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Percentage of male employees who smoke (%) 25.1 24.1 23.6 24.5 24.4
Percentage of female employees who smoke (%) 4.1 4.2 3.6 3.9 4.0
Number of participants in the quit smoking program 64 39 22 13

Gender-Specific Health Support

Since 2020, we have been providing health support for addressing health issues specific to each gender. We introduced internal health counseling services for women, allowing them to seek counseling from an industrial physician with clinical experience in obstetrics and gynecology.
We also hold annual e-learning and other seminars to improve employee health literacy. In 2025, an e-learning seminar on menstruation and cancer screening has been held for women in their 20s to 30s, receiving positive feedback. Some attendees said the seminar was a good opportunity for them to think anew about female-specific diseases and health.

Gender-specific health support seminars held
Theme Target Method Number of participants (Participation rate) in Canon MJ Group
2020 (Introduction) Let's think about the health of working women. Female employees e-learning 1,304(47.0%)
2021 (Particular topic) Mental health of working women Female employees e-learning 1,080(38.4%)
2022 Seminar for understanding women and improving their management capability Managers e-learning 2,106(82.5%)
It has continued to be given to new managers.
2023 HPV vaccine seminar All employees A seminar given after working hours/Distributed online Number of respondents to the questionnaire survey: 80
2024 About menopause All employees Lunchtime webinar/Distributed online Number of respondents to the questionnaire survey: 132
2025 Menstruation and cancer screenings Female employees (20s, 30s) e-learning 987(65.5%)

Make It a Habit to Receive Effective Cancer Screening and Prevent Cancer

At the Canon MJ Group, we have introduced age group-specific programs of cancer screening subsidies offered by the Canon Health Insurance Union. We also implement company-wide awareness-raising activities to make it a habit to receive cancer screening. These efforts are aimed at ensuring the early detection of cancers. We carry out organized activities to encourage employees aged 40 or older to receive cancer screening because cancer morbidity rates are particularly high in this age group.

Percentage of employees who receive cancer screening (%)
  2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Percentage of employees who receive cancer screening 48.7 59.6 60.9 58.6 58.7

Safety and Health Education / Health Education

We provide employees with education to give them opportunities to think about health and provide relevant information, thereby helping them to make lifestyle improvements for healthier living. We provide safety, health, and mental health management education to newly appointed line managers.

Training and Seminars for Safety and Health
Seminar content and number of participants (participation rate)
Content Target 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Safety and health education Newly appointed managers 206
(100%)
219
(100%)
203
(100%)
202
(100%)
223
(100%)
Safety and health education at the time of hiring New employees 121
(100%)
86
(100%)
76
(100%)
117
(100%)
156
(100%)
Self-health management New employees 121
(100%)
86
(100%)
76
(100%)
117
(100%)
156
(100%)
Mental health New employees 121
(100%)
86
(100%)
76
(100%)
117
(100%)
156
(100%)
Health education in line with workers' ages Employees at key ages
(those aged 30, 40, 50, and 60)
432
(89.6%)
370
(91.4%)
607
(90.7%)
322
(86.8%)

Initiatives to Strengthen Mental Health Measures

At the Canon MJ Group, we run a number of programs, including those on training and counseling, which are focused on four types of care and three preventive measures. We are taking ongoing initiatives including self-care training for new employees, e-learning programs that are specific to age groups or ranks, and introduction of Employee Assistance Program (EAP) by the Canon Health Insurance Union.

Training and counselling programs

In 2024, a workshop for improvement of workplace environment was held for line managers with the use of stress check results.
To relieve stress and improve performance at work, we have also introduced an online support program aimed at remedying stiff shoulders, backaches, and other chronic pains.

Percentage of employees who receive stress checks and percentage of employees with high stress levels (%)
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Percentage of employees who receive stress checks 89.1 92.2 94.6 93.6 92.4
Percentage of employees with high stress levels 8.5 8.7 9.3 9.0 8.8
Number of Participants in the Online Support Program for Pain Relief
Target 2022 2023 2024
Number of program participants Applicants 35 63 33

Initiatives to Ensure Thorough Safety Consideration and Prevent Serious Illness

Enhancing Safety Considerations and Prevention of Worsening Based on Health Checkup Results

For employees requiring detailed examinations or treatment, we provide support including follow-ups by health nurses and interviews by industrial physicians. Since 2014, we have continued to achieve the target percentage of employees needing detailed examinations who reported that they have received treatment, which is 100%. (Excluding 2020, when many people refrained from visiting hospitals and physicians' offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
We ensure that considerations needed to prevent a worsening of lifestyle-related diseases and the development of brain and heart diseases are given under the Group's standards based mainly on the results of regular health checkups.
In addition, as a measure to improve the metabolic syndrome of young employees, we provide health guidance to eligible employees aged under 40.

Percentage of employees who receive regular health checkups and percentage of employees needing detailed examinations who reported that they have received treatment (%)
  2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Percentage of employees who receive regular health checkups 100 100 100 100 100
Percentage of employees needing detailed examinations who reported that they have received treatment 81.5 100 100 100 100
Rate of health guidance given to employees who were found likely to have health problems 100 100 100 100 100

Initiatives to Prevent Accidents with Health-Related Causes

To ensure the safety of employees who drive for work or who work in high places, we judge the risks based mainly on the results of health checkups and make sure to give them necessary considerations.

Support for Employees Who Are on Sick Leave or Who Are Otherwise Absent from Work Due to Injury or Illness

We standardize the manual for responding to such employees by establishing roles to be played by human resources department, workplace managers, and health support offices. At the same time, we have continued to provide training to human resource personnel and industrial health staff.

Contents of training by position and number of participants
Content Target 2024
Mental health officer training People in charge of human resources 4
Mental health officer training and other related programs Industrial health staff 37
Japan Society for Occupational Health and other academic societies Industrial health staff 23

Initiatives to Ensure Appropriate Work Hours and Tackle Overwork

At Canon MJ, we launched full-scale workstyle reforms to ensure appropriate work hours in April 2017. Those reforms are aimed at maintaining and promoting good health among employees.
Wednesdays and Fridays are designated as no-overtime days every week to reduce overtime work.
We have also established prescribed working hours of 7.5 hours a day and 1,800 hours a year. Moreover, under Japan’s Article 36 Agreement (Article 36 of the Labor Standards Act, Agreement on Overtime and Holiday Work), total overtime work and work on holidays are set at 40 hours per month and 350 hours per year, or 80 hours per month and 700 hours per year at maximum, in principle. These are shorter than the statutory standards, reflecting our efforts to reduce excessive working hours.
Further, human resources departments and health support departments work together to arrange for interview guidance to be provided by physicians for all employees who are deemed to need such guidance under the Group's internal standards, in an effort to prevent overwork and tackle the issue at an early stage.

Averages of overtime work hours and total hours worked
(actual figures for union members)
  2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Average monthly hours of overtime work
(union members)
9.8 hours/month 6.9 hours/month 8.5 hours/month 9.0 hours/month 9.9 hours/month
Average total hours worked 1,697 hours 1,755 hours 1,753 hours 1,772 hours 1,789 hours

<References> Average overtime hours of general workers: 13.1 hours/month, average total hours worked by general workers: 1,977 hours (Averages for workers excluding part-time workers from Monthly Labour Survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)

Developing the First-Aid System and Improving the Effectiveness of Disaster Control Measures

At Canon MJ, we regularly hold a first-aid workshop using AED to develop employees capable of providing first aid in the event of an emergency. The rate of participation in this workshop was 46% as of 2024. In addition to holding first-aid workshops at our business locations all over Japan, we take steps to ensure that AEDs can be located at a glance. We also hold practical disaster drills and prepare aid supply and stockpile for disaster, as disaster control measures.

A first-aid workshop held at the CANON S TOWER (Shinagawa)
A poster with the words, "Where is the AED?"

External Evaluation for Health and Productivity Management

In recognition of our ongoing initiatives to promote the good health of employees based on the principle of health and productivity management, we have been recognized as one of the White 500 enterprises selected in the Recognition Program for the Outstanding Organizations of KENKO Investment for Health for ten consecutive years since 2016.
We were also certified as a Sports Yell Company by the Japan Sports Agency, and we participate in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Corporate Action Program for Promoting Cancer Prevention.

KENKO Investment for Health
sports yell company 2026
Corporate Action Program for Promoting Cancer Prevention

Certification of the Canon MJ Group's Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program

In 2018, the Canon MJ Group established a health management system by unifying its health support measures and operations to standardize its health management activities at a high level.

2026 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program (Large enterprise category) White 500

  • Canon MJ (10 consecutive years)
  • Canon BizAttenda (5 consecutive years)

2026 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program (Large enterprise category)

  • Canon IT Solutions (9 consecutive years)
  • Canon System & Support (8 consecutive years)
  • Canon ITS Medical (7 consecutive years)
  • Canon Business Support (5 consecutive years)
  • Canon Customer Support (5 consecutive years)
  • Canon Production Printing Systems (5 consecutive years)
  • Qualysite Technologies (7 consecutive years)