Business offices with high disaster occurrence rates show marked staff shortages and lack of knowledge and experience

Last year, a string of serious accidents occurred at some of Japan's leading corporations. In response, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare distributed in November 2003 a self-inspection survey sheet on safety management to approximately 1,300 large-scale manufacturing establishments with 500 or more employees. They released their findings in February 2004.

The Ministry found that, while 30.2% of general safety/hygiene managers working in business establishments that had some of the highest disaster incidence rates over the past three years felt that their number of staff members was insufficient, the proportion was only 16.7% for the managers working in business establishments with low disaster incidence rates. Moreover, while as many as 43.0% of the managers in the former establishments felt that their staff members lacked knowledge and experience, the proportion was only 21.9% in the latter business establishments.

For every 1,000 people, the average annual incidents of disasters in business establishments whose managers felt that their staff lacked knowledge and experience was 8.50, while that in business establishments whose managers perceived their staff as having sufficient knowledge and experience was only 4.19. Likewise, the disaster occurrence rate in business establishments whose managers felt that they had insufficient expenses necessary for safety management was 9.47, while that in business establishments whose managers felt that sufficient expenses have been secured was 4.60.

The survey also revealed that business establishments with low disaster occurrence rates had top managers who took the initiative in drawing up safety management programs and activities and implementing them.