Human Rights
Daifuku Group Human Rights Policy
Basic Stance on Human Rights
Since our founding, the Daifuku Group has faced the changing needs and challenges of society in the spirit of our company creed: Hini Arata. Our management philosophy, “Automation that Inspires,” expresses our resolve to use material handling-based technology to help foster a society in which people can live richer lives. Furthermore, we declare our commitment to respecting human rights in our management philosophy and Group Code of Conduct and strive to create an environment where each and every employee can maximize their potential. We recognize that respect for human rights is one of our most important responsibilities in terms of the sustainable growth of our business and organization, and we will fulfill this responsibility by minimizing any possible negative impact on human rights occurring through our business activities. This policy sets out the Group’s approach to human rights in the course of its business activities and applies to all officers and employees of the Group. We expect our business partners, including those in our supply chain, to understand this policy and put it into practice, and we will work together with them to promote respect for human rights. To achieve this, we have established an internal system in which the president and CEO of Daifuku Co., Ltd. bears responsibility for human rights, and we will carry out ongoing efforts.
In order to encourage our major business partners to take steps toward promoting initiatives along with our Group, we ask that they submit written informed consent of our Human Rights Policy (submission rate: 90%).
Please refer to the following PDFs for details about the Daifuku Group Human Rights Policy (available in six languages).
Promotion System
The Sustainability Promotion Committee is an advisory body to the Board of Directors and is chaired by the CEO with the heads of each business unit as members. Under its jurisdiction, the Human Rights and Supply Chain Subcommittee has been set up and comprises appointees from across multiple departments, including Procurement, Human Resources and General Affairs, Legal Affairs, and Sustainability Promotion, and this subcommittee manages the creation and administration of the human rights due diligence system. It reports on crucial matters to the Board of Directors. The Sustainability Promotion Department, which serves as the administrative office, is in charge of day-to-day efforts to respect human rights and works in cooperation with related departments.
Major Initiatives
Initiatives toward human rights due diligence
Daifuku has been working on building and operating a system to identify, analyze, and evaluate negative impacts on human rights related to our overall business activities, including our supply chain, and to correct, mitigate, and prevent such impacts, as well as risk assessment for the ongoing implementation of human rights due diligence. As part of these efforts, we conducted a human rights risk assessment (potential risk assessment) to evaluate the negative impact on human rights and identify human rights issues. From these results, we identified domestic foreign workers in the supply chain, including contractors, and workers at raw material suppliers as high-priority human rights issues to be addressed by the Group.
The risk assessment was conducted with the advice of external experts (the NPO Caux Round Table (CRT) Japan) to evaluate potential risks as human rights due diligence in line with the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on Business and Human Rights. Specifically, we identified priority issues by uncovering the relevant value chains and impacted rights holders based on internal questionnaires, surveyed high-risk countries within the Group’s business activities using the results of the human rights risk assessment conducted by CRT Japan, and conducted internal workshops and interviews with subsidiaries in high-risk areas. Additionally, we are conducting interviews within our supply chain, and we will take appropriate and effective remedial measures if and when negative human rights impacts or facilitating factors come to light.
Global expansion
Beginning in fiscal 2023, we have been gradually expanding human rights due diligence to our global affiliates. In April 2023, we invited Mr. Hiroshi Ishida, Executive Director of CRT Japan, to give a lecture on understanding business and human rights to managers of our global affiliates and Daifuku Japan executives. Additionally, in order to ascertain the status of initiatives for respecting human rights at each of our global affiliates, we identified potential risks by distributing a risk assessment questionnaire.
To enhance the effectiveness of these activities, we participate in various initiatives, such as the Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) Subcommittee organized by Global Compact Network Japan (GCNJ) and the Stakeholder Engagement Programme organized by CRT, to deepen our understanding of industry-specific human rights issues and apply this understanding to our efforts to respect human rights.
2023 Human Rights Due Diligence Workship (Stakeholder Engagement Programme)
Human rights due diligence process
In accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, we are conducting human rights due diligence by following the process outlined in the chart below.
Results of identifying, analyzing, and evaluating negative impacts on human rights
The Group considers domestic foreign workers in the supply chain, including contractors, a high-priority human rights issue. In order to identify any negative impacts on their human rights, we are working to fully understand the employment status of workers in the supply chain and conduct on-site interviews with foreign workers employed by business partners. In fiscal 2023, the scope of these initiatives was expanded to include employees of global affiliates and foreign personnel employed by business partners, and on-site interviews were conducted at Group companies and their business partners in Thailand and Taiwan.
Summary of the human rights impact assessment
In cooperation with CRT Japan to ensure objectivity and neutrality, we conducted on-site interviews with foreign workers and their managers employed at our business partners. These interviews were based on the Dhaka Principles for Migration with Dignity and focused on topics such as appropriate working hours, fair wages, employment contracts, workplace health and safety, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, and communication.
Results of impact assessments held in Japan
Company | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Hokko Co., Ltd. | Tamura Co., Ltd. | Toho Technology Inc. | Megumi Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Megumi Group) | |
Date of assessment | February 2023 | February 2023 | November 2023 | December 2023 |
Interviewees (nationality) (residence status) |
4 foreign workers (Vietnam, China) (2 specified skilled workers, 2 technical intern trainees) |
4 foreign workers (Vietnam) (2 specified skilled workers, 2 technical intern trainees) |
5 foreign workers (Indonesia) (technical intern trainees) |
4 foreign workers (Thailand) (technical intern trainees) |
Format | In-person group interviews | |||
Interview topics | Appropriate working hours, forced labor, fair wages, health and safety, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining | |||
Images of the interviews *provided by CRT Japan |
Results of impact assessments held outside of Japan
Thailand subsidiary: Daifuku (Thailand) Limited Business partner: Manus Prosystem Logistic Co., Ltd. |
Taiwan subsidiary: Taiwan Daifuku Co., Ltd. Business partner: Chih Kang Material Company Ltd. |
|
---|---|---|
Date of assessment | February 2024 | March 2024 |
Interviewees (nationality) |
20 employees of Daifuku subsidiary (Thailand, Myanmar) 4 employees of business partner (Myanmar) |
19 employees of Daifuku subsidiary (Taiwan) 20 employees of business partner (Vietnam, Philippines) |
Format | In-person group interviews | |
Interview topics | Appropriate working hours, forced labor, fair wages, health and safety, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining | |
Images of the interviews *provided by CRT Japan |
Assessment results
- Neither long working hours nor forced overtime were observed at the Daifuku subsidiaries or their business partners. At the subsidiaries, when shifts in addition to regular working hours are required in order to accommodate customers, it is advisable to ensure that employees are not overworked, the treatment for overtime and night work is appropriate, and that appropriate countermeasures against overwork are taken.
- It was confirmed that the companies provide safety training for employees upon entry into the company and require employees to undergo periodic safety training. No work under hazardous conditions was observed.
- It was confirmed that there are organizations that allow workers to express their opinions to the company through representatives. It is advisable that the purpose of these organizations and specific methods of their utilization be thoroughly communicated throughout each company.
Future actions
Based on the interview assessment results, we will implement measures for improvement beginning with the items of the highest priority in order to prevent and reduce negative impacts on human rights.
Third-party comments
In accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the Daifuku Group brought in a third-party organization (CRT) and carried out an early-stage human rights due diligence process in areas where it could have a direct impact on the Group. In the risk assessment, foreign workers (technical intern trainees and specified skilled workers) were selected as the human rights subjects in a workshop involving all pertinent departments, and direct dialogue with the rights holders was conducted in order to identify any human rights issues in the impact assessment. On-site at Companies A and B, foreign workers are warmly regarded as if they were family members, and no human rights issues of particular concern were identified. We hope that knowledge of these commendable efforts will be shared as an example of best practices within the Daifuku Group. We hope that lessons learned from this initiative built on the UNGPs-based management system will also be gradually expanded to other areas (overseas) as well.
Hiroshi Ishida, Executive Director, CRT Japan
Human rights due diligence schedule (planned)
- FY2024
-
- Within and outside of Japan: continue overt risk assessments
- Outside of Japan: address human rights issues
- Within Japan: expand the scope of employment status surveys (supply chain visualization) to identify potential human rights risks
Respecting human rights in the supply chain
We have established our own CSR Procurement Standards, which incorporate not only safety, quality, cost, and delivery time, but also compliance, human rights, and other factors, and we cooperate with our suppliers to promote sustainability initiatives throughout the entire supply chain. We will continue to identify and assess adverse human rights impacts related to our overall business activities, including our supply chain, and promote human rights due diligence to correct, mitigate, and prevent such impacts, with a commitment to continuously implement and improve these efforts.
Personnel Consultation Office
We have established a confidentiality-guaranteed Personnel Consultation Office to handle consultation regarding personnel systems, evaluations and benefits, workplace environment, working hours, harassment, health management, etc. Our consultants receive regular training from externally trained instructors to ensure that they can appropriately respond to a wide range of consultations, and they work to improve their listening skills through group work and role-playing based on specific cases.
Human rights education and awareness
In October 2021, the Daifuku Group Human Rights Policy was formulated at the same time as the revision of our management philosophy, and a briefing session was held for Group companies both within and outside Japan. During the meeting, the CEO spoke about the Human Rights Policy, and we publicized our Group’s commitment to respecting the human rights of all of our stakeholders who may be impacted by the Group’s business operations.
Lectures and workshops on human rights are given during training programs for new hires, mid-career hires, mid-level employees, and senior staff. Moreover, we hold seminars with experts and publish the video recordings on our internal network to facilitate employees’ understanding. In fiscal 2022, we conducted a harassment prevention seminar based on the results of a stress check. In fiscal 2023, we conducted an e-learning program in six languages (Japanese, English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Thai) for all employees of the Daifuku Group both within and outside Japan to raise employees’ awareness of human rights.
Preventing child labor and forced labor
We will not permit child labor or forced labor. To prevent child labor and forced labor, we will comply with the laws and regulations of each country and region at each of our business locations, and we will conduct regular monitoring through human rights due diligence. When hiring personnel, we verify their age through application documents (including residence cards for foreign workers) and indicate working conditions and confirm their willingness to work before they join the company. Furthermore, we have established a whistleblowing system that allows employees to report any violation of laws and regulations, including human rights violations, or any potential violation of internal regulations.
Compliance with the Modern Slavery Act
Daifuku Logan Ltd., a UK affiliate, has issued an Anti-Slavery Statement in response to the British law Modern Slavery Act 2015.