Human Rights

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).

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.

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.

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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

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.

Supply Chain Management

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.

Anti-Slavery Statement 2024 (PDF: 365 KB)