Covestro receives ‘Safety Award Grand Prize’ from the Japan Chemical Industry Association

The Tsukuba plant of Japan Fine Coatings Co., Ltd. (JFC, President: Munetaka Uchimura), a group company of Covestro, recently received the prestigious ‘Safety Award Grand Prize’ from the Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA).

JFC, which has a long history as a joint venture between European and Japanese companies, is one of the leading suppliers of optical fiber coatings. The Tsukuba plant focuses on the manufacturing of UV-curable resins supporting the optical fiber market through safe and stable operations. This year JCIA awarded the Tsukuba plant with the ‘Safety Award Grand Prize’ in recognition of its excellent safety track record of more than 20 years without a recordable incident since the start of its operations as a result of integrating and nurturing a European-Japanese culture of safety.

"We have steadily carried out in-depth safety activities such as safety morning meetings and on-the-job training based on Japanese safety culture to pass on and to deepen our knowledge, skills and culture on safety. On top of that, we succeeded in integrating European-Japanese safety cultures by introducing global safety tools such as the ‘Safe Start Program’ , which analyzes mental conditions in the event of an accident and near miss," explains Takahiko Kurosawa, site manager of the Tsukuba plant. "In terms of equipment, we are implementing safety upgrades including the introduction of safety instrumented systems (SIS), which takes automated action in case of abnormalities, and a bar code system to prevent the erroneous handling of raw materials. We are very honored that our daily efforts have resulted in achieving more than 20 years without a recordable incident, and that our efforts have been recognized with this award."

JCIA is the leading association representing the chemical  industry in Japan, which includes approx. 4,700 chemical sites. The Safety award is a practice to award business establishments which engage in outstanding safety activities that promote security, safety, and health in the chemical industry on their own initiative serving as a golden standard for others. The safety award has a history of nearly half a century since its inception in 1977. Award-winners in the past included leading Japanese chemical companies, but this is the first time that a foreign-affiliated company receives the ‘Safety Award Grand Prize’.

"We are very honored that this is the second award for the Covestro Group after the ‘Safety Award Special Prize’ for the Niihama Plant of Sumika Covestro Urethane Co.,Ltd. in 2017. Covestro’s global motto towards safety, ‘Nothing we do is worth getting hurt for’ clearly shows that safety is the highest priority. We will engage in continued operational safety based on our current corporate safety culture," explains Kimiyasu Yonemaru, President of Covestro Japan.