Based on our Safety and Health Creed, Mazda is working to develop people, workplaces, and mechanisms that ensure the safety and health of the people who work for us.

Specific initiatives include the Safety Promise declared by all employees, training to improve safety and health skills, improving the safety of facilities by means of risk assessment evaluation, and systematization through the implementation of a work safety and health management system to raise the level of safety and health management activities.

Mazda is also focusing its efforts on safety and health activities that include Group companies, and is offering educational support with the aim of raising awareness among managerial and supervisory personnel as well as all Group employees. In FY2008, the Company launched a three-year plan called the "One Mazda Action for an Enjoyable Workplace."

Mazda has established the General Safety and Health Committee, whose members include management executives (executives responsible for safety and health, and each division's general managers) and labor representatives (Mazda Workers' Union leaders). In line with official agreements, committee members meet to discuss and decide each year's action plan and priority measures concerning safety and health.

Since FY2005, Mazda has implemented continuous and ongoing safety and hygiene management on a voluntary basis through its Safety and Health Management System.

In addition to reflecting specific risk or hazardous factors, determined through risk assessments, in action plans, Mazda performs system audits to determine and evaluate the operating status of the management system. This information is linked with the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle to reduce the potential for work-related accidents and enhance overall levels of safety and health.

One serious accident did occur in 2008, but emergency accident prevention measures were developed throughout the Group, and the Company is rigorously carrying out efforts to prevent its reoccurrence.

In 2005, we introduced risk assessments at all facilities to determine potential dangers and risks during manufacturing and testing activities at factories, as well as in office work, and to take countermeasures. In FY2006, we began conducting risk assessments whenever equipment is introduced or changed, moving from recurrence prevention to a pre-emptive system. In FY2008 we implemented risk assessments in all divisions, and are striving to prevent accidents from occurring.

Mazda implements system audits to support the appropriate implementation of safety and health activities and conducts autonomous departmental improvement efforts.

As a result of these activities, workplace safety activities are viable and self-contained, weak points in safety and health activities can be clarified and improvements made by management, and activities can be changed from results-oriented to process-oriented.

Mazda conducts safety and health training within the Company, throughout the Group and with business partners. Within the Company, training is provided for newly appointed safety and health managerial and supervisory personnel, including both the mandatory safety and health training by grade prescribed by the Occupational Safety and Health Law and risk prediction trainer training, with the aim of achieving zero accidents. In FY2008 a total of 8,227 employees underwent such training.

Mazda also implements training to enhance the skills of safety and health management and supervisory personnel at consolidated companies as well as in work-related risk prediction and traffic risk prediction. In addition, the Company holds safety and health training at affiliated companies and the Toyukai suppliers' organization*1 as a measure to support suppliers, in the effort to ensure safety and health throughout the entire supply chain.