Employee Health and SafetyEmployee Health and Safety

Promoting health management

The Group promotes health management based on the belief that the physical and mental health of its employees is essential to the realization of its corporate philosophy.By assigning a CHO to oversee health management for the entire group and establishing the Health Management Declaration, we are striving to improve the performance of our employees who are responsive to our stakeholders. We have also established an internal health care room to maximize productivity per employee and support employee careers through thorough health management through various periodic checkups and by supporting the return to work of employees who are not in good health through interviews and training, etc.

Health Management Statement

1. Employee health is essential to providing services that surpass client expectations.
2. Employee health is a prerequisite for taking on challenges without fear.
3. Mental and physical health are vital to enjoyable and rewarding work.

Good mental and physical health are essential to realizing the S-Pool Values (our guidelines for employee behavior) and to demonstrating strong performance on behalf of clients and society.
By tackling all challenges in good faith, we will continue to strive to realize environments in which all employees can work with vitality.

Chief Health Officer (CHO):
Chairman of the Board, President and Representative Director
Sohei Urakami

Promotion Structure

The Group considers health management from a managerial perspective, and under the leadership of the Chief Health Officer (CHO), we are strategically working to improve and promote health management. In addition, we have appointed a Chief Health Officer at individual companies and sections, who works with the health care room and the Health Committee to promote the penetration of health management.

Promotion Structure

S-Pool Group health and productivity management strategy roadmap

S-Pool Group health and productivity management strategy roadmap
Click to enlarge
Practical examples

  • S-Pool's workstyle reforms

    By enhancing various programs, including flextime, work from home, and changes in job assignments for expectant mothers, we promote diverse work modes for individual lifestyles. We focus our efforts on employee health management and preventive healthcare through means such as suppressing long working hours and ascertaining actual conditions by managing overtime by the minute and confirming how long employees remain logged in on their computers.

  • Establishing a health care room

    We have established a health care room to promote the physical and mental health of our employees, to eliminate cases of retirement for health reasons, and to make it easier for employees to return to work after a leave period. Staffed full time by public health nurses and nurses, this room maintains a structure that welcomes consultations from employees at any time.
  • Certified for three consecutive years by the Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program

    Certified for three consecutive years by the Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program

    S-Pool, Inc. was certified by the 2024 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program.

    S-Pool, Inc. (five years in a row)
    S-Pool Link, Inc. (four years in a row)
    S-Pool Blue Dot Green, Inc. (first year)

  • Preventing lifestyle-related conditions and improving productivity

    We implement thorough employee health management based on periodic health checkups, cancer screenings, and stress checks. We also provide individual counseling as necessary to improve employee health and enable early detection and improvement of health problems.

    State of initiatives*¹

    2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
    （Including targets）
    Percentage of employees undergoing periodic health checkups 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% targets
    Stress check uptake rate 85.5% 91.1% 90.0% 97.5% 94.1%
    High Stress Ratio 12.9% 12.0% 18.3% 15.7% 17.1%
    Percentage of employees who are nonsmokers 80.0% 76.9% 78.0% 79.7% 80.0% targets
    Percentage of employees participating in specific health guidance*² 82.0% 90.0% 80.0% 63.6% 75.0% targets
    E-learning(3 sessions)*³ - 84.5% 73.0% 92.0% 84.9%
    Work engagement*⁴ - - - 2.56 points. 2.53 points.
    Absenteeism*⁵ 2.89% 6.91% 5.51% 3.5% 3.0% targets
    Presenteeism*⁶ 74.0% 74.3% 74.1% 70.8% 68.9%

    *¹ Based on totals for S-Pool, Inc. and S-Pool Link, Inc.（Since FY2022, including S-Pool Blue Dot Green, Inc.）
    *² Since FY2019, we've provided in-house specific health guidance in cooperation with the Japan Health Insurance Association.
    *³ E-learning programs on sleep and exercise, women's health, mental health, infectious diseases, etc. are conducted three times a year to improve employees' health literacy and encourage behavior change.
    *⁴ Indicator of positive and fulfilled psychological state towards work. Based on the new brief occupational stress questionnaire, short version (80 items).
    *⁵ Percentage of employees on mental sickness absence or leave in the past year (%)
    *⁶ Assessment of own work over the past four weeks, using 100% as the work performance that could be demonstrated in the absence of illness or injury.
    *The status of responses for Work Engagement, Absenteeism, and Presenteeism is as follows
      FY2023 Number of persons surveyed/response rate： *⁴ 288persons/97.5％, *⁵ 453persons/100%, *⁶ 283persons/95.9％
      FY2024 Number of persons surveyed/response rate： *⁴ 345persons/93.8％, *⁶ 350persons/94.0%

    See here for Groupwide periodic
    health checkup results.
  • Improving health literacy

    Improving health literacy

    With a focus on e-learning programs, we provide various types of periodic training in accordance with level of employee skill and understanding on topics ranging from self-care and employee care overseen by the line manager to mental health, nutrition, sleep, exercise, and lower back pain. We also communicate health information via the intranet as part of a comprehensive approach to promoting health awareness and helping employees take independent action to improve their health.

  • Support for returning to work after leave taken due to poor health or other reasons

    We offer leave programs for employees who find it difficult to work due to poor health or other reasons, providing continual support from the start of their leave through their return to work. Through a return-to-work support program and in cooperation with various sections throughout the S-Pool Group, we support successful returns to working careers tailored to employee working environments and work styles.
    We also assign specialized coordinators to help balance treatment and work, as part of our efforts to realize a structure in which employees can work stably with peace of mind.
  • Physical and mental healthcare for female employees

    Physical and mental healthcare for female employees

    We offer in-person consulting provided by female industrial physicians, public health nurses, and nurses to ensure a safe, encouraging environment in which employees feel comfortable raising any issues they might face. Online counseling is offered to women working in remote locations.
    To encourage screening for cancers affecting women, the Company covers the costs of breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings as part of regular health checkups.

  • Use of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

    The free Employee Assistance Program (EAP) empowers employees to consult with specialists at external institutions without Company knowledge, an effort to establish an environment in which employees feel free to consult experts regarding mental or physical conditions that may be difficult to discuss at work.
  • Establishing a department to encourage good health through eating vegetables

    Establishing a department to encourage good health through eating vegetables

    The Group includes many younger employees. To promote the health of those not eating enough vegetables, young single employees in particular, we have established an internal section that specializes in growing vegetables and operate an S-Pool farm. About once a month, vegetables from this farm, where many special needs employees work, are delivered to our facilities across Japan. Employees donate 20 yen/bag for the vegetables, which helps pay for school lunches in developing countries through the activities of Table for Two, a nonprofit organization.

Health Management Effects and Analysis

Results of analysis suggestive of the efficacy of health management

  • Increased percentage of employees with blood pressure in the normal range
  • Increased percentage of employees with normal liver function values
  • Decreased percentage of employees with abnormal lipid metabolism
  • Increased percentage of employees with normal blood sugar levels
  • Increased percentage of employees undergoing stress checks
  • Analysis of presenteeism over the years

Providing working environments with safety and peace of mind

Since 2017, we have continually implemented S-Pool's workstyle reforms, under which we implement various measures to provide working environments in which employees can work with safety and peace of mind. In addition to complying with various labor laws and regulations (e.g., the Labor Standards Act, the Industrial Safety and Health Act, the Labor Union Act, and the Minimum Wage Act) as a matter of course, we strive to foster a highly ethical corporate culture by achieving diversity, equality of opportunity, equal pay for equal work, and the elimination of discrimination.
We also publish each company's rules on personnel and labor management on the intranet and conduct comprehension tests in our e-learning programs and periodic compliance training to ensure thorough promulgation throughout the organization.

Practical examples

  • Strict management of working hours

    In addition to its own employees, the Group creates employment for more than 10,000 people/year through various human resource businesses. For this reason, we consider strict management of working hours for all employees (e.g., management of labor hours by the minute and verification of times logged into and out of personal computers) to be an important matter of business execution. We believe rigorous management in accordance with applicable laws and regulations will provide peace of mind to workers and, by extension, deliver even greater value to customers.

  • Establishment of Health Committee

    In addition to the Health Committee at each workplace based on the Occupational Health and Safety Law, the Group operates a monthly Head Office Health Committee, which is led by a health manager and attended by health and safety personnel from individual company. Through regular sharing of opinions through the committee, we strive to ensure the health and safety of our employees by facilitating the smooth sharing of information on occupational health and safety and encouraging improvements in the working environment.

    -Report of occupational accidents (monthly)
    -Confirmation of workplace inspection checklist
    -Review and share seasonal hygiene lecture materials
    -Stress Check Deliberations
    -Report on the status of implementation and results of health checkups, stress checks, e-learning
    -Progress sharing on promotion of health management
    -Planning of annual health and safety plan (once a year/end of the fiscal year)

  • Correction of long working hours

    To maintain the physical and mental health of our employees, the Group strives to control long working hours to prevent health problems due to overwork.
    We have adopted a system to identify and manage daily hours worked to ascertain employees' health conditions at an early point. In addition, we ascertain the conditions of long working hours (i.e., more than 60 hours of overtime per month) and overemphasis on work (i.e., more than 45 hours of overtime per month). Actions to prevent overwork include reporting this information to the management committee; providing guidance to labor managers and receiving improvement reports; and instructing employees to adjust working hours. In addition, the health office undertakes fatigue checks and personal interviews for those eligible to maintain and improve their health.

    - Adopting no-overtime days
    - Establishing monthly average overtime hours as assessment indicators for semiannual target management
    - Reducing total working hours through the promotion of digital transformation (DX) initiatives such as adopting IT systems
  • Eruboshi certification (three stars)

    Compliance with the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace and Eruboshi certification (three stars)

    As a Group that emphasizes the promotion of diverse work styles, the Group regards promoting women within the workplace as a key aspect of its personnel strategy. Each Group company has earned either the maximum of three stars or two stars in the Eruboshi certification program established by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for companies promoting women in the workplace.

  • Encouraging communication and enhancing engagement

    We have introduced internal communication tools for expressing small daily gratitude and feelings such as “thank you” and “How are you doing？” with the aim of creating a workplace environment where words of gratitude naturally emerge and improving engagement. By promoting casual communication, we aim to invigorate the entire group.