Basic Policy

As providers of medical products and services that are directly related to the maintenance of human life and health, we at NIPRO and the NIPRO Group companies are committed to fulfilling our corporate social responsibility of ensuring a stable and continuous supply of products and services in and outside Japan, even in cases of large-scale disasters, such as new influenza pandemics and other natural disasters, as well as the outbreak of pathogenic infections.

To fulfill our social responsibility, we have adopted the NIPRO Disaster Reduction and Risk Management Handbook, which spells out matters required for calm and optimal behavior and actions during emergencies. We make constant efforts to share it with all of our employees through educational and awareness-raising programs to communicate the Company’s accumulated wisdom and experience that is useful for smooth business continuation.

Basic policy

• We take sufficient and necessary preparatory and preventive measures to minimize damage in anticipation of the possible development of risks into actual events.
• In the case of an unforeseen disaster, we take action while giving top priority to the protection of human lives above all, assisting people to take refuge in safe places away from dangerous areas.
• Upon the occurrence of a disaster, we make the utmost effort to ensure the rescue and safety of those affected (victims) and to fulfill our social responsibility as a medical product manufacturer by stably supplying products and services needed by patients, medical institutions, customers (business partners), and local residents.
• When making an initial response to a disaster, we follow instructions issued by our respective organizational leaders, who manage and supervise their subordinates appropriately in compliance with applicable manuals.
  If unable to receive instructions from superiors due to the ongoing disaster, we strive to act and behave to the best of our ability, according to the decisions that we have made on our own in compliance with the Basic Policy and in consideration of the danger and seriousness of the risks involved.
• During post-disaster restoration, we take appropriate measures in accordance with predetermined procedures while giving top priority to the stable supply of products and services, particularly the continuation of business activities that are directly related to the maintenance of human lives and the prevention and containment of infections.
• From time to time, we establish and review in-house regulations and manuals that are necessary for smooth implementation of the Basic Policy and make budgetary arrangements required for prevention, restoration, and other disaster reduction activities.
• Organizational leaders strive to organize educational, awareness-raising, and regular or irregular training programs so that the Basic Policy will be widely known within their organizations and that all the employees will understand and embrace the Basic Policy.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

NIPRO and the NIPRO Group companies have a business continuity plan (BCP) to minimize disaster damage and ensure smooth continuation of business activities, with special focus on Nankai megathrust earthquakes and other major earthquakes (6 or higher on the Japanese seismic intensity scale) and natural disasters for NIPRO Group companies that have offices and facilities in Japan, and on warfare, armed conflicts, riots, terrorism, anti-Japanese demonstrations, strikes, and other eventualities for those located outside Japan.

BCP basic policy

• Assurance of the safety of employees and their families and other related parties
• Stable supply of medical products and services that are directly related to the maintenance of human life and health
• Containment of damage, earliest possible restoration to the normal state of business
• Fulfillment of responsibility as a corporate member of local communities through community-based disaster prevention/reduction activities

Organizational system for countermeasures

Upon the occurrence of a disaster, disaster relief headquarters are set up at the Head Office, and an on-site disaster relief headquarters is set up at or near the disaster-stricken site. BCP-related functions and duties are designated and distributed among several teams so that they may work in collaboration, while following instructions from their respective managers or leaders.

Disaster reduction measures

In anticipation of natural disasters and other eventualities, the following measures are compiled in the form of an operational manual.

(1) Power supply

Securing of emergency power supplies sufficient to provide electricity for three days (72 hours)

(2) Water supply

Water storage for supply for three days (72 hours)

(3) Assistance to employees experiencing difficulty in going home

Securing of shelters for such employees

(4) Disaster reduction equipment and materials

Procurement of equipment and materials necessary for rescue and relief operations

NIPRO Group companies are strongly encouraged to stock necessary emergency supplies of daily, office, and disaster reduction materials in their respective workplaces, in consideration of the size, business type, building structure and location (floor), occupants, and other details of each workplace. Likewise, NIPRO Group company employees are encouraged to stock necessary emergency supplies at home as well.

System for confirming personnel safety

We have constructed a system for quickly confirming the safety status of personnel and their families using their cell phones and personal computers, following the occurrence of a major disaster.

Education and training

For smooth BCP implementation, education and training programs are organized for NIPRO Group employees as summarized below.

Collaboration with Local Communities during Emergencies (CSR)

Fully aware of our status as a corporate member of local communities, we cooperate with local residents in disaster prevention and reduction, mutual assistance during emergencies, and post-disaster restoration and recovery.

1. Voluntary measures for disaster prevention

As a corporate member of local communities, we carry out the following community-based disaster prevention/reduction activities as much as possible and reinforce our ties with local communities:

1. Active information exchange regarding disaster prevention and reduction with local residents and their self-governing associations, cooperation and support for the preparation of sandbags and other materials
2. Voluntary organization of disaster prevention/reduction groups, active involvement in the cultivation of an anti-disaster community culture
3. Voluntary joint organization of seminars and training programs about furniture fixation in private houses, emergency medical response (heart resuscitation and AED use)
4. Fire patrols

2.Mutual assistance following a disaster

As CSR activities for local residents, we carry out the following as much as possible:

1. Guidance of local residents on evacuation
2. Support, rescue, and relief to those requiring assistance
3. Initial fire extinguishing
4. Provision of disaster reduction/prevention equipment and materials; water and food; shelters and other facilities; heaters, blankets, and other supplies against the cold; disaster-related information
5. Assistance in other forms as required

3.Post-disaster restoration and recovery

As CSR relating to post-disaster restoration and recovery, we provide assistance as our human and budgetary resources permit in areas including the following:

1. Free supply of medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs
2. Donations
3. Promotion of voluntary work for post-disaster restoration
4. Stable supply of products and services, construction and maintenance of an emergency delivery system

NIPRO’s Business Plan in Anticipation of a New Influenza Pandemic

In recent years, many cases of new types of influenza (*1) and resultant deaths have been reported. The new influenza viruses differ from known viruses that cause a flu epidemic each year and are far more virulent, as in the case of the Spanish flu of 1918, which claimed about 40 million lives (about 390,000 of which in Japan); the Asian influenza of 1957, which killed some 2 million people; and the Hong Kong flu of 1968, which resulted in about 1 million deaths. In more recent years, the transmission of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) to humans, which originated in Southeast Asia, caused 122 people to develop symptoms and 62 people to die.

The last influenza pandemic occurred when the avian influenza virus that had previously infected only birds became capable of multiplying in the human body following genetic mutation resulting from accidental infection of humans, thereby making human-to-human infection possible. Since most people are not immune to new influenza viruses (*2), unlike the known influenza viruses that cause flu epidemics every year mainly in winter, infection with a new influenza virus can quickly develop into a global pandemic, which in turn can lead to major social and economic confusion. In such an event, the continuation of NIPRO’s business activities could be seriously compromised, which represents a threat to the Company’s survival.

In consideration of such possibilities, in 2005 the Japanese government adopted an Action Plan to Control New Types of Influenza, along with several institutional revisions, as well as a range of policy measures to promote efforts for infection prevention and containment by the governmental, public, and private sectors. Furthermore, in April 2013, in view of the need for national-level risk management, the Japanese government established the Act on Special Measures to Counter New Types of Influenza (Act No. 31, 2012; “Special Measures Act”) and other related ministerial ordinances.

NIPRO responded to these governmental policy moves by instituting the New Influenza Control Action Plan in September 2012, as a set of guidelines for organizational measures aimed at ensuring employee safety and business continuation against the threat of new types of influenza. The NIPRO Group has since been making unified efforts to strengthen its disaster preparedness and to be able to prevent and contain infections.

Moreover, since NIPRO has become, under the Special Measures Act, a “designated public-utility organization” which will be required, upon the occurrence of a new influenza pandemic, to devise special measures with regard to specified business activities, we have revised the Action Plan to facilitate our eventual collaboration with governmental authorities and business continuation, thereby adopting the New Influenza Control Business Plan.

Notes:

*1. New types of influenza:

These occur when avian influenza viruses that have previously only infected birds become capable of multiplying in the human body following genetic mutation resulting from accidental infection of humans, thereby making human-to-human infection possible.

※2　Symptoms of new types of influenza:

Symptoms of new types of influenza include those common to conventional influenza, such as a high fever above 38℃, sneezing and coughing, nasal congestion, articular pain, stomachache, diarrhea, and nausea, as well as more grave symptoms, such as pneumonia and multiple organ dysfunction. In young people, who are usually more resistant, their excessive immune reaction can sometimes damage healthy cells, leading to death in some cases.

Stable supply

The NIPRO Group offers medical devices, pharmaceutical products, and services that are directly linked to maintaining people’s life and health. We believe that the Group has a social responsibility to supply products and services in a stable manner and that maintaining stable supply is more important than and should be prioritized above everything else.
We have formulated business continuity plans (BCPs) for individual products regarding measures for stable supply, such as securing alternative means of production and operation in the case of suspended production.
Together with our customers, we hope to grow and progress as a business entity by sharing all employees’ wisdom and experience with each other for smooth business continuity and by stably supplying products and services to customers.