Stakeholder Dialog
Our Commitment to Opening Our Works to the Community
The Mitsui Chemicals Group strives to create open operating sites. Every year, we hold an opinion exchange meeting at each of our Works, as part of our active communication with local communities. In July 2008, we held a community meeting at our Ichihara Works in Chiba Prefecture.
Overview of the Community Meeting
| Time : | 10:00am to 1:00pm Monday, July 7, 2008 |
|---|---|
| Location: | Mitsui Chemicals Ichihara Works |
| Attending: | From Mitsui Chemicals; Gen Takemoto (General Manager of the Works) and 7 others Community participants; The chairpersons of the 8 nearby town associations |
A Works’ Management Policy That Gives Priority to Safety in Everything
In 2007, our Ichihara Works began holding a community meeting in order to showcase its businesses and safety and environmental initiatives to local residents, and enhance mutual understanding through frank discussions.
Eight local town-association chairpersons participated in our second community meeting, held in July 2008.
Before beginning the meeting, the Ichihara Works gave a presentation including a video overview of the Works and other materials, in order to explain its active commitment to ensuring safety and improving the environment, with the aim of being trusted by local
residents, based on its management policy of giving priority to safety in everything.
In particular, we strive to raise the awareness of safety and disaster prevention of our employees as well as our contractors, including enhancing our KY (hazard prediction) activities, and providing hands-on instruction at our Plant Operation Technology Training Center. We also strive to prevent disasters in our equipment. For example, we have switched three 20,000-kiloliter naptha tanks to tanks with immobilized dome roofs, and filled with nitrogen to render them non-combustible, in order to prevent fires due to lateral shaking in an earthquake.
Plant Tour
We described the status of computer-controlled measuring instruments, seismographs, gas detectors, and other equipment in the control room of the ethylene plant, which is the main plant at the Ichihara Works. We also showed our visitors the operational management of our smokestacks and other areas. Visitors also were given a tour of the product warehouse and other areas of our 3EPT plant, which is our newest synthetic-rubber manufacturing plant.
The day of the tour was unfortunately rainy, and flotsam and jetsam washed in from the ocean and up against our coastal general wastewater outlet, but we explained that we periodically clean out any trash that is washed in from the sea, and showed the actual worksite, thus giving our visitors an understanding of the safety and environmental initiatives at the Ichihara Works.
Opinion Exchange Meeting
After the tour of the Works, we held a meaningful roundtable discussion in which the participants made frank comments and questions.
Products made at the Ichihara Works
Community representative：
Although I live nearby, until now I didn’t know products your company makes here are a close part of our lives. I remember hearing once that Mitsui Chemicals manufactures the raw materials for plastic bottles, but this tour showed me that Mitsui Chemicals’ products are made into final products that we use every day.
Works representative:
I guess it’s hard for someone outside the company to know what we are making here without actually seeing the Works. Most products other than natural things, steel, and glass are chemical products. For example, the fibers in most of the shirts you are wearing are made by combining two raw materials. One of them, a liquid called ethylene glycol,
is made here at the Ichihara Works. Our Iwakuni-Ohtake Works makes the other raw material. Our other plants make things like lenses for
eyeglasses.
CSR activities
Community representative:
What does “CSR” mean?
Works representative:
CSR stands for “ corporate social responsibility.” At Mitsui Chemicals, we advance CSR initiatives through our main business, but we also believe that it is vital to improve our communication with Mitsui Chemicals’ stakeholders—people from the local community, our customers, and so on. Some of our CSR activities include the Adventure Class in Wonder- Chemistry, a hands-on chemistry workshop for children that we also give here at the Ichihara Works, and our Disaster Relief Team, which sends polyurethane mattresses and other needed supplies to areas hit by earthquakes and other disasters.
Disaster prevention regime
Community representative:
I understand that you have installed an emergency earthquake alarm PA system. I think that realistically, there is very little that you could do in the few seconds between the alarm and the earthquake...
Works representative:
We believe that at the time ofearthquake it is most important to give priority to safety and shut down our equipment. We also have our own disaster response regime at the Works, and we are prepared to respond to disasters 24 hours a day.
Outside the Works as well, we train periodically with the disaster-preparedness organizations of the Ichihara Fire Department and Coast Guard Station, and we also have a mutual disaster-prevention organization with nearby places of business.
Community representative:
Are the plant foundations, pilings, and other construction built into the bedrock?
Works representative:
In general, yes. For example, the 3EPT plant that you toured has about 1,600 piles driven down to as deep as 40 meters. We therefore believe that the plant will have no problems with an earthquake of up to 300 gals. But we have not done this kind of foundation work on our roads and the like, so there is a possibility of liquefaction or other phenomena.
This would not, however, damage our plants or tanks directly.
Response to comments
We held our second community meeting with local town association chairpersons at Ichihara Works, following our first meeting in 2007. Although there were many questions at the meeting about damage from accidents, earthquakes, and other disasters, some also told us that they understood that we are strongly committed to plant safety and environmental conservation, and that our products are made into many final products that are familiar parts of their lives. At the first community meeting, there were requests for a communication network to be set up with the town association heads in the case of accidents, and at this meeting those attending praised our responsiveness in setting up a regime that gives the community peace of mind. I hope that we can continue to deepen our mutual understanding through continued frank exchanges of views with members of the local community.
chihara Works General Manager Safety & Environment Div.
Kazuyoshi Kamada
