BCP & BCM activities
TOTO has a business continuity plan (BCP) to help achieve early resolution and keep damage to a minimum, should a risk materialize. When the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in March 2011, a countermeasures headquarters was immediately set up to help continue business operations, minimize damage and keep inconvenience to customers to a minimum. Our efforts in this respect were recognized by the Business Continuity Advancement Organization (BCAO) when we won the Grand Prize at the 2011 BCAO Awards for having the best business continuity measures in place.
Following the Great East Japan Earthquake, risks in the procurement of important parts and power restrictions have become evident. We have therefore strived to improve our business continuity management (BCM) by, for example, taking measures in advance. We also established a task force immediately after the Kumamoto Earthquake in April 2016 in an effort to ensure the continuity of our businesses and minimize damage. In case of a major earthquake directly hitting central Tokyo or the Nankai megathrust earthquake, we will strengthen our internal system in accordance with the review of the assumptions, which is to be announced, and we will review our contingency plans to react to the disaster and continue our businesses.
Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Headed by the president, COVID-19 Task Force was established in January 2020 and measures have been implemented until today. We place the highest priority on the safety of all stakeholders, including customers, suppliers and employees, when determining what measures should be implemented. We also reflect government policies to cancel, postpone or downsize events, restrict business trip and implement other measures in stages. In addition, we are strongly promoting work-from-home and staggered work hours to reduce infection risks. When the parts supply delayed due to the stoppage of supplier’s plant operation, we made utmost efforts to minimize the influence on our business by securing alternative procurement measures. At the same time, we are also working to expand our business by ensuring we capture business opportunities having arisen from the demand for, in particular, touchless products, driven by the increased awareness of hygiene triggered by the spread of the COVID-19 infection.
Emergency contacts
Systems and measures to be activated in the event of a crisis are defined in the Rules for Risk Management. Furthermore, in order to prevent delays in the initial response, we have established a group unified crisis emergency contact that can be contacted by phone and e-mail regardless of whether the time is a weekday, holiday, or day and night, and we have established a smooth emergency response system.
Also, to prevent employees and their families from disaster and critical events, we provide workers in the group with portable the Emergency Response Card that contains guidance concerning earthquake preparation, initial response to earthquakes, and emergency contacts to ensure that they should provide them with a preliminary report.
Proactive risk communication
Risk management training is provided to all new section managers, new department general managers and new group company presidents. Corporate internal communication sites contain descriptions of risk management activities on web pages dedicated to risk management, risk trends, emergency response manuals and a variety of other information available for viewing by all group personnel.
Of particular note are the dedicated sites in the corporate homepage in 2011 when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck to facilitate communication in easy-to-navigate categories such as damage to those affected, response policy and daily progress. We strive to promptly disclose information on the status of efforts by the company through a news release and other media in the event of an emergency situation.
Practical risk simulations