Human rights

１. Identify negative impacts

With our group‘s business areas in scope, we recognize and organized human rights by referring to international guidance such as Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Guidelines on Respecting Human Rights in Responsible Supply Chains, and evaluated and mapped the human rights issues based on the probability of occurrence and indicators of seriousness.

Our Group's value chain includes processes specific to the construction industry, such as construction management and safety and health management, which involve engagement with a vast number of partner companies. Consequently, we have identified the procurement and construction processes as the areas with the highest potential human rights risks within our Group's business.

We evaluated and mapped human rights issues—identified and organized within business areas with high potential risks—based on indicators of likelihood and severity in our own operations and supply chain. The priority human rights risks characterized by high likelihood and severity are listed below, and we are advancing various initiatives to address them.

Human rights Risk Map Blue【Supply chain】　Red【Our own operations】(Japanese only)

The priority human rights risks

２. Suspend / correct negative impacts

We held an online training on human rights for our business partners (supplier). In addition, good initiative examples and concrete measures were introduced in the same webinar, and the participating companies were informed of our group's hotlines.

In FY2023, the company identified human rights major issues within its business operations. Among these issues, the treatment of foreign workers, a distinctive challenge in the construction industry, was selected as a main theme for discussion. A roundtable was held with representatives from Kumagai Gumi and Yuuei Kyoryoku Kai, joined by observer Chihiro Tsukada, a practicing lawyer, to exchange views and explore potential approaches.

Please take a look our at Integrated report P102

Initiatives in our own operations

We provide education through e-learning and in-house training sessions that address human rights initiatives. In addition, we conduct awareness-raising activities via the company intranet and email distribution to coincide with Human Rights Week in December.

In house awareness-raising

The Kumagai Gumi Group conducts e-learning for all employees on the prevention of harassment. 90% of employees undergo the program, which covers (1) power harassment, (2) sexual harassment, (3) harassment related to pregnancy, childbirth, childcare leave, and nursing care leave, (4) dealing with harassment, and (5) a confirmation test. Harassment prevention is designated as a mandatory topic in both onboarding training for new employees and training for management. In addition, internal education is provided through initiatives such as distributing email newsletters during Human Rights Week.

In house training

Kumagai Gumi conducts human rights training for new employees. This training serves as an opportunity to deepen understanding of: 1. Why it is important for companies to respect human rights. 2. Our company's initiatives regarding human rights. 3. Various human rights issues (including those related to women, persons with disabilities, Dowa issues, and harassment in general).

Initiatives in our own operations

Regarding long working hours—a challenge facing the construction industry—we are implementing measures under our "Action Plan 2025."

Initiative in Occupational Safety and Health

Under our Safety and Health Policy, we operate a highly effective management system.
We also focus on employee training and have established a framework to continuously apply the PDCA cycle.

３. Effectiveness Assessment

In FY2023, we conducted a survey targeting relevant 200 companies selected from our nationwide partner companies (Yuuei Kyoryoku Kai).
We have held a webinar in advance to provide details about the Kumagai Gumi Group Human Rights Policy and briefings about our intention to help the supply chain deepen their understanding about human rights.

In addition to the four priority issues, items such as questions about information security and occupational health were added to provide comprehensive content.
For responses that may potentially lead to serious risks, we interviewed the　corresponding companies to correct mistakes and remedy differences in awareness through dialogues.
While none of the responses rise to the level of a violation of the law, we will continue to promote initiatives to reduce human rights risks.

Within our own operations, we have established an Occupational Health and Safety Management System and are driving continuous improvement through a highly effective PDCA cycle. Regarding working hours, we ensure the effectiveness of our initiatives by setting annual targets that are cascaded down to each department and individual, and by monitoring their progress.

４. Disclose information

Based on these results, we will continue to have dialogues with the suppliers to promote relevant initiatives.
In the future, we will examine measures to promote human rights initiatives, including delving into the priority issues and reviewing the survey scope. We will disclose information regarding our human rights initiatives through our website, Integrated Reports, and other channels.