Providing two types of environmental audits

Corporate environmental audit
carried out in China

OMRON's internal environmental audits consist of onsite internal audits based on each site's environmental management system and corporate audits carried out by OMRON headquarters. Regular external audits provided by ISO assessors also ensure that ISO 14001 requirements are met correctly.

The onsite internal audits conducted during fiscal 2005 revealed no infringement of environmental laws and regulations or failure to carry out legally required reporting. Also, corporate audits performed for ten sites in Japan and two production sites in China confirmed that environmental conservation activities were continually in progress in Japan as well as in China. A plan is in place to implement corporate audits again for ten sites in Japan and two production sites in China during fiscal 2006.

OMRON Survey System and Survey Items

Group Environmental Survey Results

A group environmental survey mainly checks business sites to determine their observance of environment-related laws and regulations, countermeasures taken against environmental risks, and promotion of group environmental action plans by focusing on the acceleration of implementing necessary arrangements and quality improvements in arrangements under the group environmental action plans based on Green OMRON 21. If problems are found as a result of the survey, instructions for improvements and remedies are given for preventive measures, including the reconsideration of on-site procedures.

In fiscal 2005, a group environmental survey was conducted for ten Japanese domestic bases and two Chinese production bases, namely OMRON (Dalian) Co., Ltd. (OMD) and OMRON Electronic Components (Shenzhen) Ltd. As for the ten Japanese domestic bases, five major and 13 minor problems were pointed out. As for the two Chinese bases, although one major problem and two minor problems were pointed out, their continuous environmental activities were confirmed. The contents of their remedies were sufficient and improvement in their activity levels is expected.

Number of problems pointed out (10 Japanese domestic bases)

Number of problems pointed out (Two Chinese bases)

*Problems pointed out according to evaluation standards for the group environmental survey.

(Outline of problems pointed out for improvement)

• A shortage in information on the statute revision of October 1, 2005, affecting the manifesto of statutory declared items.
• A delay in submitting part of changes according to laws and regulations. (Prompt remedies should be implemented)
• A shortage in part of laws and regulations to be confirmed at the time of assessment for the introduction of new chemicals.
• A failure to reflect companywide environment-related regulations in on-site procedures.
• Although applicable laws and regulations were observed, the defects of the written contents of supporting documents resulted due to clerical mistakes.

On-site, Internal Environmental Survey Results

An internal environmental survey of each ISO-14001-certified base was made in fiscal 2005 as well. No violation of environment-related laws, regulations, or standards, such as a failure to submit legal notifications, or problem resulting in environmental pollution was found. However, the following problems were pointed out in fiscal 2005 from the viewpoints of the implementation of the site environmental management system or performance improvement.

Number of problems pointed out (The total number of ISO 14001-certified Japanese domestic bases)

*Problems pointed out according to EMS survey standards for each base.

Number of problems pointed out (The total number of ISO 14001-certified overseas bases)

* Problems pointed out according to EMS survey standards for each base.

(Outline of problems pointed out for improvement)

• Some aspects were omitted from environmental impact assessment and/or the latest conditions were not maintained.
• Educational training to contractors who check environment-related on-site facilities and equipment was omitted.
• Manuals (procedures) and environmental plans for contractors were partly omitted.
• Part of the procedure for regular heavy oil tank inspection was missing. (The inspection continued.)
• The creation of emergency training and test records was partly omitted.
• Countermeasures against leakage from chemical storage areas were insufficient.
• Not all material safety data sheets (MSDS) were obtained.
• The sealing condition of used solder was insufficient.
• No lists were displayed for chemical substance storage.
• The display of some chemical substances was missing from chemical substance containers.
• Other items requiring improvement: E.g., defects or omission of written contents of environmental documents or improvement in identification or records on operation.

Training of In-house Environmental Surveyors

OMRON Corporation's head office gives seminars to in-house environmental surveyors. In addition, seminars are given on each Japanese base and overseas base in order to train in-house environmental surveyors. The number of in-house environmental surveyors in the OMRON Group was 669 as of April 2006.

Identifying potential environmental risks to avoid environmental accidents and law violations

OMRON identifies potential environmental risks by taking each site's location and businesses into consideration and making effective use of each site's environmental management system. Once risks are identified, machinery/equipment and facilities are periodically inspected and maintained, and emergency drills are conducted to take appropriate preventive measures and minimize environmentalrisks.

Also, when important information is acquired that could have a material impact on our business operations, such as revisions to environmental laws/regulations or environmental accidents, the information is disseminated throughout the company using the environmental notice system, to assure the quick and complete implementation of preventive measures at concerned business departments.
As a result of these efforts, there were no cases of violations or lawsuits related to the environment throughout the OMRON Group both in and outside Japan during fiscal 2005.

Countermeasures against Groundwater Contamination

Groundwater contamination caused by volatile organic compounds was detected as a result of OMRON SANYO's voluntary on-site survey. They reported the contamination to the local administration and community in December 2000 and continued groundwater purification. In the second half of 2002, they introduced a new biotechnology, and since then they have been advancing purification measures effectively.
Consequently, the concentration of trichloroethylene has cleared the environmental standard value since July 2003.

In the future, they will install nutrient injection wells around the existing wells where a recurrence of the problem is predicted, and stabilize the concentration to as low as or lower than the environmental standard value for the completion of purification within fiscal 2007.

OMRON thinks that an effective means for achieving a sustainable society is to actively work on environmental preservation activities, indicate the results and plans of the activities to stakeholders through a variety of media, and deepen OMRON communication with them. OMRON is advancing information disclosure by creating public-oriented reports, dispatching information from its website, and actively participating in exhibitions.

In fiscal 2005, most inquiries and opinions that OMRON's Environmental Divisions received were from users who wanted to confirm restricted chemical substances contained in OMRON products, and from suppliers asking about surveys concerning the amount of chemical substances contained in products. While continuing the above-mentioned measures, OMRON will further concentrate on conversing with stakeholders and will strive to reflect the opinions and requests received concerning OMRON activities.

Environment-related Exhibitions

Ecoproducts 2005 Exhibition

OMRON will actively participate in environment-related exhibitions as an opportunity to introduce its environment-friendly products and environmental activities and receive opinions and requestsfrom a large number of people.OMRON participated in Enviro Shiga 2005 in October and Ecoproducts 2005 in December 2005. OMRON's environmental technologies based on its core technologies of sensing and control drew widespread attention.

Green Marketing Advertisement

Advertisement in Nikkei Ecology

OMRON publishes corporate advertisements by using mass media, such as newspapers and magazines, in order to introduce the contents of its environmental measures, environment-friendly products, and environmental technologies to the general public.

Environmental lessons for Schoolchildren

Environmental lesson

In cooperation with an environmental study project for schoolchildren sponsored by the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, OMRON gave a lesson to elementary schools in Kyoto City. This project aims to encourage schoolchildren's spirit of scientific inquiry, direct their awareness to environmental problems, and provide opportunities to deepen their interest in environmental technology by introducing to them the environmental technologies of Kyoto-based companies actively working on environmental problems. Under the theme of providing products that are friendly to the global environment, OMRON introduced its environmental efforts on the topic of healthcare equipment.

The lesson was given to the following two schools in Kyoto in fiscal 2005.

• Utano Elementary School (81 fifth graders)
• Sakaidani Elementary School (71 sixth graders)

Environmental costs rose 3.2 billion yen from a year earlier

OMRON is implementing environmental accounting practices at 47 sites in Japan to quantitatively analyze and manage investments and costs associated with environmental conservation, along with the resulting benefits, toward the aim of more efficiently investing in environmental improvement. In fiscal 2005, environmental costs amounted to 7.5 billion yen, up 3.2 billion yen compared to fiscal 2004. The increase was mainly attributable to the 3.1 billion yen increase in R&D costs needed to respond to RoHS and other European regulations. This investment allowed OMRON to perfectly conform to the RoHS Directive by the end of March 2006, which was essential for continuing business in Europe. OMRON aims to review the structure of environmental accounting and expand its scope to include overseas sites as well so that it will serve as a more effective tool for further improving the efficiency of the environmental improvement process.

Total range:

15 domestic production bases and 32 domestic non-production bases

Period:

April 1, 2005, to March 31, 2006

Environmental Conservation Costs

(Unit: 1 million yen)

Environmental Conservation Effects

(Unit: 1 million yen)

Economic Effects Accompanying Environmental Conservation Effects -- Actual Effects (Compared with Preceding Year)

(Unit: 1 million yen)

Fiscal 2005 Results

1. Environmental Conservation Costs
   

   OMRON's research and development costs increased by approximately 3,080 million yen from the cost for the preceding fiscal year, for the total elimination of regulated chemical substances. With the introduction of the environmental accounting system to an additional 11 bases, OMRON's management costs of activities such as environmental promotion and environmental impact measurement, showed an increase of 100 million yen.

2. Environmental Conservation Effects

   With OMRON's energy-saving activities, such as the introduction of energy-saving equipment, cogeneration systems, and Cool Biz and Warm Biz campaigns, the amount of CO2 emissions due to power consumption decreased by approximately 2,800 tons from the preceding fiscal year. In addition, the energy-saving designs of products and the inline recycling of materials led to a reduction of approximately 1,650 tons of metal and resin materials.

3. Economic Effects

   OMRON's energy-saving activities reduced the consumption of electricity and gas, which led to an energy reduction effect of approximately 30 million yen.
   Moreover, OMRON promoted the reduction of waste disposal costs and the conversion of waste into valuables, and saved waste disposal costs of approximately 67 million yen.

Automatic adjustment
machine V7

OMRON has been separating and collecting metal and resin from used products, and working to recycle and reuse them into raw materials and replacement parts. However, OMRON transferred the handling of its automated teller machines (ATMs), which are major recyclable products, to a new company (Hitachi OMRON) in fiscal 2005. As a result, OMRON's recycling quantity greatly decreased. Therefore, OMRON selected train station system equipment including automatic ticket vending machines and automatic ticket gates as target recyclable products, and has been advancing the recycling of these products since fiscal 2006.

The amount of domestic transportation in fiscal 2005 increased 6.2% from that of the previous year. In spite of this, OMRON's efforts toward increasing transportation efficiency, such as the unification of plant inventories, the promotion of joint transportation, and the expanded use of consolidated cargo services, kept CO₂ emissions at 6,640 tons, which was an increase of only 4.0%.

With the promotion of local procurement, the amount of overseas transportation decreased 24.7% compared with last fiscal year. The amount of shipments by sea, which has lower CO₂ emissions, decreased but the amount of shipments by air did not decrease. Therefore, the amount of CO₂ emissions was 63,554 tons, which was a decrease of only 4.6%. As a result, the total amount of CO₂ emissions in Japan and other countries decreased by 2,784 tons compared with the previous year.
OMRON will continue taking measures to improve its transportation efficiency, reviewing the present domestic and overseas transportation routes, and promoting modal shifts for CO₂ reduction.The amount of domestic transportation in fiscal 2005 increased 6.2% from that of the previous year. In spite of this, OMRON's efforts toward increasing transportation efficiency, such as the unification of plant inventories, the promotion of joint transportation, and the expanded use of consolidated cargo services, kept CO₂ emissions at 6,640 tons, which was an increase of only 4.0%.

With the promotion of local procurement, the amount of overseas transportation decreased 24.7% compared with last fiscal year. The amount of shipments by sea, which has lower CO₂ emissions, decreased but the amount of shipments by air did not decrease. Therefore, the amount of CO₂ emissions was 63,554 tons, which was a decrease of only 4.6%. As a result, the total amount of CO₂ emissions in Japan and other countries decreased by 2,784 tons compared with the previous year.
OMRON will continue taking measures to improve its transportation efficiency, reviewing the present domestic and overseas transportation routes, and promoting modal shifts for CO₂ reduction.