At least once a year, OMRON’s ISO 14001-certfied sites (factories) conduct on-site internal audits based on the requirements of ISO standards. In addition, these sites undergo regular external audits by the ISO registration/certification body to ensure the effectiveness and validity of their environmental management systems, while also guaranteeing objectivity in auditing.

In Japan and Greater China, corporate audits are carried out by each area’s auditing office once every two years (as a basic rule). Corporate audits focus on examining environmental impact and confirming compliance with environmental laws/regulations, supporting each site’s improvement efforts for environmental activities.

Group environmental auditing

IIn fiscal 2010, corporate audits were conducted at the Kyoto Office and the Yasu Factory in Japan. The audits revealed deficiencies in compliance with laws/regulations related to waste treatment and CFC recovery and destruction, as well as the Fire Service Act. Implementation of corrective measures has been completed for all discovered problems. No corporate audits were carried out in China due to various circumstances.

Before fiscal 2010, corporate audits had concentrated on examination of environmental performance and compliance. Since environmental performance monitoring can be covered by ISO 14001 audits for an integrated multi-site EMS, OMRON plans to focus solely on environmental compliance from fiscal 2011 onward.

On-site internal audits conducted for ISO 14001-certified sites revealed insufficient availability of education programs, and deficiencies in sorting of general waste materials. Corrective measures had been taken for all matters requiring improvement before receiving an external ISO 14001 audit. OMRON successfully passed regular audits by an external organization, which revealed no major problems, although a few minor points needing improvement were pointed out.

OMRON's Auditing Scheme and Auditing Items

Number of Sites that Received Audits (as of 2010)

 Number of Identified Problems /
Points Requiring Improvement

Internal environmental
auditor training

By fiscal 2010, the OMRON Group had trained 1,160 internal environmental auditors. Training is intended to raise the accuracy of auditing and maintain consistency. The auditing teams in charge of on-site internal audits undergo pre-auditing training for aligning the standards for pointing out problems. The training also covers key points for achieving accurate, comprehensive audits.

In fiscal 2010, the pre-auditing training focused on such topics as incorporation of each site’s key challenges into the auditing scheme, alignment of levels for pointing out problems, and evaluation of the validity of corrective measures to redress discovered problems. The plan is to expand the scope of the education program so that each site’s key challenges cover the observed points and opportunities for improvement, which are part of the external audit.

 Number of Internal Environmental Auditors and Official Inspectors