Mitsui Chemicals Continues Run of Awards for In-House Disaster Prevention Capabilities

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo: 4183; President & CEO: Tsutomu Tannowa) has captured three awards at the 2018 Skill Contest of Self Disaster Management Groups in Petroleum Complexes, etc., which is organized by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Mitsui Chemicals’ Osaka Works and Iwakuni-Ohtake Works took home the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Award (runners-up award), while the Ichihara Works received the FDMA Director’s Award (encouragement award). While Osaka Works and Iwakuni-Ohtake Works won awards for the third and fifth consecutive year, respectively, this marked the first time that Ichihara Works has achieved success in the competition.

The Skill Contest of Self Disaster Management Groups in Petroleum Complexes, etc. was launched in 2014 to enhance these skills and the morale of organizations working with petroleum complexes, as well as to reinforce disaster prevention systems. The contest aims to improve these groups’ proficiency in basic disaster prevention activities, foster teamwork, and improve morale and discipline. Crews are assessed on their actions and ability to operate equipment safely and reliably in a scenario requiring foam and water to be sprayed from an elevated position onto a fire in a facility containing hazardous materials. This year’s contest saw a total of 42 organizations from across Japan taking part, each nominated by their local fire department. The 20 organizations that made it through the qualifying rounds went on to the finals, which were held at specific business establishments nationwide over the course of approximately one month around World Tsunami Awareness Day on November 5.

In the presence of FDMA staff, the disaster protection crews from each of the three Mitsui Chemicals plants used fire trucks with water tower and chemical firefighting capabilities to extinguish fires. The crews were assessed on their performance during the exercise, with 25 skill criteria being used to judge aspects including the time taken to put out the fire, the chain of command and the safety management system.

Based on our Corporate Mission and Action Guidelines, Mitsui Chemicals will impress upon staff that we must go beyond mere compliance to make safety our top priority in everything that we do. We will focus on achieving zero accidents and occupational injuries in our strive to ensure safe and reliable operations. To this end, we will continue to bolster the in-house disaster prevention teams at each of our establishments and enhance their preparedness in case of disaster.