Business Continuity Plan Initiatives

Toray Group maintains a business continuity plan (BCP) in case of a major earthquake which was included in its fourth three-year set of priority risks (fiscal 2018–2020).
Toray Group’s basic policy when ensuring business continuity in the event of a major earthquake is to meet its social responsibility to continue supplying products. The top priority of the plan is to confirm employees’ safety and prevent any impact on the local community. In addition to striving to prevent the damage from expanding and to prevent any secondary damage, the Group works to continue the supply of key products and to restore business quickly. In line with this, the Group consistently carries out evacuation drills based on a scenario involving an earthquake, systematically renovates plant buildings for better seismic resistance, and devises business continuity plans.

In fiscal 2018, Toray Industries, Inc. created and began administering BCPs for key products selected from each business in accordance with the Procedures for Developing BCPs for Designated Key Products in the event of an earthquake. Group companies in and outside Japan did the same in fiscal 2019.
In addition, since fiscal 2012, Toray Group has continued to conduct company-wide drills on setting up an emergency response headquarters. In fiscal 2022, as in the previous year, in light of Toray Industries’ enhanced network environment and the improved reliability of public network infrastructure, the Company conducted initial response drills online, on the assumption that a large number of employees could be working from home due to the suspension of transportation services and the outbreak of COVID-19. Toray Group will continue to strengthen its capacity to respond to earthquakes with training and other measures.

In recent years, there has been an increasing trend of storm and flood disasters, such as typhoons and heavy rain, causing devastating damage. In light of this, business continuity risks from water hazard risks were included as part of the fifth three-year set of priority risks (fiscal 2021–2023).

With the aim of checking water hazard risks, starting in Japan, in fiscal 2020, Toray Industries developed its own Wind and Flood Damage Control Checklist based on the Wind and Flood Damage Control Guidelines for Hazardous Materials Facilities published by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Toray Industries and its group companies have been reinspecting wind and flood damage control measures at their manufacturing sites and have confirmed flooding areas and flood depths. In fiscal 2021, the Group proceeded to investigate water hazard risks at manufacturing sites outside Japan. Based on a survey targeting the worldwide production facilities of Toray Industries and its group companies (146 factories belonging to 89 companies), 40 of the plants surveyed (belonging 19 companies) were found to be in flood risk zones.
In response to the risks identified at these plants, the Group formulated a plan in fiscal 2021 to ensure the safety of human life and prevent secondary damage at the sites in flood risk zones, and is systematically promoting mitigation measures.These include moving evacuation sites to higher locations, raising the height of emergency generators, and conducting tsunami evacuation drills.Regarding Toray products deemed critical in the event of a large-scale earthquake, to help ensure their supply continuity, the BCP promotion department for each product concerned investigated water hazard risks at Group manufacturing sites and across the entire supply chain. Based on the results, the Group revised its BCP for critical products (earthquakes) and created a BCP for critical products (earthquakes and water hazards) that reflects new measures to mitigate flood risk. Based on the results of these activities, a decision was made to complete in 2021 the activities for the identified priority risk – business continuity risks from water hazards.

From fiscal 2022 to the end of fiscal 2024, Toray Industries is conducting a wind and flood disaster risk survey using an external program. The survey covers 13 plants in Japan, and the Company is promoting the program to further reduce these risks.