The Furukawa Electric Group has established the Risk Management Committee, which comprises management as members, with the President as chair and the General Manager of the Administration & CSR Department as vice chair. The committee is structured to supervise and promote CSR activities of the Group, including risk management, internal control, compliance, and social contribution. The committee has also established special committees, each of which focuses on managing high-priority risks, such as quality control, occupational health and safety, and the environment.
The Furukawa Electric Group’s Risk Management Committee conducts regular risk assessment to determine what risks exist, define important risks that require a companywide response, and prioritize measures to counter these risks. Through specialized committee activities in segment-specific areas—occupational health and safety, quality control, the environment, and disaster prevention and business continuity management—we are enhancing our system to manage risks related to our business activities. In addition to this system, important decision making is conducted by the Board of Directors and the Management Committee or through the approval processing system, after the expected risks based on each case have been clearly presented and acknowledged.

Our Risk Management Committee conducts regular risk assessments to determine what risks exist, define important risks that require a companywide response and prioritize measures to counter these risks. Through specialized committee activities in segment-specific areas—environment, quality, safety, disaster prevention—we are working to manage the risks that relate to our business activities.

In the event a large-scale disaster occurs or other such risk materializes, Furukawa Electric Group will establish Emergency Response Headquarters, headed by the president, and Site Response Headquarters that defines each department's roles and clarifies them ahead of time. We also conduct regular exercises on preparing initial action manuals, stockpiling necessary supplies, and setting up communication structures and systems to confirm people's safety.

Furukawa Electric Group, fully aware of its social responsibility, has formulated a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and will work on Business Continuity Management (BCM) based on the following basic policy in order to minimize damage and continue business activities even in the event of unforeseen risks such as natural disasters and infectious diseases, etc.

In order to strengthen the business continuity activities, we are actively working to obtain ISO22301 certification, the international standard for the business continuity management systems (BCMS). In addition to the already certified “laser diode products business” (Chiba Works) and “copper wire products business” (Mie Works) and “copper and copper alloy products (the original products) business” (Nikko Works) obtained the certification.

As a countermeasure against the new coronavirus (COVID-19) infectious disease that expanded in February 2020, we have established our new coronavirus response policy and guidelines in accordance with the instructions and policies of the government and Keidanren, and we have established three measures to prevent denseness in the workplace. We thoroughly manage people who are in poor physical condition and strive to maximize the safety and health of employees, their families, and other related people.
In addition, taking the opportunity of promoting remote work, we are promoting various measures aimed at instilling and establishing new work styles for after-corona. As a result, it has led to improvements such as the introduction of an electronic signature system and the penetration of team learning that enhances teamwork between employees.

The Company aims to stabilize the management by strategically creating the intellectual property rights based on the patent portfolio management that grasps the trends in the other companies, also by decreasing the intellectual property risks.

The intellectual property risks are divided into four categories: “Rights infringement risks”, “Counterfeit products risks”, “Contract risks” and “Technology leakage risks” and continuously arousing risk responses. For example, against the “Technology leakage risks”, the following measures are taken: “Technology concealment of the development site and the production site”, “Information maintenance strengthening with the time stamp system”, etc.

We also develop the intellectual risk reduction activity in Furukawa Electric group globally, based on the implementation of the systematic training of Furukawa Electric Group in domestically and internationally, the regular issuance of the newsletters introducing efforts to reduce intellectual property risks, by the President awards for excellent inventions and activities, etc.

Following our international business development, risks that Furukawa Electric Group faces are becoming more diversified and complicated each year. We particularly recognize that risks inherent in overseas operations― mainly in emerging countries―and risks from the supply chain standpoint are our top priority issues, and we will be strengthening our countermeasures against them.
Especially, we established an emergency response systen in the Furukawa Electric Group and has been striving to minimize adverse effects of COVID-19 on the Group.  While assessing changes in the environment in the future, we will implement necessary countermeasures in a prompt and flexible manner.