Human Rights Activity Report

Toray Industries, Inc. holds human rights promotion campaigns annually to help increase awareness and understanding of human rights issues. In fiscal 2023, the campaign focused on the human rights sensitivity of every person, harmony in the workplace, and communication that can overcome biases and foster compassion. Educational pamphlets were handed out to all employees. Through the campaign, the Company communicated to employees that it is important to create a workplace culture that respects the dignity of others, prevents sexual harassment, pregnancy-based harassment, and power harassment, and understands LGBTQ issues. The Company also sought to deepen understanding in each workplace that global interest in respect for human rights is increasing.
To raise awareness of human rights among employees, the Company holds management training and workplace-based study sessions at Toray Industries' offices and plants. In fiscal 2023, the Human Rights Promotion Group Leader conducted remote and in-person group training sessions for members of the Human Rights Promotion Committee as part of the human rights awareness campaign. Online training courses on Toray ethics and legal compliance are also held every year targeting all executives and employees (including contracted, part-time, and dispatched employees). In addition to reviewing the code of conduct and promoting awareness of the whistleblower hotlines, the program focuses on a different theme each year, looking at case studies of such issues as bribery prevention, or human rights and workplace harassment prevention. The fiscal 2023 program was held in March 2024, and 97.1% of eligible participants completed the activity. The theme was promoting understanding of the Ethics & Compliance Code of Conduct and Toray Group's whistleblowing system.
For group companies in Japan, the leader of Toray Industries’ Human Rights Promotion Group held training sessions on human rights for labor managers and members of their staff (58 group companies participated). In addition, the Company provided teaching materials, educational pamphlets and e-learning materials—the same ones used in the human rights promotion activities of Toray Industries. In this way, the Company supported efforts by group companies to promote human rights.
For group companies outside Japan, Toray Industries provided educational materials reflecting the Toray Group Policy for Human Rights, the Group’s human rights promotion system and international codes such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Overall, Toray Group promoted education tailored to the conditions of each country or region as it disseminated the Toray Group Policy for Human Rights.
The Group will continue to promote greater human rights awareness among its employees through ongoing human rights education and training programs.

Fiscal 2023 Human Rights Training and Seminar

Toray Group carries out an annual survey of all of Toray Industries’ offices and plants as well as its main group companies in and outside Japan, asking about their human rights promotion activities, including awareness and education efforts. The results are confirmed at the Human Rights Promotion Committee in Japan and the Global Human Rights Promotion Committee. Using this process, issues, problems and concerns are identified as human rights risks, and initiatives are considered and implemented in line via the human rights promotion system.
Toray Group has set up a system that enables everyone working for the Group to report and consult on human rights issues. In Japan, the Corporate Ethics and Legal Compliance Helpline has been set up, and each group company outside Japan also has established a Helpline contact point. All these services can be used anonymously, and there is also an externally operated helpline available. Toray Group strives to mitigate human rights risks and to respond promptly and appropriately if and when any issues arise. Information concerning the use of the Helpline contact points in Japan, such as the number of contacts and their content, is reported to the semiannual Ethics and Compliance Committee meetings chaired by the president of Toray Industries, Inc.

In order to also promote respect for human rights in the supply chain, compliance-related communications can always be submitted through the Toray website. The system for ensuring human rights are protected in the supply chain is described under “Establishing Sustainable Supply Chain.”

In fiscal 2023, 50 hotline reports and consultations related to human rights (workplace harassment and inappropriate behavior, etc.) were received across Toray Group. Investigations were conducted to check facts for all these cases, based on coordination between the department (person) in charge of the investigation, relevant department (person) involved in the incident, and the internal consultation offices set up at each company of Toray Group. In cases where a problem was verified, corrective measures were taken based on the group company's internal rules, such as the employment regulations.
The number of reports and consultations received, an overview of the cases, and the results of measures taken in response were reported to the Ethics and Compliance Committee, the Board of Directors, and the Board of Corporate Auditors as part of updates on the operational status of the whistleblowing system as a whole. Detailed reports were also submitted to the Human Rights Promotion Committee in Japan, and the Global Human Rights Promotion Committee.
In addition, through its human rights education in Japan, Toray Group introduced examples of issues reported to employees in a way that makes it impossible to identify the workplace or individuals to promote understanding and alerting to workplace harassment and other issues.