Environment

Chemical Substance Management

Chemical substances benefit our lives. At the same time, however, they can pose a serious health risk to a human being and can result environmental pollution if they are handled improperly. At Fujikura Kasei, we have a strict management framework in place that includes within its scope not only our business partners but also all parties beyond, to fulfill our social responsibility as a company that handles chemical substances.

Chemical Management Policy

  1. We will establish a system for handling chemical substances in a manner that is safe to the people handling the substances and to the environment, in all processes from the design and development of products to their purchasing, production, physical distribution, and waste processing.
  2. We will comply with laws and regulations related to chemical substances and to customer requirements. We will also convey to our customers accurate information on chemical substances contained in our products.
  3. We will handle chemical substances properly through continuous improvement of our chemical substance management activities. We will also endeavor to prevent health damage to people involved in all processes in our company, and to prevent environmental pollution.
  4. We will provide education and engage all employees in awareness raising activities to enhance their understanding and awareness of chemical substance management. We will also seek the understanding and cooperation of our business partners.
  5. We will disclose our Chemical Management Policy to the public.

Fujikura Kasei Co., Ltd.
President
Susumu Kurihara

Chemical substance management initiatives

At Fujikura Kasei, we believe it is important to think about the health not only of our employees who manu facture our products and customers who directly use our products, but also of everyone up to all end users, and to design products that do not impose severe adverse impacts on the environment.
Based on this awareness, we have created and incorporated a Chemical Management System (CMS) in our QMS*¹, EMS*² and OHSMS*³, to be operated integrally with these systems.
We must also take the responsibility to convey proper information on chemical substances contained in our products. We achieve this by managing chemical substances according to the scheme shown below, centered primarily on the Fujikura Kasei Chemical Database (FCDB).

Our chemical substance management scheme

  • *1 QMS: Quality Management System
  • *2 EMS: Environmental Management System
  • *3 OHSMS: Occupational Health and Safety Management System
  • *4 SDS: Safety Data Sheet
  • *5 Chem SHERPA: A common scheme for conveying information on the chemical substance content of products
  • *6 IMDS: Stands for International Material Data System. A database of materials and its scheme.

Maintaining and updating the chemical substance management framework

As global efforts to assess the safety of chemical substances advance, legal frameworks are being strengthened in many countries. To respond swiftly and appropriately to these developments and industry requirements, we continuously maintain and update the Fujikura Kasei Chemical Database (FCDB).
To prevent management standards from becoming outdated, we regularly review relevant groups of chemical substances at appropriate times and designate them as either prohibited or requiring approval. During new product development, we ensure strict chemical management throughout the entire process.
In addition, to operate this framework effectively, we place strong emphasis on employee education—starting with training at the time they are employed and continuing through in-house seminars to enhance knowledge and competency.
Through these efforts, we aim to continue providing products that customers can use with confidence and peace of mind.

Restrictions on chemical substances in products

Substances that, when used, have a markedly adverse impact on people’s health and the environment are restricted by laws, regulations, and industrial standards. At Fujikura Kasei, we widely designate such substances as“ prohibited substances.” Substances that are not restricted but pose a concern regarding their effects are designated as“ approval required substances,” and are managed upon determining whether they may be used or whether their use should be restricted via an assessment by our Chemical Management Conference (CMC). Substances that are restricted in part according to their purpose or by country are properly managed by widely seeking information on them as“ controlled substances.”
In compliance with company standards, we also take thorough measures to handle substances that are newly restricted by laws and regulations and products that have been found to contain restricted substances, by replacing them with alternative products or terminating their usage as the situation demands.

FY2024 activities

In fiscal 2024, we continuously monitored developments related to the Stockholm Convention and, in consultation with our customers, moved forward with replacing any affected chemical substances with suitable alternatives. For products containing UV-328, which became regulated under Japan’s Chemical Substances Control Law on February 18, 2025, we completed the transition well ahead of the enforcement date.
To maintain up-to-date Safety Data Sheets (SDS), we reviewed related data as in previous years and reviewed the information in the Fujikura Kasei Chemical Database (FCDB). As a result, the enhanced system has enabled SDS documents to be prepared more smoothly and with greater accuracy.
Going forward, we will continue reviewing and improving the design and operation of our SDS system in anticipation of future revisions to the Industrial Safety and Health Act and other regulations, ensuring prompt and precise delivery of SDSs for all our products.