Kao Selected as a KENKO Investment for Health Stock Selection Brand for the Eleventh Time

To advance its health management, Kao provides equitable opportunities for its employees and their families to receive health support. Under its Health Promotion Management system, Kao sets medium-term health plans to ensure a systematic approach to health management. Health administration staff and persons responsible for health administration are assigned to each business location and branch office and coordinate with industrial health staff. This system, in operation since fiscal 2009, compiles anonymized statistical health data (on medical questionnaires, health check-ups, occupations, illnesses, etc.) which is also provided to 21 health consultation centers throughout Japan to help enable drafting and implementing plans based on actual issues and conditions in each area.

To further deepen the PDCA cycle for health promotion activities, all regions were asked to contribute examples of their activities. After evaluation, those judged best were recognized with a Workplace Occupational Health Best Practices Award at a meeting of all health administration staff, and activities are underway to communicate these best practices throughout the Group.

Employees and their families also receive support through programs utilizing in-house health care knowledge and programs promoting physical and mental health.

The Kao Group Health Declaration was adopted in 2008 to make clear the Group’s stance in promoting Health & Productivity Management. As part of the Kao Group’s ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan launched in 2019, Kao promotes “Employee Wellbeing & Safety,” which is one of the Plan’s leadership actions. One of the basic policies of Kao’s Mid-term Plan is to maximize employees’ power and potential. Kao also believes that the mental and physical health of its employees, without whom its business activities would not be possible, is a vital element for continuing to create an environment conducive to working better. Kao will continue to advance health management as part of its purpose of “to realize a Kirei World in which all life lives in harmony.”

Over the past 130 years, Kao has worked to improve people’s lives and help them realize more sustainable lifestyles—a Kirei Lifestyle. The Japanese word “kirei” describes something that is clean, well-ordered, and beautiful all at once. For Kao, this concept of “kirei” not only describes appearance but also attitude—a desire to create beauty for oneself, for other people, and for the natural world around us. Aiming to realize a more sustainable way of living, in April 2019, the Kao Group established its ESG strategy known as the Kirei Lifestyle Plan. By 2030, Kao aims to empower at least 1 billion people, to enjoy more beautiful lives. Kao also strives to have 100% of its products leave a full lifecycle environmental footprint that science says our natural world can safely absorb.
Please visit the Kao sustainability website for more information.

Kao, a Japan-based manufacturer of cosmetics, personal care and household products, as well as specialty chemicals, creates high-value-added products and services that provide care and enrichment for the life of all people and the planet. Through its brands such as Curél, SENSAI, and MOLTON BROWN cosmetics, Bioré and Jergens skin care products, Oribe hair care products, Attack laundry detergent, and Laurier sanitary products, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people across Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Combined with its chemical business, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,690 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 31,500 people worldwide and has more than 130 years of history in innovation.
Please visit the Kao Group website for additional information.