Promotion Framework

Environmental management promotion framework

Globally managing environmental issues throughout the Group, led by the Environmental Committee

The Brother Group promotes global environmental conservation around the world according to the Brother Group Environmental Policy. When specific policies are determined and measures are implemented, the officers in charge of environmental affairs instruct the respective departments at the head office as well as in-house companies.

The Environmental Committee is the decision-making body for environmental affairs. The committee is chaired by an officer in charge of environmental affairs, and is joined by executive officers or higher-ranking officers from the development, production, and sales departments. Regular committee meetings are held four times a year.

The Environmental Issues Review Committee, a subordinate organization (secretariat: Environmental Management Department), draws up and reviews specific policies and measures regarding global strategy, products' eco-compliance, company-wide projects, and environment-related regulations outside Japan. Working groups (WGs), which serve as task forces, are responsible for respective themes. The EMS (environmental management system) Committee (secretariat: the Environmental Management Department) has control over EMS subcommittees set up at the head office and manufacturing facilities in Japan. The committee monitors ISO 14001 operations at target facilities and compliance with laws and regulations, while constantly following up improvement activities.

Respective business sites and major group companies have staffs who are responsible for promoting and managing environmental conservation activities. These staff ensures environmental management by identifying and reporting (i) progress in fulfilling specific policies and targets set by the Environmental Committee and (ii) compliance with environmental management regulations.

Brother Group environmental management promotion framework

Environmental management system

Practicing the PDCA cycle in line with ISO 14001

Under our mid-term management plan, the Brother Group draws up the Brother Group Midterm Environmental Action Plan every three to five years, based on which Brother Industries, Ltd. and manufacturing and sales facilities in respective countries set annual plans and carry out environmental activities as part of business operations. The progress and performance (results) of plans are checked based on reports and internal audits from each facility, and the findings are then reflected in planning for the following year.

The ISO 14001-based PDCA (Plan -> Do -> Check -> Act) cycle is practiced to ensure compliance with laws, regulations, and standards, as well as operation of the environmental management system for environmental protection activities.

In 1996, Brother Industries (U.K.) Ltd., one of the manufacturing facilities in the UK, became the first firm in the Brother Group to obtain ISO 14001 certification. Today, all manufacturing facilities of the Group are ISO 14001-certified. On the sales side, ISO 14001 certification was obtained at many sales facilities following Brother U.K. Ltd. in 2005.

List of ISO 14001-certified facilities

Environmental audit

The Brother Group annually conducts internal audits of environmental issues to confirm that manufacturing facilities both in and outside Japan effectively follow the environmental management system in conformance with ISO 14001 to promote environment-related activities. For manufacturing facilities in Japan, internal audits are conducted by the Environmental Management Department of Brother Industries, Ltd. For manufacturing facilities outside Japan, internal audits are conducted by departments in charge of environmental affairs at respective manufacturing facilities.

These internal audits check compliance with relevant laws and regulations, the progress of annual plans, the effectiveness of the environmental management system, and consistency with ISO standards. Corrective measures are immediately taken when any problems are found, and the effectiveness of such corrective measures is checked by follow-up audits.

Audit results in Japan, together with the status of legal compliance and performance (results), are presented at the Environmental Committee. In the environmental audit in FY2010 (April 1, 2010-March 31, 2011), it was confirmed that the PDCA cycle is properly practiced; there were no serious accidents or problems to report.

Environmental training for employees

The Brother Group's ISO 14001-certified facilities offer environmental training programs (for all employees) as well as job classification-based training programs (depending on specific tasks and functions), based on unique training curricula.

Each year, environmental training is given as necessary to both raise eco-awareness and facilitate operations. Examples include environmental training programs for all new recruits upon joining Brother, e-learning-based training programs for all employees, training programs for production and procurement staff at manufacturing facilities in and outside Japan (regarding management of chemical substances contained in products as well as process control guidance and auditing at suppliers).