Engagement: Pandemic prevention and countermeasures

The COVID-19 pandemic that started in fiscal 2020 prompted us to reevaluate the potential business risk posed by the virus as well as other infectious diseases like tuberculosis and malaria. In its response to the pandemic, the Group followed three fundamental policies: protect employees and their families from the virus, secure funds to protect Group businesses around the world, and maintain a clear business continuity plan.

We applied the Group’s business activities and know-how to promote various activities, including donating ¥12 million worth of supplies to medical institutions (Japan), providing monetary support to painters (Bangladesh, India), donating of anti-viral paint (China, Thailand), and giving out masks for customers (various countries).

We also donated masks and faceguards as part of our ongoing support for the infectious disease research of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), one of Africa’s leading infectious disease research institutes. NMIMR is located in Ghana, where infectious diseases, such as bronchitis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS, affect 70% of the population.

Empowerment: Supporting the socially vulnerable

The Group has set Empowerment as one of its fundamental Three Es concepts for its social contribution activities. Empowerment focuses on supporting people who are socially disadvantaged. One such activity is the n’Shakti program in India, which teaches painting skills to women in impoverished regions to provide them with vocational skills and support their independence. To date, the program has provided over 20,000 hours of training to more than 450 women aged in the teens to their thirties, and women who have completed the training have gone on to start a painting service company and become employed in the construction and other industries.

In Japan, we are supporting the employment of senior citizens and people with disabilities at local farms under contract with Saitama City. The indoor Nippe Fan Farm launched in 2019 currently employs five people with disabilities and two seniors. Produce that the farm harvests is donated to a children’s cafeteria near our office in Shinagawa City, Tokyo.

Examples of the Japan Group Growth with Communities Initiatives

Japan Group is delivering supplies to medical institutions at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. As we deliver the supplies, we are also gathering information about what supplies the institutions need and working with the medical support service provider Happiness-i to keep track of the institutions’ changing needs. Our actions appear to be having an impact, as we have received many letters of gratitude for our efforts.

Many employees participate in regularly scheduled public cleaning events near our business sites. The Tokyo Office of Nippon Paint Holdings (NPHD) in Shinagawa City, Tokyo, and the Toyota Office of Nippon Paint Automotive Coatings (NPAC) in Toyota, Aichi, hold public cleanups every month. The NPAC’s Head Office in Hirakata, Osaka, and Aichi Takahama Plant in Takahama, Aichi, also actively participate in local disaster and crime prevention activities. Employees of the Aichi Taketoyo Factory in Taketoyo, Aichi, not only run in the annual Taketoyo Yumetaro Smile Marathon, they also volunteer to help put on the event. In fiscal 2020, seven employees ran and 14 participated as volunteers.

Members of the professional women’s table tennis team Nippon Paint Mallets share their professional skills and know-how by offering lessons to elementary schools and other organizations. The Tokyo Office of NPHD and the Aichi Takahama Plant of NPAC for many years have been providing bright new coats of paint to aging playground equipment and other facilities at elementary schools in their areas.

The DuluxGroup has a corporate culture in which employees plan volunteer activities. Some 90% of the group’s social contribution projects in 2020 were proposed by employees. The DuluxGroup highly values the grassroots movement of its employees taking the initiative and play a leading role in social contribution activities.

In 2020, we launched a new food drive initiative to collect and donate surplus food from families, which adds to our other activities that include blood drives, collecting books to donate, and participating in the “Bell mark” initiative supporting educational institutions. Several new activities were begun in 2021, including repurposing flowers used at celebration events and placing boxes of sweets made at local welfare facilities to collect money for donations. The Global Team that works directly under the Directors, Representative Executive Officers & Co-Presidents takes the initiatives in rolling out these activities to other business locations and partner companies.

We are also creating a program that will commend employees who are enthusiastic about social contribution activities. The President’s Award was established in 2020, with the first award being presented to an NPAC employee who saved a person’s life. In 2021, we launched a program on the company intranet to commend employees demonstrating commitment to working on our items of materiality in ESG management. We give stickers designed for each item of materiality to raise awareness that each person’s work contributes to social contribution activities and ESG management.