The Hodogaya Chemical Group sets forth internal rules on the use of chemical substances and the management of their content in products based on the Basic Philosophy of Responsible Care (RC), which forms the foundation of all business activities to ensure environmental conservation, safety and health, and product quality. These rules aim to ensure the voluntary management of chemical substances that may pose a risk to human health or the global environment in each process, from design and development, through manufacturing, transportation, use, and disposal.
From the perspectives of environmental conservation, security and disaster prevention, workplace safety and health, and product safety, the Hodogaya Chemical Group manages chemical substances in all phases, from development, raw material procurement, manufacturing, and use to disposal.
Controlled chemical substances designated under national laws and regulations include those additionally requested by customers under the RoHS and REACH directives, as well as green procurement policies.
The substances are categorized into three groups: prohibited substances, whose manufacture, import, and use are generally banned under domestic laws; release-restricted substances, which are subject to legal restrictions on environmental release or requirements to reduce their environmental impact; and contraolled substances in products, which customers request either not to be present or to be controlled in terms of content. Information on all products, raw materials, and chemical substances handled by the Hodogaya Chemical Group is centralized in a database for integrated management.
We also provide our customers with information in a standardized format, including confirmation of compliance with domestic and international laws and regulations, automated creation of safety data sheets (SDSs) and product labels in multiple languages, and compilation of safety information on the chemicals contained in our products.
The Hodogaya Chemical Group formulates procedures for risk assessments to prevent accidents and disasters, and measures to reduce risks based on the assessment results. The Group also establishes the Risk Assessment Guidelines, which aim to clearly identify risks and implement appropriate measures, and applies them each time risk assessments are conducted.
The scope of risk assessments is divided into two categories: risk assessments of operations and risk assessments of chemical substance handling, to enable clear identification of risks and implementation of appropriate measures.
In addition, based on the recent revision of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, we are working to strengthen our self-directed chemical substance management system, information sharing, and risk assessment processes, with the aim of preventing workplace accidents caused by chemical substances.
For new processes, in order to ensure safety, environmental protection, and health at business sites and prevent accidents and disasters in advance, safety measures for production facilities, pilot and intermediate experiments, and other operational aspects are reviewed and evaluated in advance from both technical and managerial perspectives.
Additionally, from April 2025, the Group has made SDSs available for download on its website to provide information on chemical substances.
In addition to the conventional regulations such as TSCA (USA)
and REACH (Europe), Asian countries including South Korea, China and Taiwan are actively enforcing new laws and regulations.
With an eye on expanding its business globally, the Hodogaya Chemical Group not only works in close collaboration with foreign affiliate companies and representative offices, but also takes active part in various industry activities to keep track of the latest trends in chemical substance management policies and legislation of other countries to be prepared to respond in a timely manner. We share this legislative information and responses from other countries with the entire Hodogaya Chemical Group.
HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) is an international standard for food hygiene management.
HACCP requires the preparation of a hygiene management plan, based on consistent implementation of general hygiene practices, to identify and control hazards such as contamination with food poisoning bacteria or foreign substances, according to the raw materials and manufacturing methods used.
The Koriyama Plant employs HACCP-compliant hygiene management in manufacturing hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid as food additives, and obtained certification in FY2020.
We will continue to respond to customer needs by enhancing reliability in hygiene management and adding greater value to our product portfolio.
Certain natural food dyes have obtained Halal certification from the Japan Muslim Association. This indicates that the products meet the requirements of Islamic law, including those related to the manufacturing environment, quality, and processing. Muslims (followers of Islam) can recognize these products as safe and trustworthy without needing to check the ingredients themselves when purchasing.
Yokohama Plant
M.K.
We are engaged in the development and quality inspection of dyestuffs, and use organic solvents and chemicals that are acidic or alkaline. In recent years, the production of dyestuff increased due to the rise in demand, and the number of staff and work scale expanded in the workplace.
In an workplace where people have different levels of experience and there are major changes to the work environment, I think that following the conventional ways alone is not sufficient in ensuring safety. Operators need to understand the characteristics and toxicity of the chemicals they handle through education and predict risks before conducting operations. The sense of danger I have concerning my workplace should be shared within the workplace through near miss/close calls, risk assessments, and everyday communication, which should lead to creating a better workplace environment and improving our individual knowledge and sensitivity on chemical safety.
Yokohama Plant
（Current Koriyama Plant）
K.O.
My job is to inspect the quality of dyes, and I think you must have the sensibility to detect danger to achieve day-to-day operation safety. To discover and remove or reduce dangers and hazards in the workplace, we compile all the dangerous and hazardous factors that each one of us identifies in the workplace and take measures for those factors that are highly serious or likely to cause harm.
The large quantity knowledge on the danger and hazards in the workplace that we gain through these initiatives are extremely useful in our day-to-day operational safety practices. I also think that sharing with others the risk-related information that each one of us gathers in view of the safety measures is a highly effective way to nurture multitasking personnel in which one person can handle multiple responsibilities.