Top > Corporate Social Responsibility > [Activity Report] Business Activities > Safe and Secure Products and Services
Award for Best Contributors to Product Safety
Awards ceremony
Benesse Corporation was awarded the Director-General for Commerce and Distribution Policy Award in the Large Retailer Category in the fiscal 2010 Best Contributors to Product Safety Award sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
This award evaluates two points: strict adherence to own standards for suppliers, such as operation of a supplier registration system; and strict screening, inspection and confirmation of safety in all processes in product sales, including putting in place a product safety management system. Benesse Corporation is determined to continue promoting product safety activities hand in hand with its suppliers.
Product Safety Policy 
(Japanese only)
Protecting Personal Information
Benesse Corporation has established a dedicated Personal Data Protection Office under the Chief Privacy Officer (CPO). This is Benesse Corporation’s main body responsible for rigorous management and protection of personal information that it receives from customers. Moreover, a Personal Data Protection Committee comprising 60 members selected from each division works with the IT Strategy Department, which is responsible for security measures for all companies, to promote thorough adoption and awareness of information security countermeasures. The Personal Data Protection Committee held its inaugural meeting in 2002 and met for the 43rd time in fiscal 2010.
Benesse Corporation acquired Privacy Mark certification in January 2006. Benesse Corporation has twice renewed its certification, and we will continue to improve the personal data protection system going forward through further enhancements and regular verification.
Fire-Prevention (Disaster-Prevention) Manager Qualifications
Out of consideration for student safety, at Tokyo Individualized Educational Institute, Inc., all classroom heads and employees connected with frontline teaching operations have obtained qualifications as fire-prevention (or disaster-prevention) managers*. As of June 2011, 282 people had obtained such a qualification, including 197 classroom heads. In addition, new recruits straight out of university, are required to obtain either qualification before joining the company.
In addition, Tokyo Individualized Educational Institute, Inc. undertakes other measures such as confirming evacuation locations and drawing up evacuation plans, as part of efforts to ensure that students and parents have peace of mind in an emergency.
*A fire-prevention manager is a person responsible for promoting measures to prevent the outbreak of a fire and for minimizing damage in the event of one. A disaster-prevention manager is a person responsible for promoting countermeasures for disasters other than fires, such as earthquakes
Unified Safety Standards for Educational Materials Across East Asia
Briefing for suppliers about the new safety standard
Benesse Corporation is developing its business in the East Asian region, including China, Taiwan and South Korea. The company has formulated a unified safety standard for the East Asia region that meets or exceeds the safety standards of all countries, and is now implementing the standard with its suppliers.
Furthermore, once a year, Benesse Corporation holds briefings for suppliers, where it explains the company’s approach to safety and security, and the standards themselves. This is part of the company’s efforts to provide safe and dependable educational tools to customers and to ensure the cooperation of suppliers in bulk procurement of educational materials for this region.
ISO27001 (ISMS) Certification
Synform Co., Ltd. is the company in charge of systems development and operation for Benesse Corporation’s customer database management. In order to gain the trust of society and establish internal control over information security, Synform acquired ISO27001 (Information Security Management System (ISMS)) certification in 2003.
In 2005, Japan’s Act on the Protection of Personal Information went into full effect, and the Benesse Group decided to establish personal information protection measures that meet the standards for Privacy Mark certification. At that time, Synform worked to create comprehensive information security measures to protect personal information in addition to ISO27001 (ISMS). Synform obtained continued ISO27001 (ISMS) certification in fiscal 2010 and plans to renew this certification in fiscal 2011.
ISO9001 and JIS Q 9001 Certification
Telemarketing Japan, Inc. has ISO9001: 2008/JIS Q 9001: 2008 certification, the international standard for quality management systems. It has also obtained certification for training for outside call centers, and planning, developing and conducting quality surveys for outside call centers. Telemarketing Japan, Inc. continues its efforts to create a quality management system for enhancing the level of satisfaction of client companies.
