Health and productivity management initiatives to promote worker health and improve the workplace environment at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant

Background: Since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP) accident in 2011, measures have been taken to address occupational health risks, such as heat illness and infectious diseases, and ensure fitness for duty with the Tokyo Electric Power Company and its contractors. However, with the decommissioning operations set to span several decades and an aging workforce, there arose a need for proactive occupational health strategies that not only addressed these risks but also promoted employee health and created a comfortable work environment. With the Japanese government's promotion of health and productivity management (HPM) for corporations, an HPM-based initiative was launched at the FDNPP in 2019.Case: We designed an HPM questionnaire tailored to the unique conditions at the FDNPP for contractors in 2019. Subsequently, we adjusted the questionnaire annually in light of evolving societal contexts and insights derived from contractors' feedback. This initiative also involved the annual recognition of outstanding contractors. These efforts have led to a steady increase in the number of contractors participating in the HPM survey, with respondents' scores continually improving. We also emphasized dissemination of HPM practices from contractors to their subcontractors due to the complex subcontracting structure at FDNPP, and our results showed that more contractors have been extending these efforts to their subcontractors.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that individual contractors are steadily enhancing their HPM efforts. We are committed to continually offering support to advance HPM throughout the FDNPP. Key points: As the decommissioning work at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP) continues for several decades, it was necessary to shift from risk management to occupational health to promote the health of workers. To encourage health promotion efforts within the FDNPP as a whole, given the complex subcontracting structure where contractors from various industries and workforce sizes collaborate, we implemented health and productivity management (HPM) initiatives within the FDNPP, referencing those led by the Japanese government. The results, including the increase in number of participating contractors, the improved HPM efforts of responding contractors, and the extending of HPM practices from contractors to subcontractors, suggested that HPM within the FDNPP is progressing. Our initiatives indicate that it is possible to promote HPM even under the unique environment of FDNPP, which involves various corporations.