Responding to Coronavirus

Across Hitachi Rail the priority remains constant: the health, safety and well-being of employees and Stakeholders. To navigate the challenges initiated by the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, company teams have worked to change operations, procedures, and safety measures to ensure the continuity of delivering to customers around the world

Discussing some of the new processes and solutions brought in across the global rail business, Ulderigo Zona Executive Officer of Hitachi Rail Safety, Health, Environment, Quality, said:

“The Covid-19 pandemic has severely tested the communities both at work and in personal lives. It happened so quickly, and the company had to act accordingly. I managed a central task force, which then managed an additional 13 localised task forces for core operating regions – we are a truly global brand and with the virus impacting different geographical regions at different times – consolidating our procedures and best-practice activity was the priority. However, as well as being a challenge, we saw this as an advantage. We have offices in Beijing and we are present in five continents, so the ability to receive information from all over the world was a decisive strength.”

“The commitment was initially aimed at prevention. First we understood that we could not continue to travel the world as we had done –we therefore began by stopping intercontinental travel, and then closing the links more at a local level, even before it was imposed by law. Each country continued to work with respect to social distancing and we limited the movement of people whilst ensuring business continuity for our global projects. Our role is to move people and goods globally so our businesses could not stop; as soon as it was safe to do so, we worked with our customers to ensure transport operations were not affected.”

“We spent almost two weeks resetting the company, basedon what we believed to be the first barrier to spreading the virus:
social distance”

“We have redesigned global production layouts, identified crisis areas, introduced shift patterns and expanded smart/home working capability – a process that we had already started and set up in the “pre-Covid-19” era and that has been accelerated because of this situation. We simply went from one day a week smart working to one hundred percent smart working at home for those who were able.”

“If we work together as one global team and support the communities in which we operate, we know that we will be able to make a real difference to society and use the current situation as a base for improving our lives and future working practices. Procedures and best-practice activity was the priority. However as well as being a challenge – we saw this as an advantage. We have offices in Beijing and we are present in five continents so the ability to receive information from all over the world was a decisive strength.”

What will be the main points in addressing the management of the Covid-19 emergency?

The reaction of the company has been immediate, from the very first days of the pandemic a global Task Force has supported and guided the different teams with regional and governmental directives in order to ensure full compliance with normative and sanitary local procedures. The capability to address the problem from a global perspective will be a major advantage in the fight against the pandemic.

As the awareness on the severity of the medical emergency progresses, a scientific medical committee with all the expertise available in Italy will coordinate the response all over our sites around the world. As the awareness on the severity of the medical emergency progresses, a scientific medical committee with all the expertise available in Italy will coordinate the response all over our sites around the world.

The first response has been the implementation of social distancing in compliance with the legislation of different countries.

What will be the area of intervention and the principal measures put in place?

“We have redesigned global production layouts, identified crisis areas, introduced shift patterns and expanded smart/home working capability – a process that we had already started and set up in the “pre-Covid-19” era and that has been accelerated because of this situation. We simply went from one day a week smart working to one hundred percent smart working at home for those who were able.”

“If we work together as one global team and support the communities in which we operate, we know that we will be able to make a real difference to society and use the current situation as a base for improving our lives and future working practices. Procedures and best-practice activity was the priority. However as well as being a challenge – we saw this as an advantage. We have offices in Beijing and we are present in five continents so the ability to receive information from all over the world was a decisive strength.”

Following the subscription of the “Protocollo nazionale per la realizzazione dei piani aziendali finalizzati all’attivazione di punti straordinari di vaccinazione anti SARS-CoV-2/ Covid-19 nei luoghi di lavoro”, Italian sites of the Hitachi Rail Group will be contributing to the reduction of Covid-19 spread by a campaign of vaccines through the utilization of a moving truck with 4 vaccine position. The Human centric mission that characterizes the core business has pushed the more forward looking management to organize a campaign that could answer to the occupational necessity of a group suche Hitachi Rail.

Hitachi Rail’s plan is not limited to the vaccine campaign, but it will continue after the vaccine rollout through a campaign of education amongst those who have received the shot on what norms and procedures to follow afterwards.

Sustainability topics and contribution to SDGs

Sustainability topics and contribution to SDGs “Hitachi Rail will reduce its environmental impact, develop a sustainability culture and improve quality of life for our people and communities”

(A. Razeto, Group Head of CSR and Sustainability)

The UN Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap Report 2020 found that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions hit a new high of 59.1 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 equivalent in 2019.

Over the past decade, emissions have continued to increase at a rate of 1.5% per year, rising in all major economic sectors.

Particularly, a closer look at GHG emissions breakdown by economic sector reveals that:

Power production today generates the largest share of GHG emissions (30%). About 50% of electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, mostly coal and natural gas.

▪ Industry represents the second-largest share of GHG emissions (21%), burning fossil fuels for energy, as well as GHG emissions from mineral products (such as cement) and other chemical reactions necessary to produce goods from raw materials.

▪ The Transportation sector contributes around 16% of global GHG emissions, with road transport being primarily responsible (94% of the sector). Rail, shipping and aviation are relatively smaller, with emissions in international territory comprising 4% of total.

▪ Agriculture contributes 16% of total GHG emissions, with most emissions coming from enteric fermentation (ruminant animals, such as cattle), nitrogen fertilizers on agricultural soils, and municipal waste.

▪ Buildings contribute to 7% of global GHG emissions, arising primarily from fossil fuels burned for heat.

Should this pattern continue, the world is projected to warm by 3°C to 5°C by 2100, with catastrophic effects on human civilization. To prevent this risk, a major turnaround in emissions trajectories is needed in all sectors (reduction of approximately 3-6% per annum between now and 2030) to limit the rise in surface temperatures and avoid catastrophic climate change effects.

In 2015, world leaders met in Paris and agreed to limit the global temperature rise by the end of the century to well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires net human-caused carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to fall by 45% by 2030 and to reach net-zero by 2050. Even limiting the temperature rise to 2°C will need CO2 emissions to fall by 25% by 2030, requiring a turnaround of the present trend and approximately $75 trillion in investment.

In 2015, the United Nations presented 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. Combined with the company mission to contribute to society through the development of superior, original technology and products that power sustainable connectivity, Hitachi Rail is well-positioned to make a meaningful contribution to achieving the selected SDGs. Sustainability is at the heart of our business; we have an obligation to inspire and build a better and more sustainable future for employees, customers, and all users of products.