MOL Hosts 'MOL Challenge Day' for Employees and Families
- Promoting Diversity and Energizing the Organization through Wheelchair Rugby Experiential Session and Family Workplace Tour -

August 19, 2019

TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Junichiro Ikeda) announced that on Wednesday, August 14, it hosted "MOL Challenge Day," an event for employees and families that encompassed a workplace tour and wheelchair rugby experiential session.

MOL has promoted company-wide diversity programs with the aim of cultivating a vigorous, innovative organization by developing an environment that allows its diverse workforce to maximize their abilities and enhance their motivation on the job.

Part 1 of MOL Challenge Day, focusing on employees and their families featured a workplace tour and wheelchair rugby experiential session at the invitation of the BLITZ wheelchair rugby team (Note 1), on which MOL employee Kae Kurahashi, serves as the captain. Part 2, just for employees, consisted of an exchange meeting with BLITZ players.

About 120 employees and family members participated in the first part. The session began with lunch in the employee canteen and introduction to employees' jobs, including quiz, and creation of business cards, followed by a workplace tour that included the Safety Operation Supporting Center (SOSC). Throughout the event, the children showed great interest in their parents' workplace, which they were visiting for the first time. In the second half of the session, children took part in the "wheelchair rugby experiential session." The youngsters' excitement grew as they actually rode in the wheelchairs used in the game and played tag with BLITZ players.

About 60 employees joined Part 2, and got to appreciate the excitement of wheelchair rugby, using the wheelchairs to play tag and being "tackled" (Note 2) by team players. Afterwards, during the exchange meeting with BLITZ team players, they listened to various episodes from the players' lives and gained a deeper understanding of the sport.

Wheelchair rugby is a sport that can maximize the team's strength with all the players demonstrating their ability to perform, depending on the degree of disability, and playing their own roles. It is an ideal sport to embody diversity. Through this event, MOL aims to convey the attractiveness of wheelchair rugby, encourage a greater appreciation of diversity and energize the company going forward.

MOL continues to promote the growth of wheelchair rugby and works to develop an environment that celebrates the diversity of employees inside and outside the company.

(Note 1)
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. is an official supporter of the wheelchair rugby team BLITZ. It serves as an official partner of the Japan Wheelchair Rugby Federation, and supports wheelchair rugby through co-sponsorship of the World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge 2019.
April 4, 2017 press release: MOL Signs Official Sponsorship with Wheelchair Rugby Team
World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge 2019: https://wwrc2019.jp/en

(Note 2)
Wheelchair rugby is a team sport for athletes who have disabilities requiring them to use wheelchairs. This is the only sport in the Paralympic Games that permits contact between wheelchairs.