Japanese Companies Taking Action to Combat Disruptions Due to Extreme Heat

Economy Health Work Environment## Huge Impact on Outdoor Work Operations

With rainy season at an end in most regions of Japan, summer is officially here. An online survey conducted by Teikoku Databank from July 10 to 14, aimed at 1,194 companies across Japan found that on exceptionally hot days, where the maximum temperature rose above 35° Celsius, nearly half of the responding companies had experienced some degree of disruption to their business operations; a combined total of 6.5% reporting “significant” effects and 43.5% who had felt “some” impact.

Sectors involving a lot of outdoor work significantly exceeded the overall average, especially “construction” at 73.6% (23.6 percentage points above the average) and “agriculture, forestry, and fisheries” with 66.7% (16.7 points above the average). Commenting on this disruption, one company in the construction sector stated that it “has instructed workers to take more breaks and do bursts of work within shorter time periods,” while another company in the medical and social welfare sector said it is “focusing on heatstroke prevention measures, including use of portable fans and eating salt candies.”

Overall, 87.8% of companies stated that in the last one to two years, they have begun introducing or further strengthening measures to reduce extreme heat risks. At 61.2%, the most common measure was “providing water and salt supplements” and nearly 50% of companies had “increased installation of air-conditioning units and heat-shielding equipment.”

By scale of company, 61.2% of large corporations were “raising awareness about heatstroke,” significantly higher than the overall average of 41.4%. Meanwhile, many small and medium-sized enterprises were focusing on bringing in rules, such as “additional or extended breaks,” “implementing temporary leave,” and “reduced work hours,” demonstrating that the systems previously introduced into larger companies to combat the extreme heat were now becoming more widely adopted in smaller companies too.

Data Sources

(Translated from Japanese. Banner image © IllustAC.)