Cool move: Heatstroke concerns prompt Japan company to advise remote work

The Mainichi

3 days ago

TOKYO -- With temperatures soaring to 35 degrees Celsius or higher across Japan even before the official end of the rainy season, social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has seen a succession of posts from people longing to work remotely.
"It's hot. Do we have to go this far to commute?"
"At least in the summer, I wish they'd make our work remote."
Heat index provides guide to prevent exhaustion
Remote work was widely adopted by many companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. But since the government's reclassification of COVID-19 as a category 5 disease on par with seasonal influenza, there has been a push to return to the office.
Nevertheless, one company has taken into consideration the desperate pleas such as those seen on X, and recommends remote work as a countermeasure against extreme heat.
Trinity Inc., a company in Niiza, Saitama Prefecture, which manufactures and sells smartphone accessories, has implemented "heatstroke countermeasure remote work recommendation days" for the past three years.
The initiative began in late June 2022, when the prefecture recorded a high temperature of 39 degrees Celsius. Upon arriving at work, President Yohei Yamamoto found an elderly woman collapsed in front of the company, apparently from heatstroke. He assisted her and she was later taken to the hospital by ambulance.
At the time, several people in the company experienced health issues just from commuting in the heat. Taking a serious view of the situation, Yamamoto established the remote work recommendation days from July that year.
Initially, the standard for remote work, was "when the next day's forecasted high temperature is 39 degrees or greater." But there were days when the weather forecast was off, and it became unexpectedly hot.
The company accordingly altered its policy from 2024. It began to utilize the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a heat stress index calculated from temperature, humidity and heat reflected from the ground and buildings, and set the threshold at a "heat index of 33 or above," the benchmark used by the Ministry of the Environment to issue heatstroke alerts.
Since the Ministry of the Environment also releases predictions for the next day's heat index, if it is expected to exceed 33, employees prepare to work remotely the day before. If the index indeed ascends to 33 or higher that day, those who wish to work remotely do not come to the office. Workers are also contacted by the company via group chat.
Positive employee feedback has included, "Not having to exhaust myself commuting in the heat allows me to focus on work," and "I can work comfortably from the morning."
Moe Takechi from the company's PR team is among those who feels the benefits, noting, "The crowded morning trains were uncomfortable for me with the heat and close contact with other commuters, but now that's gone."
Still, some tasks like checking product samples require being in the office, and the company says there are some employees who prefer not to work remotely on the grounds that it takes time to get used to or because of an inadequate home environment.
"I think it's important that the company has a system in place to support heatstroke prevention," she said.
Heat's impact on work performance
In 2024, Daiichi Sankyo Healthcare Co. conducted a "survey on awareness of heatstroke countermeasures during commutes," and received responses from 632 men and women aged from their 20s to 60s. A quarter of respondents, or 152 people, reported either getting or nearly getting heatstroke during their commute.
When asked about their commuting frequency, 42.5% said it had "increased" or "seemed to have increased" compared to the COVID-19 pandemic period from 2020-2023.
Among these, 125 people felt uncomfortable with the temperature differences between indoor and outdoor environments during summer commutes, and 40% of them reported that their work performance "dropped to below 60%."