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ITOKI CORPORATION (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Koji Minato) has released a survey report on the actual state of disaster prevention in companies, targeting office workers in their 20s to 60s who are aware of their company's disaster prevention efforts (※1).
The survey revealed that larger companies and business establishments are more advanced in their disaster prevention measures, while smaller companies have more issues with their measures.The survey also revealed that there are more issues with hardware measures (such as securing evacuation routes) than with stockpiling disaster prevention supplies and software measures (such as preparing manuals).

The full report is available here: [ITOKI CORPORATION] Survey report on the actual state of disaster prevention in companies.pdf

The most anticipated risk was "earthquakes" at 83.8%, followed by "infectious diseases" and "heavy rains" at over 50%.
・The most common specific risk was "physical harm to employees and their families." Impact on infrastructure was also high.
・Less than one in four people said they were "sufficiently prepared." The smaller the scale of the business, the more likely it is that there are issues with countermeasures.
The most common measure is "stockpiling disaster prevention supplies," at about 80%. Hardware measures are the least common, at less than 70%.
・The most commonly stocked item is water. Only about half of the respondents stock towels, sleeping gear, or cold weather gear.
・In terms of soft measures, "evacuation drills" was the most popular. Meanwhile, "preparing a work remotely environment" and "preparing a system for collecting information" were issues.
In terms of hard aspects, "ensuring evacuation routes" was the most common at 59.2%, with an overall lower score compared to stockpiling and soft aspects.
・More than half of respondents review risk countermeasures "at least once a year"

・How to make an office earthquake-resistant
・"L-FORCE" anti-tip unit that can be used for system storage that is not attached to a wall
・The industry's only vibration testing room is equipped to thoroughly verify strength and earthquake resistance
・A special door weighing approximately 1,400 kg that can be opened and closed manually for underground shelters, intended for disaster prevention and defense, will be released in October this year

The most anticipated risk was "earthquakes" at 83.8%, followed by "infectious diseases" and "heavy rains" at over 50%.
When asked about risks they anticipated for business continuity at the place of business they work for, "earthquakes" was the most common at 83.8%, followed by "infectious diseases (new strains of influenza, COVID-19, etc.)" at 57.3% and "heavy rain" at 50.0%, with more than half of respondents anticipating both as risks.

・The most common specific risk was "physical harm to employees and their families." Impact on infrastructure was also high.
In terms of specific risks they anticipated, "physical harm to employees and their families" was the most common at 61.7%, followed by "disruption to communications infrastructure" at 58.3%, "disruption to transportation infrastructure" at 58.0%, and "disruption to daily life infrastructure" at 57.9%, showing that many people consider the impact on infrastructure to be a risk.

・Less than one in four people said they were "sufficiently prepared." The smaller the scale of the business, the more likely it is that there are issues with countermeasures.
When asked about the current state of disaster prevention measures at their current workplace, only 22.8% answered that they were "sufficiently prepared," which was less than one in four people. In particular, the smaller the number of employees at the workplace, company, or organization, the lower the percentage of people who answered that they were "sufficiently prepared" or "somewhat prepared," indicating that many people feel that there are issues with the measures.

The most common measure is "stockpiling disaster prevention supplies," at about 80%. Hardware measures are the least common, at less than 70%.
In terms of disaster and risk countermeasures, "stockpiling disaster prevention supplies" was the most common at 79.7%, followed by "software (preparing manuals, conducting training and education, etc.)" at 75.0% and "hardware" (improving the office environment, etc.) at 69.8%.

・The most commonly stocked item is water. Only about half of the respondents stock towels, sleeping gear, or cold weather gear.
When asked about disaster prevention supplies they have in stock, the most common was "water" at 83.7%, followed by "helmets" (76.5%), "food" (76.5%) and "first aid supplies" (71.7%). Meanwhile, relatively few respondents listed "supplies to help people return home" (31.0%), "personal disaster prevention kits" (38.9%), "rescue supplies" (50.8%), "sleeping/cold weather gear" (51.0%), "disaster prevention radios" (51.3%) and "towels" (51.3%).

・The most common soft-side measure was "evacuation drills." However, "preparing a work remotely environment" and "preparing a system for collecting information" were issues.
In terms of soft measures, the most common answer was "evacuation drills" at 68.1%. However, less than half of the respondents answered "preparing a work remotely environment" (47.5%) and "preparing a system for collecting information" (47.1%), highlighting issues that need to be addressed.

In terms of hard aspects, "ensuring evacuation routes" was the most common at 59.2%, with an overall lower score compared to stockpiling and soft aspects.
In terms of hard measures, the most common answer was "ensuring evacuation routes within the office" at 59.2%, followed by "measures to prevent furniture from falling over" (55.7%), "ensuring storage space for disaster prevention supplies" (55.1%), and "maintenance of the server room" (51.9%). Overall, scores for hard measures tended to be lower than for supplies and soft measures.

・More than half of respondents review risk countermeasures "at least once a year"
Regarding the frequency of reviewing disaster and risk countermeasures, more than half (52.4%) answered "about once every six months or more" (13.8%) and "about once a year" (38.6%). On the other hand, "about once every two to three years" (15.2%) and "about once every four to five years" (7.3%) combined accounted for 74.9%, with the remaining quarter reviewing less frequently or irregularly.

In order to prepare for disasters, it is important to plan from the office construction stage itself, that is, the office layout stage. We use the extensive know-how we have accumulated over the years to build office spaces by making full use of knowledge for "disaster mitigation." Below is a summary of the key points for earthquake-resistant office layouts. We will fully utilize this knowledge to support our customers in building their offices.

(1) Tall cabinets should be concentrated in enclosed spaces so that they do not fall on people or block traffic lines. Also, only short items should be placed along traffic lines.
(2) The safe must be firmly fixed to the floor to prevent it from shifting.
(3) Ensure that aisles are at least 1.2m wide. The main evacuation route should be at least 1.6m wide.
(4) The server room must be fully equipped with anti-tip, fire-proof, and waterproof measures to protect information.
(5) Multifunction devices (copy machines) are placed in enclosed spaces
(6) Partitions installed along evacuation routes, etc., should be highly earthquake-resistant.
(7) Furniture in the reception room should be connected and secured to the floor whenever possible.
(8) Furniture near windows must be secured to the floor or other surfaces to prevent it from falling or the glass from breaking.
(9) Prepare equipment such as televisions and whiteboards so that the latest disaster information can be viewed and shared.
(10) Secure a place to store emergency supplies
(11) Prepare space and equipment that can be used as a response room in the event of a disaster

There are established countermeasures to prevent falling, such as fixing to a structural wall with sufficient strength using L-shaped metal fittings when installing in front of a wall, and fixing to a slab with anchors when installing in between, but both have significant restrictions on installation and require large-scale construction.L-FORCE has established a method to prevent falling even in a major earthquake by fixing to non-structural walls (steel partitions, LGS) and OA floors (steel, concrete), for which countermeasures have not been fully established.

・Will not collapse even if subjected to two consecutive earthquakes of intensity 6+ (※2). Industry-leading performance
Learning from the lessons learned from the Kumamoto earthquake, in which two large earthquake waves were recorded in succession, we developed a new quality target of not collapsing even after two shaking waves (※2), and have cleared the test. At this stage, we boast industry-leading performance.

Fall prevention unit "L-FORCE" product page
https://www.itoki.info/products/zoning/l-force/