October 11, 2013

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Office Disaster Prevention Survey 2013
How office occupiers in Japan are prepared for disasters.
Many companies increased awareness of the importance of being prepared for earthquakes having
experienced the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake which severely affected everyday lives ofpeople and business. It is very important for companies to secure safety of its office workers who spend
most of their day time in office. Securing safety of office is also important from the perspective ofbusiness continuity because office is an important hub of business activities.
Then, how do companies recognize the importance of disaster prevention? How are they prepared for
future disasters? Xymax surveyed its office tenants in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya to find out the actualsituation.

Key Findings
Preliminary Measures (before disaster)
About 30% of the companies implemented preliminary measures such as fixating
furniture to the wall or floor and providing a protective helmet to its employees.
This percentage is, however, low compared to Emergency Measures.

Emergency Measures (within three days after disaster)
About 70% of the companies in Greater Tokyo have emergency water stock.
But only half of them have water stock enough for three days or more. (*)

Recovery Measures (after three days from disaster, to resume business)
Data backup system is the most popular measure equipped by the companies.
Less than 40% of the companies prepared Business Continuity Plan (BCP)Over 90% of the companies responded that the geographical stability andquake-resistance level of building are important when choosing office space.

(*) Tokyo Metropolitan Government Ordinance for Commuters who Have Difficulties in Returning Home After Disaster
Companies should make every effort to control the timing of employees’ returning home. Companies should makeevery effort to have sufficient water and food stock for three days in case if the employees have to stay in office.
(In effect from April 1, 2013)
The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

1Survey Outline
Survey Period
SurveyedTenants
Respondents

August 2013
2,100 tenant companies occupying office buildings under management by Xymax
Group in Greater Tokyo (Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Saitama prefectures), Nagoya City,and Osaka City.
1,312 companies (Response rate: 62.5%)
1.

Preliminary Measures (initial measures)

Survey2.

Emergency Measures (water/food stock, safety confirmation system)

Coverage

3.

Recovery Measures (measures required to resume business)

4.

Important criteria when choosing office space

The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

2

Survey Results
1. Preliminary Measures (before disaster)

About 30% of the companies implemented preliminary measures such as fixating furniture to
the wall or floor to prevent it from collapse and providing a protective helmet to its
employees.
This percentage is, however, low compared to Emergency Measures.

About 30% of the companies have their furniture fixated to the wall or floor, and 33% of the companies
have provided a protective helmet to its employees (Figure 1). These two measures are basically toprotect human lives and are the most important of all. They should be implemented by more companies.
Other than the above two measures, about a half or less than half of the companies have:
Explained its employees where the evacuation lights are located and which route should be taken whenevacuating;Informed its employees where the evacuation shelter is located; andHad its employees learn usage of the fire extinguisher and fire hydrant equipment.
Compared to after-mentioned Emergency Measures (water/food stock, safety confirmation system),Preliminary Measures are slightly less implemented by the companies.

Figure 1: Preliminary Measures Implemented by Companies

The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

32. Emergency Measures (within three days after disaster)About 70% of the companies in Greater Tokyo have emergency water stock.
But only half of them have water stock enough for three days or more.

About 66% of the overall companies have emergency water stock whereas that in Greater Tokyo
including the area under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Ordinance was high at 75%, the highest
among three surveyed cities (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Emergency Water Stock

The average water stock volume is enough for two days based on the number of office workers. Only
about a half of such companies in any of the three cities have water stock volume enough for threedays or more (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Water Stock Volume based on Number of Office Workers

The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

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About 52% of the companies have emergency food stock (Figure 4). Of them, about a half of thecompanies have enough food stock for three days or more based on the number of office workers inany of the three cities (Figure 5).
Figure 4: Emergency Food Stock

Figure 5: Emergency Food Stock Volume based on Number of Office Workers

The survey revealed that about 70% of the companies with emergency water stock also have foodstock and emergency supplies. In contrast, about 70% of the companies with no water stock have nofood stock and emergency supplies.

The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

5 Flashlights and lighting fixture, medical and sanitary goods, and blanket and insulated mats
are ranked high on the list.
But portable toilets, which are necessary if employees are to stay in the office, are relatively
less popular.
About 61% of the companies have some sort of emergency supplies (Figure 6). Supplies that arerequired immediately after disaster are ranked high on the list of supplies stocked by the companies:
flashlights and lighting fixture (85%), medical and sanitary goods (61%), blanket and insulated mats(59%). In contrast, portable toilets, which are required if employees are to stay in the office after thedisaster, are less likely to be stocked and often forgotten by the companies (Figure 7).

Figure 6: Emergency Supplies

Figure 7: Emergency Supplies Details (companies responded “Yes” in Figure 6) (n=799)

The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

6

About 70% of the companies have provided a safety confirmation system. Many of them use
mobile phones to confirm safety of employees.

About 70% of the companies replied that they have a system to check employee’s safety after disaster(Figure 8). Such companies confirm employee’s safety by using mobile phones (Call: 61%) (Textmessage: 59%), and by providing a safety confirmation service (34%) (Figure 9).
Figure 8: Safety Confirmation System

Figure 9: Safety Confirmation System Detail (companies who responded “Yes” in Figure 9) (n=902)

About 40% of the companies with safety confirmation system have a safety confirmation system basedon mobile phone only (call/text message). However, our experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake
suggests that combining several communication tools is desirable since many people had trouble using theirmobile phones after the earthquake due to communication failures.

The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

7

3. Recovery Measures (after three days from disaster, to resume business)
Data backup system is the most popular measure equipped by the companies.

Less than 40% of the companies prepared Business Continuity Plan (BCP)Companies with BCP are positive about implementation of other disaster-prevention
measures.

A data backup system is implemented by 62% of the companies and ranked at the top on the list. The
importance of Business Continuity Plan (BCP) has been increasingly discussed since the occurrence of
the Great East Japan Earthquake but only 38% of the companies said they have prepared BCP (Figure10).
Figure 10: Recovery Measures (excluding companies responded “unknown”)

There is a relation between BCP and other disaster-prevention measures. Companies with BCP are
more likely to have prepared other disaster-prevention measures such as safety confirmation system(90%), emergency supplies and water stock (80%) and furniture fixated to wall or floor (80%) than theaverage, indicating that the companies with BCP are more positive about implementing otherdisaster-prevention measures (Figure 11).

The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

8

Figure 11: BCP and Other Disaster-Prevention Measures

4. Important criteria when choosing office space Over 90% of the companies said the geographical stability and quake-resistance level ofbuilding are important.
 About 40% of the companies - who responded the quake-resistance level of building isimportant - respond they value not only buildings constructed under New SeismicStandards(*) but also buildings constructed under Old Seismic Standards(**) with seismic
reinforcement.
(*) Buildings constructed under New Seismic Standards:
New Seismic Standards were put into effect on June 1, 1981. The standards aim to construct a building that is strong
enough to save human lives from collapse of the building in the event of a large earthquake.
(**) Buildings constructed under Old Seismic Standards:
Buildings constructed based on the design method developed before the enforcement of New Seismic Standards.

When choosing office space in the future, 90% of the companies said the geographical stability isimportant (“Very Important” and “Important” combined, same applies hereinafter), 94% of the companies
said they value the buildings constructed under New Seismic Standards, and 92% of the companies said
they value buildings constructed with seismic reinforcement under Old Seismic Standards; these threerecorded very high percentages (Figure 12). Following the 3.11 earthquake, safety of the land andbuilding has become important criteria when choosing office space.

The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

9Also 85% of the companies replied that they value office buildings with backup power system, indicatingthat companies have increased focus on stable power supply after they experienced rolling blackouts
and supply shortage following the 3.11 earthquake.
Figure 12: Important criteria when choosing office space

About 93% of the companies said the quake-resistance level of the building is important (New SeismicStandards or Old Seismic Standards with seismic reinforcement), and 40% of them said buildings
constructed under New Seismic Standards are not the top priority; they also value the buildings
constructed under Old Seismic Standards with seismic reinforcement (Figure 13).

Figure 13: How important is the quake-resistance level of building?

The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

10

CommentaryThis survey covering 21 disaster-prevention measures revealed how office tenants are implementing
disaster-prevention measures in reality.

To cite an example, many companies in Greater Tokyo including the area under Tokyo Metropolitan
Government Ordinance have emergency water stock but only half of those companies satisfy the water
stock volume stipulated in the ordinance, indicating that companies should make further efforts toimprove their disaster-prevention measures. The emergency water stock is only one of the wide-ranging
issues included in disaster prevention for office occupiers. How to get prepared for disasters remains achallenge for companies in Japan.

Xymax Group will continue to provide information to help office occupiers who realized the importance ofdisaster prevention through this survey results to achieve further prevention measures.

The information contained in this report is as of the date of preparation. XYMAX accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this report.
No copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is allowed.
Copyright © 2013 XYMAX Corporation. All rights reserved.

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