[First Survey 1 during March 16-20, 2020]
Preliminary Report of the Survey on Educational Institutions'
Responses to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Japan Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
2020/3/25

1Summary The Japan human factors and ergonomics society (JES) conducted an online survey for the JES full members working at
educational institutions to collect information on the 1) notification and response status for personnel in educational
institutions on the COVID-19 crisis, and 2) ergonomic ideas to propose practical recommendations for mitigating theCOVID-19 crisis to society.
 Approximately 70% of the organizations notified personnel of an action-oriented code of conduct, including advice suchas "stay at home If you have any illness, cough, fever, or cold symptoms," “consult a health center if the fever of 37.5
degrees or more lasts for more than four days,” or “prohibition of overseas private travel” or “request for self-restraint.“
 Conversely, less than 40% of the respondents were informed about appropriate preventive ways promoting behavioral
changes, such as mask disposal methods, face washing after returning home, ergonomic teleworking and online meetings,and improvement of the indoor working environment.
 Concerning the freely answered question to “how do you think Ergonomics in your related field can contribute topreventing or mitigating the COVID-19 problems?“, half of the respondents (60/120) provided ideas.
 The possible contributions from multidisciplinary fields were shown: 1)preventive infection education and standardprecautions; 2) human-centered design solutions for enhancing ergonomic teleworking, virtual reality, and information andcommunication technology; 3) online media use in education; 4) occupational safety and health measures of night shift
work and fatigue for medical staff tackling COVID-19; 5) psychology, behavioral science, and scientific communication for
reducing social anxiety; and 6) environmental ergonomics.

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Outline of survey
 Research target: the JES full members working at educational institutions
 Objectives
 Notification and response status to personnel in educational institutions on
the COVID-19 crisis
 Collecting ergonomic ideas to propose practical recommendations for
mitigating COVID-19 crisis to society
 Online-survey athttps://questant.jp/q/jes202003survey_part1
 Period:March 16 (Mon) to 20 (Fri), 20203

Demographic Characteristics of respondents
 Respondents： 120/772*1，response rate:15.5%*1 the number of JES full members working at educational institutions

 Institutions：[University]90%, [Technical College/High school]：7.5%，[Junior college]：2.5%
 Sex： [male]75%，[female]25%
 age： [20’s]00.8%, [30’s]13.3%, [40’s]28.3%, [50’s]40.0%, [60’s]16.7%, [70’s]00.8%

42Notification to and response status of personnel in educational institutions on
COVID-19 crisis
1. Notification of code of conduct (e.g., staying at home if you have any illness, cough, fever, or cold symptoms)
3. Notification of code of conduct*5
10. Measures to prevent the spread of infection when working for faculty members by recommending hand washing
5. Prohibition of overseas private travel or request for self‐restraint
4. Regulations or guidelines of sick leave procedures
9. Measures to prevent the spread of infection by always placing disinfect alcohol at entrances, elevators, etc.
18. Dissemination of measures to prevent the spread of infection after returning home (e.g., hand washing)
12. Measures to reduce the risk of infection at necessary meetings, restricting the number of people
6. Prohibition of domestic/international business trips/movements
16. Measures to reduce the risk of infection indoors; considering indoor airflow at all times to avoid closed spaces
11. Measures to prevent the spread of infection by setting ventilation frequency and standard procedure of ventilation
15. Measures to reduce the droplet infection risk of infection when meetings*3
14． Measures to prevent spread of infection in closed commuting space on train*2
17． Use of the IoT media to reduce the risk of infection at necessary meetings (e.g., introduction of online meetings)
8. Measures for preventing spread of infection with obligation to wear masks when working for faculty members
2. Daily measurement and management of body temperature
7. Measures for preventing the spread of infection by distribution of masks when working for faculty and staff
20. Dissemination of appropriate infection risk information*1
13. Measures to prevent the spread of infection when working for faculty members (introduction of telework)
19. Dissemination of infection spread mitigation measures after returning home (wash your face)
21. Practice of proper disposal of used masks

response status to personnel
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Notification to personnel
70%

80%

90%

100%

*1: epidemiological and scientific indicators, such as relative risk and attributable risk, incidence, and prevalence in an easy‐to‐understand manner*2: e.g., introduction of staggered commuting*3: e.g., devising layouts and seat arrangements to prevent droplet infection*4: e.g., guidelines when personnel diagnosed with new coronavirus infection or suspected of close contact is ordered to wait at home
*5: e.g., consulting the nearest health center if the fever of 37.5 °or more continues for four days or more.

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What can Ergonomics in your related field contribute to preventing or
mitigating the COVID-19 problems ? (open-ended question)■ Education, risk education, awareness-raising on infection control, and standard
precautionary measures (excerpt)
・ Hygiene guidance and public health education for students
・ Dissemination of correct knowledge, such as appropriate infection control
・ Instructions on how to properly put on and take off personal protective equipment and disposal
・ Health education on infection prevention measures
・ Transmission of information on preventing slipping and falling when walking on winter roads.
Outdoor activities, such as strolling were recommended to reduce children'sʼ stress due to selfrestraint and temporary school closure, but guidance for safe walking on frozen snowy roads islacking.
・ Development of an online-platform that provides expert recommendations (ergonomicinstruction method to ensure hand-washing, gargling, ventilation, hydration, etc.)

63What can Ergonomics in your related field contribute to preventing or
mitigating the COVID-19 problems ?
■ Use of new VR technology and information and communication technology, human-centered
design technology, and ergonomic product design
・ Promote remote work/tele working using the Internet (Zoom, and so on)
・ Application of Telerobotics and virtual reality techniques to reduce face-to-face communication causing direct
droplet infection
・ Modeling of human behavior characteristics by information transmission using information and communication
technology and statistical processing of human behavioral patterns
・Designing disinfectant containers, hygiene management tools, and safe and easy-to-use design of UV sterilization
LED devices with ergonomic gripping support that minimize the use of hands as much as possible
・Standard precautional explanations on how to use scientific knowledge in daily activities in an easy-to-understandmanner

■ Occupational fatigue/occupational safety and health measures:・ Measures for fatigue of workers (COVID19-compliant workers, such as healthcare workers), provision of ergonomic
guidelines for telework, and provision of ergonomic guidelines for VDT work as online lectures increase・ Ergonomic measures for mental stress related to behavioral restriction
・ Ergonomic measures for tele work communication methods using IoT・ Proposal of stress reduction techniques
・ Ergonomic health management measures (working posture and break-taking) under high-intensity telework

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What can Ergonomics in your related field contribute to preventing ormitigating the COVID-19 problems ?
■ Use of online media
・ Sharing and dissemination of ergonomic methods for online lectures
・ Provide appropriate COVID-19 response methods and accurate information using online tools
・ Distance education support■ Psychology/Behavioral Science・ Risk education considering the psychology of preventing social anxiety
・ Education on the mechanism of social anxiety caused by synchronicity bias
・ Research to promote appropriate risk recognition and risk avoidance behavior
・ Dissemination of knowledge on countermeasures from an appropriate psychological perspective based on thearticle “Keeping Your Distance to Stay Safe,” published on the official website of the American Psychological
Association (APA)■ Risk assessment
・ Organizational ergonomics and resilience based on Crisis Emergency Risk management and Communication (CERC)・ Appropriate risk awareness and response actions
・ Risk management procedures, setting appropriate risk levels, and so on84

What can Ergonomics in your related field contribute to preventing ormitigating the COVID-19 problems ?
■ Scientific Communication and Science Literacy
・ Education through infographics
・ Dissemination of appropriate information and response to social unrest (polite explanation of questions)
・ Enhancing risk communication between the general public and experts
・ Advising on the effectiveness of hospital management for preventing hospital-acquired infections, collaboration between
boundaryless organizations, understanding the current situation, and conducting resource surveys■ Environmental Ergonomics
・ Changes in ventilation efficiency due to opening windows and setting air conditioners in cars
・ Importance of ventilation: Windows are closed and the space is always closed from the viewpoint of avoiding gaze in theneighborhood, and preventing students from falling down regularly. How to appropriately operate 24-hour ventilation
systems
・ Measures against infectious diseases by ventilation (ventilation volume, ventilation method)■ Big data analysis of biological information, physiological and psychological behavior data
・ Mental and physical condition sensing
・ Support for the elucidation of infection routes using ethnography
・ Behavior control

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The JES Strategy and Innovation Committee
Japan Human Factors and Ergonomics Society105