TABLE 1.
The results of health impact assessment for teleworkers
| List of health effect | Screening | Appraisal | Reporting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive/negative | Number of voices a | Priority evaluated by five Senior Occupational Health Physicians | Items adopted as recommendations | |||||
| Physician 1 | Physician 2 | Physician 3 | Physician 4 | Physician 5 | ||||
| Work | ||||||||
| Increased strain on eyes/shoulders/back caused by a suboptimal VDT environment | Negative | 3 | High | High | High | High | High | ✓ |
| Loss of concentration | Negative | 1 | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| The ability to work in a relaxed manner | Positive | 0 | Moderate | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| Work must be intermittent | Positive | 0 | Moderate | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| Work will be intermittent | Negative | 2 | Moderate | High | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| Less meeting time and less burden | Negative | 0 | Moderate | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| More meeting time and increased burden | Negative | 1 | — | — | Moderate | — | Moderate | ✓ |
| Longer working hours (for meticulous and committed employees) | Negative | 2 | High | Moderate | High | Moderate | High | ✓ |
| Fatigue from not taking adequate breaks | Negative | 1 | — | — | — | High | Moderate | ✓ |
| Increased workload from providing support when a colleague is infected in the workplace | Negative | 0 | — | High | — | — | High | |
| Telework is a more efficient way of doing business | Positive | 0 | — | — | — | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| Reduced support from supervisors and colleagues | Negative | 2 | Moderate | High | Moderate | Moderate | moderate | ✓ |
| Poor relationships with bosses and co—workers | Negative | 0 | — | — | — | Moderate | moderate | ✓ |
| Decreased labor productivity caused by difficulties in internal communication | Negative | 3 | High | High | High | High | high | ✓ |
| Decreased labor productivity caused by difficulties in communicating with people outside the company | Negative | 1 | High | High | Low | Moderate | high | ✓ |
| Feelings of isolation because of reduced communication opportunities in the workplace (for people living alone) | Negative | 4 | High | High | Moderate | High | high | ✓ |
| Work becomes more visible and progress is monitored | Positive | 0 | Moderate | Low | Moderate | Moderate | moderate | |
| Stress caused by changes associated with the introduction of a new system | Negative | 2 | High | High | Moderate | High | high | ✓ |
| The risk of information leakage when employees start teleworking in the absence of adequate security measures | Negative | 0 | — | — | High | — | high | ✓ |
| Deterioration in operational efficiency caused by a deteriorating communication environment (communication congestion) | Negative | 1 | — | High | — | — | high | ✓ |
| Decreased health and safety management (in the absence of supervision) | Negative | 1 | High | Moderate | Low | Moderate | moderate | |
| Lifestyle | ||||||||
| Decreased physical activity | Negative | 5 | High | High | High | Moderate | High | ✓ |
| Increased physical activity (from increased free time resulting from the elimination of commuting time) | 1 | — | — | High | — | Moderate | ||
| Stiff shoulders and back pain caused by prolonged sitting | Negative | 5 | High | High | High | High | High | ✓ |
| Disruption of the rhythm of life (and especially the rhythm of sleep) | Negative | 1 | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| More sleep (from increased free time resulting from the elimination of commuting) | Positive | 1 | — | — | Moderate | — | High | |
| Elimination of commuting time/reduced stress on the commute | Positive | 1 | Moderate | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| Reduction in traffic and work‐related accidents on the commute | Positive | 0 | Moderate | Low | Low | Low | Low | |
| Changes in the content of lunches, such as not using the company cafeteria | Negative | 4 | High | High | Low | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| Poor diet | Negative | 1 | High | Unknown | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| Snacking at work | Negative | 0 | — | — | — | Low | Low | |
| Increase in the number of cigarettes smoked | Negative | 0 | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| Decrease in the number of cigarettes smoked | Positive | 0 | Moderate | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| Increased alcohol consumption | Negative | 0 | Low | High | Moderate | Moderate | High | ✓ |
| Decreased alcohol consumption | Positive | 0 | Low | Low | Moderate | Low | Low | ✓ |
| Decreased entertainment (eg, drinking parties) | Negative | 1 | Low | Low | Low | Moderate | Low | |
| Disease and medical care | ||||||||
| Reduced risk of infection | Positive | 1 | High | Low | High | High | High | ✓ |
| Reduced fear of contracting an infectious disease | Positive | 1 | High | Low | Low | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| Increased hygiene awareness and practices | Positive | 0 | Moderate | Low | Low | Low | Low | |
| Increased anxiety from being in a place without people | Negative | 0 | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| Overlooking of personal changes (worsening of depressive symptoms) | Negative | 0 | Moderate | High | High | High | High | ✓ |
| Progression of dementia | Negative | 0 | Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | |
| Increased stress | Negative | 2 | High | Unknown | High | Moderate | High | ✓ |
| Decreased motivation | Negative | 1 | Low | High | High | Moderate | High | ✓ |
| More personal time during the day and easier access to medical facilities | Positive | 0 | Moderate | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Low | |
| Medical collapse makes it harder to see a doctor | Negative | 2 | High | High | Moderate | Moderate | High | ✓ |
| Lower likelihood of being attended to at a medical facility near the workplace | Negative | 1 | — | — | Moderate | — | Moderate | ✓ |
| Home and community | ||||||||
| Increased opportunities for communication with family members (if living with one or more family members) | Positive | 2 | Moderate | Low | Low | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| More time spent at home | Positive | 0 | Moderate | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | ✓ |
| Increased irritability from having less time alone (if living with family members) | Negative | 0 | Moderate | High | Low | Moderate | Moderate | |
| More divorces | Negative | 0 | — | — | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| Increase in domestic violence | Negative | 0 | High | Moderate | Moderate | Low | High | |
| Deterioration of the educational environment | Negative | 1 | High | Moderate | High | Moderate | High | |
| More people playing games | Negative | 0 | Low | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| Not being able to go out to perform leisure activities | Negative | 1 | Moderate | Moderate | High | High | High | |
| Decrease in commuting costs | Positive | 1 | Moderate | Low | Low | Moderate | Low | |
| No more overtime pay and adverse impact on the family's finances | Negative | 0 | — | — | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| Reduced salaries | Negative | 1 | High | Moderate | High | Moderate | Moderate | |
| Reduced involvement with the local community | Negative | 0 | — | — | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
VDT, video display terminal.
a
The number of the Senior Occupational Health Physicians certified by Japan Society for Occupational Health who were consulted by their employees worried about health effects.