It’s a fact of life, we work to pay the bills and survive.  For a very few lucky people they get to do something they are passionate about and enjoy going to work each day.  For the majority of the world, work is a means to an end.  That doesn’t mean people don’t like their jobs, but if given the choice they would rather have a vacation.  Throughout many parts of Asia work has become such an important part of life that for some very little else matters.  In Japan employees often work so many hours that people are literally dying from work.  They even have a term for this along with a help hotline for those experiencing it.  It is called Karoshi which translates to “overwork death”, a phenomenon that is inducing heart attacks, strokes, and suicides from working ridiculously long hours.  Japan’s National Institute of Health called on the government, labor unions and employers, along with employees to take steps in reducing the rate of Karoshi related deaths.  One such solution that has been implemented comes from the assistance of drones.

In Tokyo, Taisei employs just under 7,000 people.  Taisei holds operations in cleaning and hotel services, security and information services, real estate and construction, and more.  With so many employees working in so many environments they wanted to make sure that these people are able to work to the best of their abilities, which includes only working the proper amount of hours each day.  To ensure employees weren’t working overtime to the detriment of their health Taisei developed a drone to help monitor the work environment.  Chikara Kato manages Taisei’s corporate planning division and created this drone project.  Chikara said, “At first, we considered flying drones over parking lots to use them in place of security guards, but instead we invented a system to fly drones inside of buildings as it doesn’t need to meet Japan’s strict aviation restrictions outdoors.”  Chikara went on to explain, “This drone will identify who remains in the office after hours.  And by accessing recorded data, human resources or administration departments will be able to deal with those who abuse overtime.”

Taisei contracted Blue Innovation Co. to develop the drone and telecommunications giant NTT East Corp to create the software and cloud program for it.  The quadrocopter, called T-Frend, weighs around 1lb and can fly up to 6ft with a battery life of about 15 minutes.  T-Frend’s frame is surrounded by a foam barrier to protect any people and structures from damage.  The rechargeable drone also requires no GPS or operator to navigate.  It will fly along predetermined flight paths based on the building’s interior.  At a predetermined time the T-Frend will enter the office or workspace and proceed to produce wind from it’s rotors and blare loud music from an attached speaker.  This goes against what most drone designers look for, a calm and quiet drone.  The goal is to signal to workers that the day is over and it is time to go home with the presence of the drone.  If the subtle cue is not taken into account then the drone begins to play annoying music to force workers to leave their stations.

The drone also has a camera attachment that will allow management to see who is possibly ignoring the drone so as to properly address the situation.  As Chikara pointed out, “It has effects such as restraining overtime work and can be used to improve workplace environment for reform of workers.  We encourage employees who are present at the drone patrol time to leave, not only to promote employee health but also to conduct internal security management by periodically visiting at night.”  Taisei began testing T-Frend within their own offices and aims to make it a service available to other companies.  The drone and the service will run companies around $4,500 a month, a worthy investment if it can help reduce deaths.  Chikara said that they have received interest in the T-Frend for services beyond overtime management.  Chikara said, “Now we’re receiving inquiries from operators of logistics warehouses who want to use T-Frend to prevent robberies.”

Japan, like the United States has workers unions that set limitations on work hours.  In both countries a standard work day is 8 hours, 40 a week.  In both countries employees work overtime.  In America, those who put in overtime usually add an hour onto each day.  Those extra hours make a huge difference in the mental and physical health of people.  In Japan far too many people put in overtime hours, so much so that companies have had to instate limits that say employees cannot work more than 100 hours a week.  From 2010-2015 Japan saw 368 Karoshi related suicides.  Thanks to programs like encouraging part time employment and drones to monitor the workspace these numbers have declined.  It is Taisei’s hope that with T-Frend Karoshi incidents will even further decline and a healthier workplace will be encouraged.