Abstract
There is a concern about the sudden release of hazardous chemical substances into the environment during natural disasters and accidents. To enhance responsiveness to this concern, we published Chemical Risk Assessment and Management Resource Core for Disaster and Emergency (D.Chem-Core), a web-based information system. In this study, a tabletop exercise was conducted with staff from local environmental research institutes to evaluate the usability of this system, which is designed to support in responding to such unexpected events. We assessed usability in two ways: how the system contributed to the planning of environmental surveys, and how participants perceived it. During group work in the tabletop exercise, each group independently decided a chemical release accident scenario, discussed how they would respond to the situation, and documented the decision-making process. For system evaluation, we identified eleven items related to environmental surveys and summarized whether each group was able to obtain the necessary information. The useful ratios, the ratios of the number of groups that could obtain the necessary information, were at least 0.5 for all items except the one for which there was no demand. According to the survey, approximately 90% of respondents expressed their willingness to use the system in response to disasters and accidents. As a result, we confirmed that the system demonstrates strong usability in such situations.
