Electricity Safety Information for Disasters
In order to prevent accidents with electrical and gas appliances, we have summarized the points to be checked before evacuation and immediately after disaster recovery.You should familiarize yourself with these beforehand, so that you can act deliberately and calmly when the situation requires it.
Turn off appliances and disconnect power cords
In particular, disconnect the power cords of electric irons, hair dryers, toasters and other electric appliances generating heat, to prevent the risk of fires when power is restored. Rotating appliances with motors, such as hand mixers and power drills also can cause accidents.
Precautions for preventing electrical equipment damage due to lightning
To prevent lightning strikes from damaging appliances, you must not only turn them off but also unplug them from the outlet.
However, even if an appliance is disconnected, damage can still occur via telephone lines, antenna lines and similar. The use of commercially available electrical taps with lightning surge protectors and similar protective equipment can be helpful, but it may not be enough in case of a direct lightning strike.
PCs and other types of computing equipment may malfunction and lose data in case of a power outage or a momentary loss of power or voltage drop. Commercially available UPS (uninterruptible power system) can be used to counter such risks.
Turn off circuit breakers before evacuating
Even in the event of an earthquake, power may still be supplied to households if the power facilities have not been damaged. In order to prevent accidents caused by appliances that have not been turned off, make sure to turn off the circuit breakers on your distribution panel before leaving your home. Also do not forget to turn off the gas.
This is also recommended at ordinary times if leaving your home for an extended period.
When returning to your home from an evacuation site, check for problems
First check all electrical and gas appliances to ensure that there are no problems. Turn on circuit breakers one by one, while verifying their operations. Once all breakers have been turned on, plug disconnected electrical equipment back in.
If you notice any sign of a problem, disconnect the appliance again without touching it. Be sure to contact the power company or gas company to have the equipment checked.
If you smell gas, do not operate any switch
If there is a smell of gas etc., do not use any open flame and do not turn on fans, lights or other electrical equipment. Otherwise the spark from a switch can ignite accumulated gas and cause a fire or explosion. If possible, close the gas cock and the main cock at the meter and open all windows. Then contact the gas company.
Do not use any appliance that has got wet
If your electrical appliances and wiring were exposed to water due to flooding or water leakage, be sure to contact the dealer or service desk to have the equipment checked. Using such equipment as is involves the risk of electric leakage and is extremely dangerous.
A request from Kansai Transmission and Distribution
In the event of a disaster, we will do our best to quickly restore complete power coverage. However, in case of large-scale damage or obstruction of roads, etc., extended power outages may occur.
In the course of restoration work, it may be necessary for us to temporarily enter the premises around private residences. We ask for your kind understanding in this case.
Also, when calling us regarding power outages, etc., please understand that lines may be busy.
Transmission and Distribution Contact Center
TEL. 0800-777-3081 (toll-free)Hours: Mon–Fri 9:00–17:00 (except Saturday, Sunday, public holidays, year-end and New Year holidays)
- * We also respond to power outage inquiries and other emergency matters outside of the operating hours.
- * Please understand that line may be busy at times.
- * Some IP phone models may not be able to connect to this number. In that case, please call 050-3085-3081 (call fee charged).
- * Please carefully check the phone number when making an inquiry, to avoid calling the wrong number.
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