Japan has been struck by many large natural disasters including the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and the Ise Bay Typhoon in 1959, which led to establishment of September 1 as "Disaster Preparedness Day" in Japan in 1960 with the objectives of deepening awareness of earthquakes, typhoons, tidal waves and other natural disasters and providing the opportunity for people to check again that adequate preparations have been made against such disasters in their households. Here we report on disaster prevention training held in September in the Fuji area and the Tokyo head office.
Fuji Area Disaster Prevention Training
In the Fuji area disaster prevention training is held each year on Disaster Preparedness Day.
Training was done in the following order: alert call training at 6:30 a.m., warning announcement at 8:30, occurrence of an earthquake at 9:30, and tsunami evacuation. Individuals and organizations cooperated with each other as they went through the training. This year's training included the assumption that dangerous substances were leaked.
Rescue squads had a chance to see the results of their daily training as they provided emergency treatment for disaster victims suffering from injuries in a variety of places from the head to the feet (shown in photo).
The disaster prevention training was held throughout the morning and all employees who came to work that day participated.
By undergoing this training, we all became aware of many problems and things we needed to improve. This training will continue to be held to help people to be able to make quick responses in times of emergency.
Mr. Akinori Suzuki
Tokyo Head Office Building Disaster Prevention Training
On September 13, disaster prevention training was held at the Tokyo head office. This year we had the role (once every 6 years) of being the location where the disaster occurred. Here was an opportunity for the private fire brigade, whose activities are ordinarily seen only in written regulations except for its role in supervising confirmation of people's safety, to demonstrate all of the activities it is actually responsible for!
On the day of the event, training was carried out in the presence of the fire department and building management company. The series of activities were conducted in the following order: occurrence of an earthquake, physical safety, confirmation of damage, detection of fire, reporting to the fire department and pseudo fire extinguishment (fire extinguishers, indoor fire hydrants), and evacuation guidance. The employees who participated all wore helmets and the intent expressions on their faces attested to the seriousness with which they approached the training. The fire brigade headquarters took the lead in the training overseeing all activities including fire extinguishment and evacuation guidance. Roles were explained in advance and practice training carried out. On the day of the training we were able to complete the activities safely under the direction of each of the persons responsible for supervision. Unfortunately it rained that day, so only some of the people were evacuated outside the building. President Goto and about 130 company officers and employees gathered and waited in front of the emergency exit on the 13th floor. The fire department complimented us saying, "You performed all the activities really wonderfully!" We will continue holding disaster prevention training and perform each activity correctly so that everyone in the company can respond in the exactly the right ways in the event of a disaster.
Mr. Osamu Ohishi