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Important Information:
School Safety & Emergency Preparedness |
| (Please share this pipeline safety information with your staff, facilities managers and
contractors.) |
Dear Superintendent, Principal, Custodial Personnel or Building/Grounds Director,
As you undertake the many challenges of re-opening for in-person instruction during the
COVID-19 pandemic, National Grid encourages you to make natural gas safety a top
priority. We offer the tips below to help your staff and students prevent and respond to
natural gas incidents. |
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| Make natural gas leak recognition and response part
of your school’s emergency response plan. |
| Gas pipeline incidents can happen, so you and your staff need to know how to identify a
gas leak and what to do in response. Review your school emergency response and
evacuation plans and be sure they include these procedures for recognizing and
responding to a natural gas leak: |
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Recognizing a gas leak. The distinctive,
sulfur-like odor of natural gas comes from
a chemical additive called mercaptan. This
odor may fade or be difficult to distinguish,
and not all transmission lines are odorized.
So don’t rely only on your sense of smell to
detect a gas leak. Be alert for a hissing,
roaring or whistling sound from the ground
or from gas equipment; dirt spraying or
blowing into the air from a hole in the
ground; and continuous bubbling in water. |
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Responding to a gas leak. If you suspect
a gas leak, assume there’s a danger.
Evacuate everyone immediately. Remind
students and staff to maintain social
distancing while leaving classrooms and
buildings. Gather outdoors at a safe
location, far from the site of the possible
leak and upwind if possible. |
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DO NOT use matches, lighters, radios or
anything electrical – even a cell phone. From a safe location, call 911 and
National Grid at the emergency number in your area listed below. Keep
everyone far from the leak until emergency response personnel inform you that the
premises are safe. |
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| Learn the location of natural gas pipelines in your area. |
| High-visibility markers with National Grid’s 24-hour emergency phone number indicate the
general location of our high-pressure natural gas pipelines. These markers are meant only
as a general guide and warning and do not mark a pipeline’s precise location or depth. You
can also locate pipelines in your area by visiting the National Pipeline Mapping System
website at https://pvnpms.phmsa.dot.gov/PublicViewer. |
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| Help protect natural gas pipelines. |
| The greatest risk to gas pipelines is accidental damage from digging activities. Even a tiny
gouge, scrape, dent or crease to a gas pipe or its coating could lead to a catastrophic fire
or explosion. Please share these pipeline damage prevention guidelines with your staff,
facilities managers and contractors: |
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Call 811 before you dig. Call 811 at least
72 hours before digging in Massachusetts
and Rhode Island (excluding weekends
and legal holidays) and at least two full
working days before digging in New York
(excluding the date of your call, weekends
and legal holidays). This free service will
arrange for marking of buried natural gas
pipelines in your dig area so nearby
excavation can be done safely. |
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Respect the marks and dig with care.
Gas pipelines are marked with yellow
flags, stakes or paint marks. Leave these in place until digging is completed. Use
only hand tools – no mechanical equipment – within the “tolerance zone,” which is
within 18 inches of either side of the marked location of buried utilities in
Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and within the width of a marked utility plus 24
inches from each indicated outside edge in New York. Report any pipeline contact –
of any kind – immediately to National Grid at the natural gas emergency phone
numbers listed below. If gas is leaking, you must also call 911. |
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| National Grid’s underground pipelines deliver natural gas efficiently and reliably to schools,
homes and businesses across New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. To ensure the
safe operation of these pipelines we: |
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monitor our gas operations around the clock; |
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inspect pipelines regularly for leaks, defects and corrosion; |
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educate the public about safe digging practices; |
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conduct training and periodic drills with emergency responders to prevent and
prepare for natural gas emergencies. |
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