Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.
Report on Disaster Drill Held by Faculty of Science
Koichi Akazaki (Deputy Manager of the Self-Defense Fire Brigade / Manager of the Accounting Group )
Scene on the day of the disaster drill
On Friday, October 13, 2023, a disaster drill was held by the Faculty of Science. 983 people, including Academic and Administrative Staff and students, participated in the evacuation drill. Since the Corona disaster, the number of participants has been limited, but since last year, the drill has been open to all members of the faculty.
At 12:00, after the end of the second period, an earthquake early warning chime signaled the start of the evacuation drill. After taking initial actions to ensure personal safety, an announcement was broadcasted to the entire building instructing evacuation. Since the last drill, we have prepared the broadcast voice data in both Japanese and English, and have made improvements so that more members of the public can receive accurate evacuation instructions.
The Department of Chemistry conducted its own fire drill at the same time. Smoke machines were used and emergency bells were rung in the building.
Academic and Administrative Staff and students were instructed to put on helmets and evacuate to designated evacuation sites marked by orange streamers. Some groups were even proactive, displaying cards with the names of their laboratories as markers.
At the primary evacuation site in front of Yasuda Auditorium, while the Disaster Countermeasures Department of each Department and Building reported the evacuation status to the School of Science Disaster Response Headquarters, Deputy Director General Kaoru Sato explained to the evacuated members the response policy of the University of Tokyo and the Graduate School of Science in the event of a large-scale disaster. After the reports from all Departments were completed, Head of Department Shinichi Okoshi gave his comments, and the drill was concluded.
In addition to this drill, Graduate School of Science has prepared and distributed its own Safety Manual and Disaster Prevention Action Manual to raise disaster awareness among Academic and Administrative Staff and students. After the drill, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the members to identify issues that need to be addressed. We will continue to make improvements for a better disaster prevention system in the future.
Faculty of Science News, November 2023