Safety and Security 2: Processing Stage

Gas processing is the core and a vital part of the Daigas Group's business operations. Its Senboku LNG Terminal and Himeji LNG Terminal process LNG into city gas and supply it to customers in a stable manner in order to respond appropriately to their city gas demand. At the LNG terminals, all facilities are operated and monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for all processes, from receipt of LNG and vaporizing of the gas to delivery of the product, so that customers can always use stable energy without worry. We also work to take measures against emergencies, such as natural disasters.

We promote the renovation and repair of our aging gas-processing facilities to secure facility safety and stable gas supply over the coming decades. We also strive to devise more advanced safety and anti-disaster measures.

LNG, used as a raw material of city gas, is transported by LNG tankers and stockpiled in tanks set up at processing terminals. The LNG brought in is vaporized into natural gas, using heat from seawater. Its calorific value is adjusted and gas odor elements are added before it is delivered to customers as city gas.

At the Osaka Gas LNG terminals at Senboku and Himeji, we strive for complete safety on site and in the surrounding areas. This safety begins as soon as the tankers carrying LNG dock at dedicated piers at the LNG terminals.

The tankers bringing LNG from around the world are docked with the utmost concern for safety. Osaka Gas developed its own system specifically for safely docking tankers through a series of processes.

This system uses a GPS to monitor in real time the position of the tankers to an accuracy of 10 cm as they enter and leave the port, and dock and undock.

In addition to periodic operating drills using an operational control simulator, the LNG terminals hold drills to prepare for disasters and other emergency situations. We use these drills to continuously raise safety awareness among employees and improve their ability to safely manage our operations.
We hold a range of disaster drills as often as possible. These include fire drills using our on-site fire engines at each terminal, company-wide earthquake drills that are designed to deal with damage from an earthquake, spot drills with no prior notice given of the time or content of the drill, and joint drills with other companies operating in the neighborhood and local governments.

In July 2013, the Daigas Group formulated a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to be implemented in the event of a large-scale disaster or accident. This BCP, which we have disseminated throughout our Group, outlines responses to identified risks.
It assumes a situation in which the company and society at large are affected by an earthquake or tsunami resulting in a paralysis of various functions, or a functional failure due to problems with raw materials suppliers and our equipment. According to the terms of the “Act on Special Measures for Pandemic Influenza and New Infectious Diseases” (enacted in April 2013), the company shall respond promptly and accurately to the outbreak of a new strain of influenza or the like to prevent infection of employees and to protect public health. We have established company regulations “Pandemic Influenza and New Infectious Diseases Preparedness Action Plan” in order to ensure the stable supply of gas in such a situation.

In principle, we review our BCP annually and promote employee awareness by implementing BCP training, earthquake drills, and education and training incorporating e-learning.

In the event of an earthquake, we must respond by upholding business continuity in parallel with implementation of disaster response operations, so clearly advanced disaster response capabilities are required as well. By simultaneously implementing earthquake drills and BCP training in FY2022, we were able to identify the challenges of maintaining business continuity concurrently with disaster response operations, thus strengthening our overall disaster-response capabilities.