School Safety Around Natural Gas

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Help Keep Your School Safe: Contact 811 Before You Dig

Underground utility pipelines can be located anywhere, including under streets, sidewalks, and private property — sometimes just inches below the surface. Hitting one of these pipelines while digging, planting, or doing demolition work can cause serious injury, property damage, and loss of utility service.

Whether you are planning a major development or landscaping campus, make sure to contact 811 two business days before digging, not including the date of notification. Submit a request online or call 811. 811 is a FREE national service available to everyone. Representatives will coordinate with SoCalGas and other utility owners in the area to mark the locations of buried utility-owned lines. SoCalGas does not mark customer-owned natural gas lines, which typically run from the meter to the customer's natural gas equipment. To have customer-owned lines located and marked before a project, contact a qualified pipe-locating professional. Learn More


811 Activity Worksheets

Build safety awareness with students! Share these printable worksheets to help them learn the importance of damage prevention and contacting 811.

Grades K-2 Safety Activity 
Grades 3-4 Safety Activity 
Grades 5-6 Safety Activity


Report a Natural Gas Leak

If you smell natural gas, suspect a leak, or damage has occurred, IMMEDIATELY EVACUATE THE AREA and call us from a safe location: 1-800-427-2200

Call 911 promptly from a safe location if there is damage resulting in a natural gas leak that may endanger life, cause bodily harm, cause property damage, and/or if you are unable to contact SoCalGas for any reason. Report Now


Recognize a Natural Gas Leak

Be aware of signs you may see, hear or smell when there is a leak.

  • LOOK If you see a damaged connection to a natural gas appliance, dirt/water blowing into the air, a dry patch of grass, fire or an explosion near a pipeline
  • LISTEN If you hear unusual sounds like hissing or whistling
  • SMELL If you smell the distinctive odor[1] of natural gas

[1] Some persons may not be able to smell the odor because they have a diminished sense of smell, olfactory fatigue (normal, temporary inability to distinguish an odor after prolonged exposure to it), a temporary loss of smell due to a respiratory illness or another physical condition, or because the odor is being masked or hidden by other odors that are present. In addition, certain pipeline and soil conditions can cause odor fade (the loss of odorant so that it is not detectable by smell).

 

Emergency Preparedness Resources

Ensure you are prepared to quickly respond and protect students, staff, and facilities. Learn More


Pipeline Markers and Maps

One in every 20 schools in the United States is located within a half‑mile of a petroleum or high‑pressure natural gas transmission pipeline or an above‑ground pipeline facility.

Pipeline markers indicate only the approximate — not exact — location of buried pipelines. Pipeline markers also do not indicate the depth or number of pipelines in the area. These yellow markers display the pipeline operator’s name and a phone number to call in case of an emergency.

Find pipelines or use the National Pipeline Mapping System.

 

Important Contact Information

Para obtener información de seguridad y prevención en español, visite socalgas.com/Seguridad.