Industrial Fire Prevention

"Wood dust suspended in the air was confirmed as the fuel source for the two explosions by WorksafeBC, the province’s chief workplace safety agency." "two criteria to determine which areas in the sawmills were at greater risk of an explosive hazard: the accumulation of wood dust at a rate of greater than one eighth of an inch in an eight-hour shift and samples that have more than 40 per cent of particles that were 425 micrometres (just under half a millimetre) or less in size " From The Vancouver Sun: B.C. sawmill study makes surprise finding on using moisture to prevent deadly explosions B.C. sawmill study makes surprise finding on using moisture to prevent deadly explosions   Wet wood dust can explode just like dry wood dust: report By Gordon Hoesktra, Vancouver Sun August 26, 2013   A large fire burns at the Lakeland Mills sawmill in Prince George, B.C., on Tuesday April 24, 2012. An explosion rocked the sawmill, setting...

By Rich Christianson at woodworkingnetwork.com Pardon Your ComDust An OSHA -mandated combustible dust standard in likely a year or two away, but that doesn’t mean the federal safety agency isn’t already applying increased pressure on manufacturers to clean up their plants. As I witnessed firsthand yesterday at OSHA’s third in a series of Combustible Dust Stakeholder Meetings ( read report ), OSHA is intent on making a ComDust standard real. It’s a rule-making process that might not be happening if not for the Feb. 7, 2008 fatal explosion of Imperial Sugar’s plant in Port Wentworth, GA, that killed 14 and injured dozens of other workers. But happening it is. Ever since the Imperial Sugar tragedy, Congress has taken enhanced interest in safeguarding workers from ComDust hazards and OSHA inspectors have paid greater attention to dust accumulations in the workplace. The most recent example is OSHA’s announcement that it was fining H&H Woodworking of Yonkers, NY, $1...

We are having discussions about the proposed combustible dust rulemaking on the Linkedin site, Combustible Dust discussion group, and would appreciate any comments or suggestions, or insight into your experience with OSHA related to combustible dust.  Go here to participate: http://tinyurl.com/yjg62rt OSHA Underground: OSHA Combustible Dust ANPRM Discussions By John Astad With the recent posting in the Federal Register of the OSHA combustible dust proposed ruling ANPRM, the complex subject of combustible dust has come to the forefront as a workplace health and safety issue. I encourage all stakeholders ... OSHA Underground - http://oshaunderground.blogspot.com/ OSHA Starts Combustible Dust Rulemaking -- Occupational Health ... Oct 21, 2009 ... OSHA has been conducting a Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (NEP) since October 2007, which it says has resulted in an unusually ...