Industrial Fire Prevention

How to keep from blowing up and burning down your wood processing operation From our friends at Canadian Forest Industries June 24, 2021 By Jeffrey C. Nichols     Combustible explosion. Photo courtesy Fagus GreCon   “You know you are making fuel , right?” This is a question I often found myself asking as new wood pellet and biomass plants started sprouting up all over the United States and Canada. I didn’t say this to be rude, but to point out potential combustible dust and ignition issues. For decades, we have been making wood flour in the forest products, wood and secondary wood products sectors, especially in the MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) and other related industries. Yet there seemed to be little technology transfer, especially when it comes to engineering controls for fire and explosion prevention and protection. Every engineering firm and large eq...

From BBA :Engineering For A Changing World | Engineering Consulting, Design, Studies, Commissioning Combustible dust: Controlling the risk of explosion Few people are aware of fires and explosions caused by combustible dust, yet they occur regularly in the industrial sector. These types of accidents have caused more than 119 deaths and 700 injuries in the U.S. since 1990 (1). In 2012, two explosions occurred within a few weeks of each other at two British Columbian sawmills, resulting in four dead and 40 injured. On August 2, there was an explosion at a car parts factory, a subcontractor of General Motors located in Kunshan in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. This explosion killed 75 and injured 200. When can an explosion occur? Wood, paper, cardboard, aluminum, iron, magnesium, silicon, sugar, flours, cornstarch, whey, rubber, coal, graphite, polyester, polypropylene and PVC are only a few of the many combustible materials that, in particulate form, become explo...

Root Cause Analysis Tip: Why Do Root Cause Analysis? From Taproot Blog, and Systems Improvements, Inc.                                     WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE? Have you thought about why you do root cause analysis? What is your purpose? I ask because many people go through the motions of root cause analysis without asking this essential question. For most people, the purpose of root cause analysis is to learn to stop major accidents by finding the root causes of accidents and fixing them. Obviously, we must analyze the root causes of fatalities and serious injuries. But waiting for a serious accident to prevent a fatality or serious injury is like shutting the barn door after the cow has escaped. Instead of waiting for a major accident, we need to learn from smaller incidents that warn us about a big accident just around the corner. Thus, root cause analysis of these significant ...

OSHA Fines Plant Rocked By Dust Collection System Fire And Explosion on Environmental Expert OSHA Fines Plant Rocked By Dust Collection System Fire And Explosion OSHA has issued huge fines over a combustible dust fire and explosion the tore through a wood pellet manufacturer’s dust collection system May 14, 2012 | Jaffrey, NH -- OSHA fined the New England Wood Pellet, LLC a total of $147,000 over safety violations after a combustible dust fire and explosion rocked the company’s plant in Jaffrey, NH last week. The fines, which are some of the biggest yet this year, and the accompanying report on the incident that criticizes the company for failing to “effectively minimize and address clearly recognized hazards that could kill or disable workers in a catastrophic incident.” The company for its part has fired back, saying OSHA’s findings are “one-sided and unfairly dismissive of the company's past and ongoing efforts to improve worker safety at...

U.S. Chemical Safety Board The CSB investigates Hoeganaese finds literally "tons" of combustile dust on-site. STATEMENT FOR NEWS CONFERENCE Friday June 3, 2011 Nashville, TN CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso and Investigator-in-Charge Johnnie Banks   Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso:    Good morning and welcome to our news conference. I am Rafael Moure-Eraso, Chairperson of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, or CSB. We are here today to update the media and the public on the status of our ongoing investigation into the explosion and ensuing fire that occurred at the Hoeganaes facility on Friday, May 27 in Gallatin, Tennessee.  Tragically, two workers died and a third was gravely injured.   First, a quick word about the CSB. We are an independent federal agency charged with investigating chemical accidents and reporting on their root causes. We are not a regulatory agency and do not issue fines or penalties. We make formal safety recommendati...

The 5 Points of discussion for the OSHA Combustible Dust Stakeholder Meeting February 17, 2010 Atlanta, Georgia: 1. NFPA Standards - Benefits and challenges.  Should they be used as OSHA Standards or compliance alternatives? 2. Scope - What facilites and combustible dusts should be covered or not, and on what technical basis? 3. Economic Impact - Costs and benefits of proposed rules and regulatory approaches?  4. Hazard Mitigation - Where and how engineering and administrative controls are applied, methods of analysis? 5. Additional topics - questions, comments, topics. 12 Lessons learned from the OSHA Combustible Dust Stakeholder Meeting February 17, 2010 1:00pm Session: 1. The lack of participation by local and regional companies affected by the new OSHA Combustible Dust Standard, and other industry professionals is perplexing. 2. There is no deadline for creating the new OSHA Combustible Dust Standard. 3. Generally defining Combustible Dust industry wide is...

OSHA Safety Standards » Blog Archive » OSHA and the Million Dollar ... By admin Seventeen serious citations, with proposed penalties totaling $52400, include combustible dust and electrical hazards; lack of exit route lighting and signage; lack of confined space evaluations; uninspected fire extinguishers; ... OSHA Safety Standards - http://cableorganizer.com/osha-regulations/

The Danger Of Combustible Dust - 60 Minutes - CBS News Jul 5, 2009 ... 60 Minutes on CBS News: The Danger Of Combustible Dust - Scott Pelley reports on the deaths and property damage caused by dust explosions at ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfiXvIM5gD0

Greetings! Welcome to the Industrial Fire Prevention blog, powered by South East Fire Prevention.com. Your resource for news, education, understanding and mitigating combustible dust fires and explosions in the process industries. The purpose of this blog is to educate our valued customers, and stakeholders from management to operators, to maintenance and housekeeping personnel, in all process industries to the dangers of combustible dust, and best engineering practices for mitigating these dangers. So, welcome aboard, and we welcome your pertinant comments.