OSHA’s Increased Enforcement of Facilities with Combustible Dusts Hazards | The National Law Review
Published on The National Law Review ( http://www.natlawreview.com ) OSHA’s Increased Enforcement of Facilities with Combustible Dusts Hazards By Heidi P. Knight The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) continues to issue citations for alleged violations of various general industry standards (such as general housekeeping and electrical standards) and Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the General Duty Clause (“GDC”), for alleged workplace exposure to fire and/or explosion hazards from “combustible dust,” despite the lack of a clear and comprehensive general industry standard governing employers’ handling of combustible dusts. Definition of “Combustible Dust” Although there is no single, universally accepted definition of “combustible dust,” nor a standard method for sampling dust to determine its combustibility, OSHA has defined “combustible dust” in at least one rulemaking document to inc...