Industrial Fire Prevention

Excellent primer, training video on Combustible Dust 101 from our friends at EMSL by IAQMarketer. Published on Apr 22, 2012 by IAQMarketer Combustible dusts are fine particles that present an explosion hazard when suspended in air in certain conditions. A dust explosion can be catastrophic and cause employee deaths, injuries, and destruction of entire buildings. In many combustible dust accidents, employers and employees were unaware that a hazard even existed.

Safety 2012: OSHA’s Continuing Mission | EHS Today Does Safety cost or save money?  Here is the other side of the argument: Safety 2012: "Safety Pays" From EHSToday.com by Sandy Smith, OSHA Administrator David Michaels says "Safety Pays". "Safety saves lives, said Michaels, and also, “Safety pays. Safety does not just prevent injuries, it will save you money.” Safety 2012: OSHA’s Continuing Mission Jun 4, 2012 6:48 PM, By Sandy Smith Bolstered by recent studies that indicate OSHA inspections, and corporations’ subsequent emphasis on safety, actual save companies money, OSHA Administrator David Michaels told a packed room at Safety 2012 in Denver that OSHA “levels the playing field” for responsible employers who are investing in safety and must compete with companies that are cutting costs by compromising worker safety. “Employers who don’t make the investment look at workers as replaceable cogs,” said Michaels. While the rate of...

Safety 2012: 10 Reasons Your Risk Assessments Are Inadequate | EHS Today From EHSToday.com, a great article on Risk Assessments, why they may fail to deliver, and why they are important through the life of the process for MOC, etc.  Including hierarchy of controls, and prioritizing risk. Safety 2012: 10 Reasons Your Risk Assessments Are Inadequate Jun 7, 2012 8:12 AM, By Laura Walter Two risk control experts who have performed thousands of risk assessments throughout their careers have concluded that "a number of those risk assessments are not performed very well." They shared their expertise with ASSE Safety 2012 attendees in a June 5 session in the Colorado Convention Center. "Organizations face a wide range of risk every day that has the potential to impact their ability to stay in business," said Bruce Lyon, CSP, PE, ARM, CHMM. "Risk assessment is an important tool to help manage that process." Lyon and Bruce Hollcroft, CSP, ...

Dust Collector Fire and Explosion Highlights Need for Combustible Dust Considerations In System Designs | Baghouse.com From Baghouse.com and Samuel Dal Santo , an excellent case study of what went wrong at a wood pellet operation, creating fires and explosions that in most cases can be prevented.  One key to prevention is proper Safety System design.  And one key to prevention is proper design and application of a listed Spark Detection System .  For more information on Spark Detection and other types of Hazard Monitoring, Fire and Explosion Prevention and Protection systems please contact us in the contact form in the right column of this blog. Dust Collector Fire and Explosion Highlights Need for Combustible Dust Considerations In System Designs Posted on May 18, 2012 in Dust Collection , Dust Collection Blog , Environmental Industry News , Industrial Workplace Safety |   A massive fire and explosion in the dust collection system o...

Dust Explosions In The Food Industry Wed, 03/21/2012 - 1:43pm Vahid Ebadat, Ph.D., CEO, Chilworth North America  From Manufacturing.net, an article by Dr. Vahid Ebadat, CEO Chilworth. This feature originally ran in the  March 2012 issue  of  Food Manufacturing , a Manufacturing.net sister publication . A food processor's guide to understanding how dust explosions happen and what can be done to prevent them. The vast majority of powders in the food industry can form explosible dust clouds if the particle size is small and moisture content is low. Although explosible dust cloud concentrations are not normally expected to be present within processing buildings, explosible dust clouds are regularly formed inside material handling or processing equipment when bins are being filled, powders are being transferred or dust is being collected in a dust collector. The particle size of the dust is a property which influences the explosi...

From Plant Engineering Combustible Dust: Identifying, Addressing Explosion Risks Can Save Lives A great article by Tony Supine and Mike Walters, Camfil Farr APC, reviews the current status of the OSHA National Emphasis Program for combustible dust, the NFPA standards that address how to prevent or limit explosion hazards, how to identify these hazards, and the types of equipment used to eliminate or control explosion hazards. Review of the current status of the OSHA National Emphasis Program for combustible dust, the NFPA standards that address how to prevent or limit explosion hazards, how to identify these hazards, and the types of equipment used to eliminate or control explosion hazards. Tony Supine and Mike Walters, Camfil Farr APC 05/22/2012  The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) sets standards and codes to protect buildings against fire and explosion risks, and OSHA is enforcing these standard...

From Powermag.com by Jonathan A. Jacobi of UL PureSafety, a great article on relying on best engineering practices, regardless of changing regulations.  We have always relied on best prescriptive and engineered design practices for fire and explosion prevention and protection, system design, and have relied on FM Global Data Sheets and other insurers input, NFPA and other Standards as well as practical experience from the best minds available to aspire to industry best practices for our customers and clients. Read on... Combustible Dust Management Training: Rely on Best Practices, Not Shifting Regulatory Winds :: POWER Magazine :  None of you reading this magazine needs an article—or new governmental regulations—to tell you that flash fires and explosions involving coal dust can cause catastrophic incidents, fatalities, facility damage, and financial consequences. One of the most tragic incidents occurred at a Michigan power plant in 1999. Six people were killed a...