Industrial Fire Prevention

Burns Lake sawmill explosion and fire called preventable - British Columbia -  From CBC News "No criminal charges are being laid, however. Last week, Crown counsel revealed it would not bring charges against the owners of the mill, saying WorkSafeBC's investigation didn't follow the rules for conducting criminal investigations and as a result a large amount of evidence would have to be thrown out." "The various statements from the Babine mill workers certainly indicate that beetle-killed wood was producing more and finer dusts and waste than typical green wood." Burns Lake sawmill explosion and fire called preventable Premier orders surprise review of probe into blast that killed 2 workers CBC News Posted: Jan 16, 2014 2:05 PM PT Last Updated: Jan 17, 2014 9:04 AM PT ► Premier orders mill explosion review 2:15 ...

OSHA Issues Guidance on Combustible Dust Hazards Under New HazCom Rule From Bloomberg BNA By Robert Iafolla Jan. 2 — When chemical manufacturers and importers lack direct experience with the combustible dust hazards of products they're shipping, they should use laboratory testing, published test results or particle size to classify them under the new hazard communication standard, according to an Occupational Safety and Health Administration memo released Dec. 31. Manufacturers and importers are responsible for considering the combustible dust hazards of the chemical in the form they're shipped as well as those that might stem from normal use and foreseeable emergencies, OSHA said in its memo. OSHA's standard interpretation memo is designed to guide agency inspectors in deciding whether products are classified properly for combustible dust hazards. The guidance is for inspections of manufacturers and importers, typically from referrals r...

Excellent article below from our friends at The Harrington Group, LLC But first, I want to make a few comments about safe design of these pellet plants: Here in general terms are current best practices for wood pellet mills based on NFPA 664 and over 3 decades of experience protecting wood, sawdust and wood flour processes. As a primary consideration, understand that these wood pellet plants are making fuel, that plant operations and maintenance personnel are constantly working around fuel. Consider wood flour as dangerous as gasoline. Utilize inherently safer equipment and process design. Separate, segregate and isolate various hazardous processes and equipment from each other. Risk is defined as probability of occurrence and severity of consequence. You will want to design in various layered engineering controls to reduce risk of probability of occurrence as well as severity of consequences in pellet mill processes. We reduce risk by reducing probability of occ...