Industrial Fire Prevention

Dust Explosion Injures 4 Mon, 09/15/2014 - 10:20am FELICIA FONSECA, Associated Press  FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Flames from welding equipment touched off a grain-dust explosion at a Nestlé Purina plant in Flagstaff Sunday, burning two workers severely and leaving two others with less serious burns, authorities said. The four contractors were welding about 5 p.m. on the fifth floor of the complex's seven-story grain elevator when their torches sparked grain dust and set off the blast, Flagstaff Fire Department Capt. Bill Morse said. One man was severely burned and taken by air ambulance to the Arizona Burn Center at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, and another man with severe burns was transported by ground ambulance to the same center, Morse said. A third man suffered moderate burns and was taken to the Flagstaff Medical Center, while another man with less serious burns was treated and released from the center, Morse said. The explo...

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...

VIDEO: CSB Investigation Warns of Dust Explosion Risk at Recycling Facilities from Waste Management World VIDEO: CSB Investigation Warns of Dust Explosion Risk at Recycling Facilities 18 July 2014 By Ben Messenger Managing Editor The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released its final report, safety recommendations and accompanying safety video into a fatal combustible dust explosion at the AL Solutions metal recycling facility in New Cumberland, West Virginia. As presented to the Board for a vote at a public meeting in Charleston, the report reiterates a recommendation that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) promulgate a general industry combustible dust standard, which CSB said it has been calling for since its 2006 study on these preventable accidents. The December 9, 2010 accident at the AL Solutions metal recycling facility, which milled and processed scrap titanium and zirconium metal, killed three employees and in...

Group seeks to reduce explosions Industry-led Manufacturers Advisory Group (MAG) has the goal of providing the industry with a better understanding of (and improved ability to manage the risks created by) combustible wood dust. by Treena Hein | Jun 2014 As a result of BC Safety Authority (BCSA)’s investigations into the Babine Forest Products and Lakeland Mills sawmill explosions in 2012, it issued a safety order in 2013 to over 400 wood processing facilities in B.C. that may have equipment installed in locations deemed hazardous because of the potential presence of combustible dust.  June 10, 2014 - The British Columbia forestry sector saw two dust explosions at sawmills in 2012, and in each explosion, two people were killed and others were injured. These terrible events spurred the creation of an industry-led Manufacturers Advisory Group (MAG), which has the goal of  providing the industry with a better understanding of (and improved ability to ma...

WPAC - Lack of concern - from Canadian Biomass Magazine Despite dust explosion tragedies, many mills fail inspections. Written by Gordon Murray    It has been more than two years since the January and April 2012 explosions that destroyed the Babine and Lakeland sawmills in central British Columbia, tragically killing four workers, injuring forty-four more, and putting hundreds out of work. Investigations by WorkSafe BC (WSBC) and BC Safety Authority (BCSA) determined that both explosions were preventable, having been caused by ineffective control of combustible dust. Each mill was cutting beetle-killed pine, which produces a considerably greater volume of wood dust and much finer dust than from cutting green wood. Suspended dust, confined space, oxygen, and an ignition source combined to cause both explosions. Regulators and forest industry leadership responded swiftly and aggressively. WSBC developed a combustible dust strategy ...