Industrial Fire Prevention

From U.S. Chemical Safety Board CSB Names Poor Design and Failure to Test Dust Collection System Among Causes of U.S. Ink New Jersey Flash Fire that Burned Seven Workers in 2012; OSHA Again Urged to Issue New Combustible Dust Regulations   East Rutherford, New Jersey, January 15, 2015—The flash fire that burned seven workers, one seriously, at a U.S. Ink plant in New Jersey in 2012 resulted from the accumulation of combustible dust inside a poorly designed dust collection system that had been put into operation only four days before the accident, an investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has found. In a report released today and scheduled to be presented for board consideration at a CSB public meeting in East Rutherford this evening, the investigation team concludes that the system was so flawed it only took a day to accumulate enough combustible dust and hydrocarbons in the duct work to overheat, ignite spontaneously, cause an explosion in the ...

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...

NFPA Standards- a viable solution to reduce combustible dust accidents From the National Fire Protection Association Blog Chemical Safety Board (CSB) Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso wrote an opinion piece, which appeared in Saturday’s New York Times where he chronicled a number of horrific manufacturing accidents in recent years that had significant fatalities and worker injuries. All were attributed to combustible dust. The most recent example was an explosion in a metal products factory in China this month that claimed the lives of 75 people and injured 185. He voiced his frustration about a lack of action to prevent these tragedies. I share his frustration for two reasons. First, while combustible dust is a normal by-product of the manufacturing process for a variety of items, if it is effectively managed it will reduce deaths and injuries should a fire or explosion occur. Second, NFPA codes and standards provide the means to manage combustible dust but are not being ado...

Prevention and mitigation of dust explosions  From Pulp & Paper Canada and Steven J. Luzik, Chilworth Technology Inc. Prevention and mitigation of dust explosions The characteristics of the dust generated in pulp and paper mills produce a lower risk of explosion than some other industries, but actually increase the risk of fire due to higher surface area and porosity that allows air to easily mix with the dust By: By Steven J. Luzik, Chilworth Technology Inc. 2012-10-01 The pulp and paper industry has experienced few reported explosions in the last 25 years when compared to other industrial plants that handle, process or otherwise generate combustible dusts. The Chemical Safety Board reported in its 2006 Combustible Dust Hazard study that, in a 25-year period in the United States, from 1980 to 2005, there were a total of 281 explosion incidents, 24% of which were attributed to wood and paper dust1. These explosions resulted in 11 fatalities and 88 injuries and o...

http://www.youtube.com/v/XQn5fL62KL8?version=3&autohide=1&showinfo=1&autoplay=1&attribution_tag=BpHc5AgtZ0KKxm7sIQDhQg&autohide=1&feature=share Published on Nov 5, 2013 CSB video excerpts from Dr. Trevor Kletz, a world renowned expert in chemical process safety, who died October 31, 2013.

From Composites Manufacturing Online. OSHA Stalls on Combustible Dust, but NFPA Prepares New Standards | Composites Manufacturing Online OSHA Stalls on Combustible Dust, but NFPA Prepares New Standards September 25, 2013 OSHA’s combustible dust rulemaking has been delayed, while the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is adding a new standard to address hazard identification and control.  These were key messages presented September 20 at a Small Business Administration event attend by ACMA staff. The dust from grinding or cutting even highly filled composite laminates is “combustible” when tested using OSHA’s approved test methods. OSHA has cited several composites manufacturers for failure to comply with the current version of NFPA Standard 654, notably for poor housekeeping and locating cyclones and other dust collection equipment indoors. Under OSHA’s National Emphasis Program for combustible dust, the agency is enforcing NFPA standards while it ...

CSB Business Meeting to Vote on Key Safety Recommendations and Initiate "Most Wanted" Program - Public Meeting - Events | the U.S. Chemical Safety Board Thursday, July 25, 2013 CSB Business Meeting to Vote on Key Safety Recommendations and Initiate "Most Wanted" Program All Day Event The U.S. Chemical Safety Board will meet publicly to consider the status designations of seven key safety recommendations issued to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA.) The Board will also consider selection of the agency's first "Most Wanted Safety Improvement." TIME AND DATE :  July 25, 2013, 9:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. EDT. PLACE :  Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center , Horizon Room, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, DC 20004. OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES: From 9:30 a.m. until 12:15 p.m., the Board will consider designating the following recommendations to the federal Occupa...

CSB Releases Video Documenting the Blast Damage in West, Texas - Investigations - News | the U.S. Chemical Safety Board CSB Releases Video Documenting the Blast Damage in West, Texas On May 3, 2013, U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigator Jerad Denton took a film crew into West, Texas, to document the level of community damage from the fertilizer explosion that killed 14 and injured about 200 others. This 3-minute video shows the devastation.  Also see:           New CSB video provides an up-close-and-personal look at damage from the recent Texas plant explosion The Chemical Safety Board (CSB), the federal agency charged with investigating industrial accidents, recently released a video underscoring the damage from the ammonium nitrate fertilizer explosion in West, Texas, that killed 14 people and injured about 200 others. Narrated by a CSB investigator, the video illustrates the destruction of schools, residences, a ...

Inherently Safer Processing This is an excellent CSB video on explosions and Inherently Safer Process Assessment, Design, Technology, Procedures and Methodology throughout the entire process life cycle.  In addition to mitigation and prevention, you should also look at Risk Reduction through reducing Probability of Occurrence and Severity of Consequence. Some key inherently safer design concepts explained in this video: - Minimize - Substitute - Moderate - Simplify Inherently Safer: The Future of Risk Reduction - YouTube

Another update from Epstein, Becker, Green.   Posted on March 14th, 2012 by Eric J. Conn By Forrest G. Read, IV and Eric J. Conn The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) announced earlier this month a new policy disguised as a nod to enhancing employee participation in CSB investigations, but which may actually represent a dramatic limitation in the investigation rights of both employees and employers. The new policy expands the role of non-management employees in the CSB’s investigations into the causes of chemical accidents that occur at industrial facilities, but does so at the expense of employers’ involvement and employees’ rights. By way of background, the CSB was created under the Clean Air Act, but does not report under the EPA, nor does it fall under the Department of Labor.  Rather, the CSB is an independent, non-enforcement federal agency charged with inv...

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...