Industrial Fire Prevention

"Near the end of the day shift on Jan. 19, 2012, a saw on the large headrig Roche operated "deviated" throwing up sparks and lighting the nearby sawdust. That's not unheard of in a sawmill, but this time it also sent a burst of flame high enough to nearly hit the ceiling as it climbed the sawdust floating in the air." Lakeland inquest fraught with controversy -  from The Working Forest, Your #1 source for forestry and forest industry news, and the Prince George Citizen By: Prince George Citizen Set to resume next month, plenty of ground has already been covered over the two-and-a-half weeks the coroner's inquest into the fatal Lakeland Mills sawmill explosion has been held so far. By the time it was temporarily adjourned on March 26, the inquest had heard from 47 witnesses, beginning with the widows of Al Little and Glenn Roche, who died from the extensive burns they suffered in the April 23, 2012 blast. Another 22 people were injured, many seriou...

What You Need to Know About ComDust From our friends at Wood Products – December 2012 What You Need to Know About ComDustby our friend Jamison Scott at Air Handling Systems With the increase of combustible dust incidents, OSHA is visiting woodworking facilities with greater frequency Combustible dust is a serious issue in the woodworking industry. Gaining national attention in 2008 when a major sugar refinery in Georgia exploded due to combustible dust, in 2012 alone, the woodworking industry saw a major sawmill in British Columbia, Canada, launch a fireball reportedly 60 meters high due to a suspected combustible dust explosion. Additionally a wood pellet maker in New Hampshire suffered a third combustible dust related incident. While the occurrences and severity of combustible wood dust related fires have been increasing, the incidence of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) inspections related to combustible dust in woodworking facilities has al...

From our friends at the| Harrington Group, Inc. What Can Plant Managers Do to Help Emergency Responders Prevent Combustible Dust Explosions? Posted on Thursday, December 12th, 2013 By Dale C. Hansen, P.E. Image courtesy of nokhoog_buchachon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Combustible dust explosion risks are one of the current “hot issues” being addressed by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) because, in recent years, combustible dust explosions have led to preventable loss of life. While the primary focus of these emphasis programs are related to the safety of workers in facilities handling combustible dusts, it should be recognized that emergency responders are also at risk because combustible dust explosion hazards can be difficult to predict during fire incidents, and the consequences can be catastrophic. In April of this year OSHA releas...

From Woodworkingnetwork.com "Combustible sawdust turned up in unacceptable levels in 48 of 83 wood and forest products plants inspected..."   Plywood, Wood Plant ComDust Investigations Top Week's Reports Combustible sawdust turned up in unacceptable levels in 48 of 83 wood and forest products plants inspected in British Columbia this summer, says the Vancouver Sun newspapers. While the government agency WorkSafeBC had been inspecting sawmills and later plywood, pulp and secondary wood products firms, the newspaper's freedom of information request  named names and forced more public disclosure by the agency. Plywood firms ( West Fraser and Tolko are just two examples) were ordered to clean up; as well as secondary wood products manufacturers (some examples are C&C Wood, Teal Cedar, and Northern Engineered Wood Products). A complete list is at this link. Combustible dust explosions racked two British Columbia sawmills earlier this year, killing...