Industrial Fire Prevention

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...

From our friends at Nilfisk, and The Industrial Vacuum Blog a good article on Grain Mills and Combustible Dust Housekeeping Grain Mills: Preventative Maintenance and Dust Control  Grain Mills: Preventative Maintenance and Dust Control (Part 1) January 11, 2013 Feed & Grain Every week, we see news about  grain mills with dust control and maintenance issues. Simply by the nature of their processes, grain mills have difficulty keeping a clean and safe environment. This series of blog posts will review solutions for general maintenance, oil spill response and combustible dust control. Part 1: General facility maintenance and employee safety go hand-in-hand. Providing a clean, sanitary environment means your employees are risk-free of job-related injury or infection. General maintenance in grain mills also addresses concerns like combustible dust and cross-contamination from allergens, bacteria and other hazards. These threats are heightened...