Industrial Fire Prevention

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...

Classification of Combustible Dusts under the Revised Hazard Communication Standard (OSHA Memo)     Safety Info Posts - OSHA Compliance Posts Written by Bryan Haywood    Wednesday, 01 January 2014 11:37 FYI OSHA issued this memo on 12/27/13 to Regional AD's to close the gap on how Combustible Dust will be handled under the new HAZCOM std.  Until OSHA addresses these issues through rulemaking, CSHOs will use this memo to determine if manufacturers and importers (from now on "classifier") are in compliance with the obligations of 1910.1200(d) for combustible dust. This memorandum ( CLICK HERE  to see the OSHA memo) provides guidance for compliance safety and health officers (CSHOs) to use in determining whether manufacturers or importers have properly classified their products(1) for co...

Is Cinnamon Flammable? - Science - ChefSteps Made from the dried bark of Cinnamomum verum , a tree indigenous to Sri Lanka, cinnamon's exotic perfume and subtle flavor come from its two major components: cinnamaldehyde and eugenol. These two chemicals are volatile, meaning they readily vaporize at temperatures comfortable to humans, which is in fact why cinnamon is so fragrant. But those same vapors are also highly combustible (indeed, combustion only happens in the presence of vapors), making cinnamon a highly flammable material under the right conditions. Now a cloud of cinnamon dust isn’t the kind of thing most people would consider dangerous, but add enough heat and you’ll quickly have an expanding ball of fire known as a dust explosion. For dealing with this situation, we can only recommend a good pair of running shoes. In fact, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issues warnings about cinnamon explosions in food manufacturing plants....

From Westfield Insurance Grains of Knowledge blog, this post focuses on the hazards associated with grain bins, including key precautions that can be taken to reduce workers’ risks while performing duties in, and around, grain bins and grain dust. Ag Safety: Grain Bin Hazards and Safety Precautions - Grains of Knowledge Ag Safety: Grain Bin Hazards and Safety Precautions This post is the first in a series on agricultural safety that will educate readers about the risks associated with various farming and agribusiness jobs, as well as offer helpful tips for reducing and preventing hazards at your family or business operation. Being a part of the farming and agribusiness industry can be greatly rewarding. In the U.S., families and businesses supply essential produce and consumer goods, support economic growth and contribute to the legacy of American farming. Members of the agriculture community are aware that certain jobs and farming duties can be more hazardous than...

From our friends at Fauske, a good primer on developing a Risk Management Strategy. Note: The biomass and wood pellet industry has certain built in hazards. They are making fuel after all!  Every time the product is moved or manipulated there will be combustible dust created. Ignition sources are inherent to the process.    Proper risk assessment and inherently safe engineering and design from the start of the project are important to the safe operation and sustainability of these processes. Based on extensive experience in this and similar industries we know that process primary ignition sources will be the dryers, grinders and hammermills, and the pellet mills. There will be secondary ignition sources from bearings, and mechanical parts, as well as human error and hot work.   There are many fire hazards in the biomass process.   As for explosion hazards, there are several points where there will be combustible dust clouds in sufficient concentrati...

Root Cause Analysis Tip: Why Do Root Cause Analysis? From Taproot Blog, and Systems Improvements, Inc.                                     WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE? Have you thought about why you do root cause analysis? What is your purpose? I ask because many people go through the motions of root cause analysis without asking this essential question. For most people, the purpose of root cause analysis is to learn to stop major accidents by finding the root causes of accidents and fixing them. Obviously, we must analyze the root causes of fatalities and serious injuries. But waiting for a serious accident to prevent a fatality or serious injury is like shutting the barn door after the cow has escaped. Instead of waiting for a major accident, we need to learn from smaller incidents that warn us about a big accident just around the corner. Thus, root cause analysis of these significant ...

explosion-testing-table.pdf