Oregon OSHA Aknowledges Combustible Dust Hazard

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/06/state_warning_of_dust_hazards.html

An interesting article was published today in the Pacific Northwest, written by veteran reporter Anne Saker of the Oregonian concerning Oregon OSHA and the hazard alerts the agency has sent out to approximately 2,500 manufacturing facilities in the state that handle combustible particulate solids which have the potential in generating combustible dust.

Combustible Dust Hazard Alerts is an excellent venue in bringing out an awareness concerning combustible dust. A follow-up to hazard alerts would be training concerning the complexities of combustible dust hazard recognition, hazard assessment, explosion hazard management, and understanding the numerous National Fire Protection combustible dust codes.

Other states can learn from example where Georgia is hosting a Fire Safety Symposium July 14-18 2008, which includes two days of training concerning combustible dust hazard recognition, which will be presented by Guy Colona, NFPA Vice President of Chemical Engineering and Amy Spencer NFPA Senior Chemical Engineer. Relying solely on good housekeeping is only one aspect of the solution in preventing and mitigating future combustible dust fires and explosions.