OSHA letter to 30K facilities with ComDust hazards -FOIA

• OSHA letter to 30,000 facilities with combustible dust hazards -FOIA Page - Annotated

  Came across this letter that was sent out to over 30,000 facilities last year by OSHA and thought I'd share with you in case you haven't seen it. There are over 100,000 facilities at risk, which includes many national industries not listed in the Dust NEP. For example, over 50% of ComDust incidents,from media accounts, last year occurred in national industries (NAICS) not referenced in the Dust NEP

  tags: OSHA Dust NEP

  • Combustible dusts are often either organic or metal dusts that are finely ground into very small particles, fibers, fines, chips, chunks, flakes,
    • Don't forget hybrid mixtures, where flammable vapors mixed with combustible dust, decrease the ignition sensitivity and increase explosion severity of the explosion hazard. - post by comdust
      
      
  • Your establishment has been identified as being in an industry
    • What about the thousands of other facilities that were not identified in the OSHA Dust NEP? All facilities that generate combustible dust in the manufacturing process are at risk. If your facility has not been identified in Appendix D-1 and D-2 of national industries (NAICS) in the Dust NEP, you are still at risk. - post by comdust
      
      
  • Failure to attend to housekeeping standards or to conduct maintenance on your ventilation systems or electrical controls places your employees and your facility at risk.
    • Also failure to implement best engineering practices as outlined in the NFPA combustible dust standards. Housekeeping alone will not mininmize the severity and probability of occurence. - post by comdust

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OSHA Region IV Combustible Dust NEP Enforcement and Inspection

• OSHA Focuses on Combustible Dust Hazards in AL, FL, GA, and MS-GRAINNET News - Annotated

  Inspection and Enforcement activity with the OSHA Dust NEP. What about the four other states in OSHA Region IV? Which includes Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee with approved State Occupational Safety and Health Plans? These states are not required to adopt the OSHA Dust NEP.

• "State plan participation in this national emphasis effort is strongly encouraged but is not required."

• tags: OSHA Region IV, OSHA Dust NEP, inspection, enforcement

  • 26 visits to Alabama companies
  • 37 visits to Florida companies
  • 32 visits to Georgia companies
  • nine visits to Mississippi companies
  • What about the other four states in OSHA Region IV that are State OSHA Plan states? State OSHA plan states are not required to adopt the OSHA Dust NEP? - post by comdust
  • Nationally, 3,662 violations have been identified during 813 inspections.
    
    
    • 813 combustible dust emphasis inspections out of the tens of thousands of manufacturing and non-manufacturing facilities in the United States. Last year OSHA sent out letters to over 30,000 facilities that generate combustible dust from combustible particulate solids. Currently there is over 100,000 facilities in national industries (NAICS) that have combustible dust hazards. Is your facility at risk? Not receiving a letter does not mean a free pass. If your facility generates combustible dust, then now is the time to conduct a hazard analysis so as to assess, evaluate, and control the hazard. - post by comdust
      
      
  • Dust fires and explosions can pose significant dangers in the workplace and can occur when five different factors are present.
    
    
    • Over 30% of the dust explosions in 2008 had prior fires which fire departments had previously responded to. Additionally, last year, 80% of combustible dust incidents were solely fires. Combustible dust related fires are the precursors of eventual dust explosions - post by comdust

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Resources
combustible-dust-letter.html (OSHA Letter to the 30,000)
combdust-mailing-list.zip (mailing list of the 30,000)

Combustible Dust Related Fire Awareness

• Sawmill Fire In Pike County | NBC4i.com - Annotated

  Excellent example of one of dozens combustible dust related fires that occur annually throughout the manufacturing sector. Important mention is made of the repeat response by the local fire departments for combustible dust related fires.

  tags: combustible dust related fire, fire, department, response

  • 'fire calls from time-to-time because the dust'
    • Excellent example of one of dozens combustible dust related fired that occur annually throughout the manufacturing sector. Important mention is made of the repeat response by the local fire departments for combustible dust related fires. - post by comdust

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Elimination of Dust Fire Hazard at Paper Mills

• Wet dust collection system eliminates duct fire hazard at Scott tissue mill | Pulp & Paper | Find Articles at BNET - Annotated

  Excellent article published in Pulp & Paper Oct 2000 by Mark Williamson. The importance of addressing combustible dust related fires is highlighted here. Do you have spark detection and flame suppression as part of your dry dust collector system?

  tags: dust collector, spark, detection_flame, suppression, system Flamex, Grecon

  • DUST IS AN UNDESIRABLE BUT inevitable byproduct of tissue manufacture. It settles everywhere in the machine room. In high concentrations, airborne dust is an occupational health concern
    

    • Maybe it just might be a good idea to add national industries (NAICS) in the paper sector as a potential for combustible dust related fires and explosions. Currently the paper sector does not exists in the OSHA Dust NEP. What do you think? - post by comdust
      
      
  • Scott Paper Limited in Lennoxville, Quebec,
    • Kruger Products Limited, formerly Scott Paper Limited, is Canada's leading manufacturer and distributor of towel and tissue products for consumer, in-home, use and for commercial, away-from-home, use. - post by comdust
      
      
  • The No. 5 machine at the Lennoxville mill generates high levels of dust. There are also high levels of static electricity in the mill, so dust sticks to the walls and the equipment.
    • So there is a combustible dust hazard with paper dust. Hmm..maybe someone at OSHA should also read this for helpful reference, so as to add the sector to the Dust NEP. - post by comdust
      
      
  • Machine cleaning was scheduled two times per week and each cleaning needed 45 minutes to 1 hour of downtime.
    • Housekeeping appears to be very costly - post by comdust
      
      
  • To significantly reduce airborne dust, reduce dust buildup and the potential for fires, and to lessen dust carryover to the final product, the mill looked for alternative dust control systems.
    • Here it is , the potential for combustible dust related fires. Fires are the precursors for combustible dust explosions. Yet they are ignored and dust explosions get all the emphasis instead. Fire departments are repeatedly responding to combustible dust related fired on a regular weekly basis - post by comdust
      
      
  • To protect against the spread of fires in a dry system, special fire control equipment such as spark detection systems, sprinkler systems, and fire doors are commonly used.
    • Notice the importance of best engineering practices as outlined in the NFPA combustible dust standards such as spark detection and flame suppression systems,. Flamex and Grecon are excellent sources for these systems. - post by comdust

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Cogeneration Plant fire/dust explosion in Netherlands .

• In a cogeneration plant in the Netherlands a major fire/dust explosion broke out. - Annotated

  I'd like to thank Roger Bours Sales manager at Fike Europe in Antwerp Area, Belgium for sharing this news story with me so I can share with others in the ComDust network. It's extremely important in conducting risk analysis concerning ComDust hazards that an understanding of probability of occurrence throughout all industries is vital.
  
  Here is just one example where a situational proactive awareness will be helpful to all. To translate the entire article, I highly recommend the Google Toolbar, which has the translate function. In Dutch a dust explosion is referred to as a stofexplosie.

• tags: cogeneration plant, dust explosion, Netherlands, stofexplosie
  
  

  Translations from Dutch of Excerpts
  
  
  
  • DE LIER – In een warmtekrachtcentrale aan de Hofzichtlaan is vrijdagmiddag een grote brand uitgebroken.
    • In a cogeneration plant to the Hofzichtlaan Friday is a major fire broke out. - post by comdust
      
      
  • Oorzaak van de brand is een stofexplosie in een bunker met zaagsel, dat als brandstof voor de warmtekrachtcentrale wordt gebruikt. Persoonlijke ongelukken deden zich niet voor.
    • Translation from Dutch "Cause of the fire is a dust in a bunker with sawdust, as fuel for cogeneration is used. Personal accident did not occur." - post by comdust
      
      
  • Omdat er gevaar bestond van nog meer stofexplosies werden bedrijven en een aantal vrijstaande woningen in de omgeving ontruimd
    • Because there is danger of further explosions were substance and a number of detached dwellings in the area evacuated - post by comdust

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