Grain Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires: 2008

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Combustible dust explosions and fires occurring in grain elevators and feed mills during 2008 throughout the United States. The OSHA grain facility combustible dust standard has reduced the the number of fatalities and injuries since prior to 1988 when the standard was implemented. Yet incidents still occur on a regular basis.

Also included on the Google Map are incidents in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Michigan Combustible Dust Fires Reoccurring

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How can there be two combustible dust fires in succession within one week like has recently occurred in Muskegon, Michigan at the metal finishing facility of Port City Industrial Finishing Inc? In last Tuesday’s incident the dust collector/silo sustained $120,000 of fire damage and yesterday courageous and heroic fast-acting employees emptied all 18 fire extinguishers in quenching another combustible dust fire in the vicinity of a dust collector/air handling unit inside the building.

Michigan Scorecard

Michigan is high on the national scorecard of a continual succession of preventable and predictable combustible dust explosions and fires. Of a 7.0 earthquake magnitude on the scale of the recent tragic Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion, the Ford Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan experienced a coal dust explosion nearly two decades ago on February 1, 1991, causing 6 fatalities and 30 injuries after the dust had settled.

Two short years would pass when on May 25, 2001 another fireball and combustible dust explosion would erupt in the state at a Georgia Pacific particle-board plant in Gaylord, Michigan. In this incident there were 15 injuries of which nearly half of them where from six firefighters who were extinguishing hot spots from the earlier fire when another combustible dust explosion erupted.

2001 Not a Good Year

Four months later on September 21, 2001 as investigators were still analyzing and writing their accidents reports on the Georgia-Pacific explosion another combustible dust explosion occurred at a Wayland, Michigan milk processing plant, which resulted in two injuries and minor damage to the facility.

2001 was not a good year for the nation or Michigan either concerning explosions that seemed to come out from nowhere. The New Year in 2002 fared no better and even before the dismal anniversary of the catastrophic coal dust explosion at the Ford Rouge Plant had turned its pages on the calendar another coal dust explosion raised its nasty head on January 16, 2002 on the banks of Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan.

At an electric services plant, a coal-fired boiler was being brought on-line where the coal feeding system had not been purged properly and an excessive amount of coal dust left in the system ignited, causing an explosion and leaving a fatality in its wake. The dragon had spoken and was not to be ignored.

National Problem

The last six years have been dormant in comparison to earthquakes’ with several combustible dust fires spread out through 2003 and 2004 with no fatalities or injuries, synoymonous to tremors and warning signs. It’s now when a facility such as Port City Industrial Finishing, where two combustible fires occur in succession within a week that notice occurs. In retrospect, Michigan only had nine combustible dust incidents from 1989-2004 leaving 7 fatalities and 59 injuries.

Michigan is not being singled out in the scheme that the dragon has planned out. Since he lashed his ugly tail upon the serene western bank of the Savannah River at the Dixie Crystal sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia over two dozen combustible dust explosions and fires have occurred throughout the nation.

So how many more fatalities and injuries must occur before the issue is addressed and a mandatory OSHA comprehensive combustible dust standard is implemented utilizing National Fire Protection Association combustible dust codes?

Inconsistencies with OSHA General Industry Standards

Combustible dust explosions and fires continue at facilities throughout the United States in alarming regularity. Since the tragic Dixie Crystal sugar refinery explosion there has already been over a dozen combustible dust related explosions and fires with resulting fatalities, injuries and further economic impact to local communities. The current OSHA regulatory and enforcement scheme in preventing this predictable loss is currently not working.

Since 2005, the agency has published and distributed a Combustible Dust Safety and Health Information Bulletin, trained inspectors, implemented a combustible dust national emphasis program, and even most recently published a web page solely devoted to the hazards of combustible dusts.

Currently the attitude of upper management in the agency is solely energized toward self compliance through outreach programs and industry alliances. In the meantime preventable accidents like Dixie Crystal in proportion to a 7.0 earthquake in an urban area are still occurring. Minutes, hours, and days are ticking by before the next catastrophic dust explosion occurs in our nation.

Even at a recent House committee hearing of the Education and Labor, where Congressman George Miller introduced legislation, H.R. 5522, the "Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008. There was still an unwilling nature in the attitude of Edwin Foulke, the Director of OSHA during his testimony to move forward with a comprehensive combustible dust standard as recommended by the Chemical Safety Board.

A wait and see attitude until after the investigation of the Dixie Crystal was the most forthcoming pronouncement of Director Foulke. How many more investigations need to be completed before OSHA recognizes the hazards of combustible dust, where housekeeping alone will not put an end to future incidents? Already nearly 30 years ago, OSHA commissioned the National Academy of Sciences to conduct studies on the hazards of combustible dusts and the results where unanimous, combustible dust causes fires and explosion. From that study the 1987 OSHA Grain Facility Combustible Dust Standard was born. Why not now a general industry comprehensive combustible dust standard?

Currently the OSHA general industry standards of ventilation, housekeeping, hazardous locations, and hazardous communications are very weak and not sufficient in protecting facilities in the United States from future dust explosions and fires. Facility owners, plant managers, and workers must consult and review the numerous National Fire Protection Association codes in the prevention and mitigation of future incidents. Included in this post are major points that need to be considered. It’s highly recommended to read online NFPA 654: Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids.

Document : Combustible Dust Protection: Inconsistencies with OSHA General Industry Standards.pdf file