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

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

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)