OSHA Combustible Dust Stakeholder Meeting in Atlanta Feb 17

Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Stakeholder Meetings on Combustible Dust

Wednesday, February 17, 2010
9:00am - Noon and 1:30pm - 4:30pm

Marriott Perimeter Center

via www2.ergweb.com

Register now as a participant or observer for the OSHA Combustible Dust Rulemaking Stakeholder Meeting to be held in Atlanta, Georgia . Federal Register Notice January 25, 2010

Posted via web from ComDust

Georgia Combustible Dust Regulation

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Stakeholders in the manufacturing, non-manufacturing, and utility sectors are eagerly awaiting OSHA’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register. Following the Chemical Safety Board’s recent key findings and recommendations on the Imperial Sugar Refinery dust explosion, OSHA submitted the combustible dust regulation for review to the Office of Management and Budget, a Cabinet-level office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. On a state level and moving much faster than Federal actions, Georgia recently held a public hearing for their combustible dust regulation.

A diverse spectrum of the manufacturing sector attended a public hearing last week at the Fire Commissioners Hearing Room in Atlanta, Georgia where they submitted final comments to the Administrative Law Judge for consideration. Representatives of Georgia’s manufacturing sector are not opposed to fire and explosion safety in the workplace and have been working tirelessly with the Commissioners office in developing a consensus.

Since the Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion, stakeholders have worked closely with Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, John Oxendine, in developing a combustible dust regulation that will provide appropriate layers of protection in minimizing the probability and reducing the severity of future combustible dust related fires and explosions.

In contrast, a point of contention does arise within the manufacturing sector concerning the feasibility of a regulation during the nation’s economic recession. For instance, costly best engineering practices for combustible dust fire and explosion hazards is not required amongst many global trading partners and many argue this would result in a competitive disadvantage for Georgia businesses.

Georgia’s combustible dust rulemaking process has national significance in that stakeholders across a diverse spectrum of state manufacturing subsectors are also representative on a larger scale of national manufacturing subsectors. So could the comments and input to Georgia government officials be a precursor to future comments in the upcoming federal action during the OSHA combustible dust rulemaking process?

The Combustible Dust Policy Institute proposes a possible solution in alleviating economic concerns. This would initially include administrative control measures and safe working practices that would not put small businesses at a global competitive disadvantage.

For example, good housekeeping (CSB recommendation), OSHA hazard communication training, contractor participation (PSM), explosion protection documents (ATEX) and accident investigation (PSM) protocol would minimize the severity and likelihood of future incidents immensely.

Essential but costly, best engineering practices and inherent safety design, phased in over a period of several years in conjunction with the global economy rebounding is a viable option that needs further discussion. An excellent example of a phase-in- period occurred with the EU ATEX directives for potentially explosive atmospheres in the workplace.

In this podcast segment, Jeff Romine, a Corporate Safety Director for national flooring manufacturer, attended the Georgia public hearing on combustible dust and shares with listeners a first hand perspective of industry concerns that were presented to the Administrative Law Judge. These same concerns have a national significance in the Federal OSHA combustible dust rulemaking.

Mr. Romine has over 20 years of experience in consultation, auditing, safety, education and insurance, and is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Professional Environmental Auditor (CPEA), and OSHA Outreach General Industry Trainer. Mr. Romine is currently serving as a Senior Corporate Safety Manager in the Risk Management Department for Shaw Industries one of the leading flooring manufactures in the United States, a Berkshire Hathaway Company. He lives in Ringgold GA with his wife Cindy, daughter Katie (Senior at the University of GA) and son Alex aka “AJ” (freshman at Oglethorpe University)

Resources

Mark-up Georgia Combustible Dust Regulation 120-3-24-0.14
Georgia Emergency Regulation 120-3-24-0.12

FM Global

Global Cooperation Needed Combustible Dust Hazards

Last month's fire that raged through the Paarl Print Factory in Paarl, South Africa that killed a 13 workers and seriously injured many more was reminiscent of fatalities and injuries that occur in the manufacturing sector here in the USA.

A press release issued by the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union (CEPPWAWU) spokesperson, Cedric Maluleke stated, "preliminary finding that the initial small fire in the cafeteria was propagated through the building by an ensuing dust explosion. This was fueled by paper dust that had accumulated on the open rafters of the building and which had been raised into the air by the shockwave."

The above description is a textbook example of a deflagration where the pressure wave moves at the speed of sound (768 mph) and a devastating fireball following shortly thereafter. Hopefully we can learn from our global trading partners in minimizing the severity and probability of future combustible dust incidents. Currently the OSHA Dust NEP has failed to list paper industries, like the above example, as a combustible dust hazard in the Appendix of the Dust NEP.

This is quite troubling especially when reviewing the Prerule abstract for the combustible dust rulemaking that the Dust NEP will be the foundation for the rulemaking process. Scary stuff. So who is the wizard behind the curtain at OSHA deciding which national industry (NAICS) has a combustible dust hazard or not? Over 50% of combustible dust incidents last year occurred in national industry's not listed in the Dust NEP.

Without acknowledgment that incidents are occuring in national industries not listed in the Dust NEP, stakeholders are unprepared in dealing with the hazards. The problem is intensified when OSHA Susan Harwood Grant Awardees of Combustible Dust Training also use the Dust NEP as the foundation for their training programs, which omits industries at high risk and types of materials (Did you Know?) that can create combustible dust hazards. Will it take an incident as catastrophic as the South African Paarl Print Factory for the wizard behind the curtain to wake up?

The USA is not the only stakeholder that is at loss with reality through lack of information. Especially when reading the press release from our South African trading partners that,"Dust explosions in industry are relatively rare. They are most often encountered in the coal mining industry and in the grain-handling and processing industries. Coal dust, grain dust and paper dust are inflammable and, when raised into the air, can explode."

So dust explosions are rare and most often only encountered in coal mining industry and in the grain-handling and processing industries ? I wish that were the case, but last year there were over 30 combustible dust related explosions in the manufacturing and non-manufactruing sectors here in the USA according to media reports.

Lessons learned from the tragic incident in South Africa and incidents here on our own shore is that before any rulemaking process can proceed in a manner that protects the workplace is to have an understanding of the the probability and severity of combustible dust related fires and explosions throughout the manufacturing, non-manufacturing and utility sectors.

The current Dust NEP formulated through the Chemical Safety Board recommendations is a start but stakeholders throughout industry still have a long way to go in order to protect the workplace from future fatalities and injuries when dust deflagrations occur.

Resources
Paarl Print plant fire disaster-Media Release

OSHA Combustible Dust Prerule Agenda

Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the George Washington University and contributor of the public health blog, "The Pump Handle," has provided readers an excellent overview of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis's Regulatory Plan in her recent post with a discussion of the inner workings of the current Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory actions, which includes Prerules of combustible dust and occupational exposure to silica, beryllium, and diacetyl.

According to the combustible dust prerule, the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is planned in August 2009 (no exact date yet) with stakeholder meetings sometime in December 2009.

It’s very troubling reading the Combustible Dust rulemaking abstract to learn that OSHA will be using information gathered from the reissued Combustible Dust NEP as the agency considers future rulemaking. This document does not provide a clear picture of reality. Especially considering that over 50% of combustible dust related fires and explosions in 2008, though media accounts, occurred in national industires (NAICS), not referenced in this outdated NEP.

Furthermore the 281 combustible dust incidents obtained from the CSB Dust Hazard Study does not address the thousands of incidents that have occurred over the past three decades. A sound occupational safety policy in protecting the workplace can only be formulated when stakeholders fully understand the probability of occurrence in addition to the severity. The CSB study was a great start but much more needs to be done in evaluating the hazard appropriately.

An OSHA comprehensive combustible dust standard is much needed but lets not get all warm and fuzzy by a quick fix like what has previously occurred decades ago with the OSHA Grain Facility Standard in which there was over 50 combustible dust related fires and explosions in 2008. Not counting the rare Feb. 7, 2008 Imperial Sugar Refinery incident, there was more economic damage and workplace injuries in the grain facility sector in 2008 than in the manufacturing sector from combustible dust related fires and explosions.

With such a complex subject as combustible dust spread across hundreds of national industries (NAICS), a negotiated rulemaking process like which occurred with cranes might be a viable option in addition to incorporating a hybrid process safety management (PSM) venue into the rulemaking process.

Resources
Agency Rule List - Spring 2009 (Select Dept of Labor in Dropdown)
Introduction to the Unified Agenda (must read ! )
OSHA-Reg-Agenda-Combustible-Dust (1910.307 Hazard Communication ???
OSHA's Regulatory Agenda and Guidance Projects-OSHA ASSE Presentation

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