Chemical Safety Board Renews Call for Combustible Dust Hazard Standard
February 7 marked the fourth anniversary of a massive sugar dust explosion that killed 14 workers and injured 38 others at a sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Ga. In recognition of the event, the Chemical Safety board (CSB) called on OSHA to “proceed expeditiously” on its 2006 recommendation to produce a combustible dust standard for general industry.
The CSB believes such a standard is necessary to reduce or eliminate hazards from fires and explosions from a wide variety of combustible powders and dust. In a statement, CSB said that “Preventing dust explosions is a necessary investment: prevention saves lives and massive property losses.”
The CSB recently reissued its call for an OSHA dust standard following investigation of flash fires that took five lives in an iron powder processing plant in Gallatin, Tenn. In addition, CSB wants to see an Unclassified Hazard category added to OSHA’s version of the GHS to address hazards including combustible dust.
OSHA DANGER Explosion Hazard No Smoking Sign
People who smoke love to smoke, and sometimes this can interfere with workplace safety. Smoking in the workplace could lead to ignition of combustible dusts or gasses, which would be, putting it mildly: very bad.