On October 21, 2009 OSHA announced a proposed rule to address combustible dust explosions.  The rule would cover an estimated 16 million employees at approximately 426,000 facilities.  OSHA first addressed this issue in 1987 by promulgating 29 CFR 1910.272 for grain handling facilities.  In the 10 years prior to adopting that rule, there were 20.5 grain handling-related dust explosions per year in the U.S.  For the next 10 years there were 10.3, and from 1998-2007 there were 6.3 per year.

Following the 2008 Imperial Sugar explosion in Georgia, which killed, hospitalized or severely burned numerous employees, OSHA has been aggressively working toward drafting a comprehensive rule to address the larger issue of dust explosions in general industry, not just grain handlers.  Between 2007-2009, OSHA conducted 813 targeted inspections on affected facilities, issuing 3,662 citations primarily via the General Duty Clause.  In summarizing their findings, OSHA noted that 32 industry or consensus standards (i.e., NFPA, ASME, ANSI) address combustible dust, but that no single, comprehensive rule or standard exists.

Many industry sectors will be affected.  Per OSHA, “Materials that may form combustible dust include, but are not limited to, wood, coal, plastics, biosolids, candy, sugar, spice, starch, flour, feed, grain, fertilizer, tobacco, paper, soap, rubber, drugs, dried blood, dyes, certain textiles, and metals (such as aluminum and magnesium). Industries that may have combustible dust hazards include, among others: Animal food manufacturing, grain handling, food manufacturing, wood product manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, textile manufacturing, furniture manufacturing, metal processing, fabricated metal products and machinery manufacturing, pesticide manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, tire manufacturing, production of rubber and plastics, plastics and rubber products manufacturing, recycling, wastewater treatment, and coal handling.”

The proposed rule will reference NFPA 654 (Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids) and NFPA 484 (Standard for Combustible Metals), and will include requirements for hazard assessments, engineering controls, housekeeping, building design, explosions controls, SOPs and worker training.  The Hazard Communication standard will be revised to include combustible dust as a hazardous material.  Public comment ended January 19, 2010.  Expect the draft rule soon and implementation possibly within a year.

Dr. Scott Harris, PhD is the Global Risk Manager for IESO, LLC.  His experience covers over 27 years of Environmental, Health and Safety Management in Federal and State government, consulting, general industry and University instruction.  He received his PhD in Environmental Science, with a specialization in Disaster and Emergency Management, from Oklahoma State University, and holds degrees in Geology (B.S.) and Public Health (MPH) from Western Kentucky University.  Before joining IESO Scott was a Federal On-Scene Coordinator for EPA Region 6 and a member of their Emergency Readiness Team.  He held DOD “Top Secret” and DOE “Q” security clearances, and directed multi-agency emergency response, planning and recovery activities for chemical, biological and radiological releases and exercises within the five-state region.

Last 6 posts by admin

• IESO Presenting at Clean Gulf Conference - October 26th, 2011
• The Free "OSHA in Healthcare" Webinar - October 14th, 2011
• IESO Presenting at AOHP 2011 Conference - September 26th, 2011
• Arc Flash Train-the-Trainer Course - September 13th, 2011
• IESO Presenting at 2011 PureSafety Conference - August 2nd, 2011
• IESO Presenting at the 2011 TN Safety Congress - July 25th, 2011

Print Friendly