Combustible dust is a risk facing manufacturing facilities all around the world. Unfortunately, the dirty truth about this risk is that many of the injuries and lives lost could have been prevented with some simple, proactive measures.
Step 1: Educate yourself and your team
The first step in any hazardous situation is education and awareness. If you want to protect your facility, you need to know what to look for. If you want your team to go home safe, they need to know the risks and how to prevent them.
Some resources available to learn more about combustible dust include:
- OSHA’s combustible dust poster
- OSHA’s web pages dedicated to combustible dust
- Video case studies of combustible dust explosions by the Chemical Safety Board
- Blasting
- Cutting
- Polishing
- Crushing
- Conveying
- Mixing
- Screening
- Rolling/unrolling
- Blowing
- Grinding
- Transporting
- Sweeping
- Sieving
- Vacuuming
- Rafters
- Suspended ceilings
- Ducts
- Horizontal surfaces
- Under/above processing equipment (sifters, grinders, furnaces, etc.)
- Under/above transfer equipment (elevators or conveyors)
- Friction
- Sparks
- Arcing
- Hot surfaces
- Stoves, ovens, or kilns
- Electrostatic discharge
- Using only industrial, explosion-proof, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter-equipped vacuums
- Eliminating compressed air and broom sweeping as viable cleaning options, as recommended by the NFPA 654
- Following a combinations of NADCA, NFPA, and OSHA indoor cleaning procedures
- Asking cleaning vendors for detailed information about cleaning procedures, techniques, and qualifications