Fourteen employees were killed and 40 injured when finely ground motes of dust ignited and set off a violent blast at a sugar plant near Savannah, GA, in February of 2008. In addition to the fatalities and a tarnished reputation, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined the company more than US$8 million in workplace violations related to combustible dust. Read more here: http://www.issa.com/?m=articles&event=view&id=3153
Nilfisk CFM is in this month’s Metal Finishing! Click here to read “When the Dust Settles: A Tutorial on Explosion-Proof Vacuums! Nilfisk CFM in Metal Finishing
Minimize your combustible dust risk with proper cleaning procedures. For more information on combustible dust and preventative maintenance, visit www.explosionproof-vacuum.com.
After decades of work-place explosions leading to hundreds of injuries and fatalities, combustible dust is finally a national headline that OSHA cannot ignore. While there are still no laws regarding combustible dust procedures, the agency has made quite a bit of headway in outlining recommendations for prevention and conducting random audits of “at-risk” facilities. By now, if you are a plant manager that handles dry bulk solids, you should be bulking up your maintenance plan which may include an industrial vacuum purchase–but did you know that using the wrong vacuum can actually add to the risk of a combustible dust explosion? (more…)
It seems last week’s Coal Dust Explosion at a power plant in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin wasn’t “news” enough for major newspapers to cover in depth. But although there’s hardly a mention of it in mainstream media, a simple search on Google proves there’s quite a bit of outrage regarding the blast, expressed through blogs and online posts. Could it have been prevented? Was OSHA’s recent inspection of the plant adequate? If they were using vacuums, were they explosion-proof? Check out what people are saying:
While at the Electric Power show this week I seemed to hear this alot: “Why can your vacuum handle coal dust when my shop vacuum won’t?” That seems to be a big question in the industrial vacuum cleaner world. Whether its coal dust, wood shavings or some other fine dust or debris, people want to know just what exactly an industrial vacuum has that their shop-style vacuum does not. Well, not being sold on the shelves of your local hardware store is just beginning.