When you go to work each day, if you’re like most people then you expect to be in a safe environment and return home to the ones you love that evening. Unfortunately, depending on your employment, there may be a variety of hazardous materials that you are unaware of.
Combustible dust happens to be one of these culprits.
Combustible dust is any fine material that has the ability to catch fire and explode when mixed with air. Combustible dust can generate from most solid organic materials such as sugar, wood, flour and grain. It can also arise from a variety of metals, and some nonmetallic inorganic materials. Some of these materials that may not normally be combustible, can become so if the particles are the right concentration and size.
Any industry that creates dust should investigate to see if there is potential for it to become combustible dust. Dust can be minor—merely collected on roofs, rafters, in crevices and suspended ceilings.
But dust can become a danger if not looked into properly.
As a worker, the best possible prevention is education. Make sure you know about combustible dust and discuss with management what they’re doing to prevent an explosion. These types of explosions can (and do) cause serious injuries and death.
In 2010, a titanium dust explosion occurred in West Virginia, killing three workers. Georgia experienced a sugar dust explosion in 2008 which killed 14 workers.
According to the U.S Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, between 1980 and 2005, they identified 281 of these incidents that resulted in 119 dead workers and 718 injured.
These materials are commonly found in industries involving agriculture, textiles, pharmaceutical production, recycling plants, fossil fuel power generation, metal working, and 3D printing facilities.