Thursday, October 22, 2009
OSHA issues combustible dust ANPRM
OSHA on Oct. 21 published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on combustible dust, less than one month after the Chemical Safety Board repeated its three-year-old recommendation (.pdf file) for such a standard.
Since 1980, 130 workers have been killed and an additional 780 injured in combustible dust explosions, according to OSHA. Most recently, 14 people were killed in a sugar dust explosion in Georgia in 2008.
The ANPRM notes the success of OSHA's Grain Handling Facilities standard (1910.272) in reducing grain dust fires and explosions. After the standard went into effect in 1987, dust explosions at grain facilities averaged 6.3 a year over the next 10 years, down from an average of 20.5 a year during the decade preceding the standard.
Although some current standards address combustible dust hazards, including the General Duty Clause, the ANPRM said those standards "do not provide a comprehensive set of requirements to fully address all of the prevention and mitigation methods specific to combustible dust."
OSHA is accepting comment on the ANPRM until Jan. 19.