Washington Pushing Combustible Dust Regulation
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and OSHA interim administrator Jordan Barab have said that a new combustible dust regulation is one of their rulemaking priorities at OSHA. And the rulemaking process is moving along. OSHA has submitted the proposed regulation to the Office of Management and Budget for review.
This news comes in the wake of the Chemical Safety Board’s recent release of its investigation into the explosion and fire that killed 14 and injured 36 at the Imperial Sugar plant in Wentworth, GA.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) completed a study of combustible dust hazards in late 2006, which identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers and injured 718.
The CSB recommended that OSHA pursue rulemaking on this issue. While a number of OSHA standards address aspects of this risk, the Agency does not have a comprehensive standard.
OSHA has published a Safety and Health Information Bulletin, “Combustible Dust in Industry: Preventing and Mitigating the Effects of Fire and Explosions,” and has implemented a Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (NEP). OSHA will use information gathered from the NEP as it considers future rulemaking on combustible dust hazards.
A number of OSHA standards address aspects of combustible dust control, including those on housekeeping, emergency action plans, ventilation, spray finishing, permit required confined spaces and electric power generation.
