Focus Article - Establishing a Housekeeping Program for Combustible Dusts

The importance of having good housekeeping in facilities, where combustible dust is handled/processed, cannot be overstated. The Chemical Safety Board and other agencies who have investigated serious dust explosions over the last 30 years have found a number of common casual factors for these incidents. Among them, lack of adequate housekeeping programs designed to maintain accumulations of combustible dusts to acceptable levels to prevent flash fire or explosion hazards within these facilities. Where combustible dust accumulations are allowed to exceed these levels, the plant becomes at risk for secondary dust explosions.