Proforma Safety Blog

Imperial Sugar Rebuilds Facility on the Ashes of 2008 Catastrophe

Posted by proforma on March 30, 2010  |  No Comments

On February 7, 2008, at about 7:15 p.m., something ignited sugar dust in Imperial’s refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, resulting in blasts and subsequent fires that destroyed much of the facility and killed 14 people. This article in the NFPA Journal®,March/April 2010, talks about the  tragedy, which the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) described as “entirely preventable.” Poor maintenance, housekeeping, and equipment design were identified as factors in the catastrophe. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported scores of “willful” and “particularly flagrant” safety violations. Imperial Sugar has made the commitment to build a safe, modern packaging facility and the solution has been a system and functional design for the new plant that emphasizes the concepts of separation, isolation, and suppression. At Port Wentworth, this has included relocation of the huge sugar storage silos, more stand-alone buildings, and inclusion of fire walls within buildings. Most important, it’s included a major overhaul to employee attitudes toward safety. Click on the link above for details.

OSHA Issues Hazard Communication Guidance for Combustible Dusts

Posted by proforma on August 3, 2009  |  No Comments

OSHA has published  Hazard Communication Guidance for Combustible Dusts  intended to provide guidance on the identification of combustible hazards in the workplace and appropriate communication for workers on their presence.

In particular, the document is intended for chemical manufacturers and importers to help them recognize where and when an explosion is possible, protective measures they can take, and requirements for material safety data sheets and labels.

The document is based on the work of The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), which identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that caused the death of 119 workers and injured 718. This excerpt from the document describes the findings:

“In many of the incidents, workers and managers were unaware of the potential for dust explosions, or failed to recognize the serious nature of dust explosion hazards. The CSB reviewed Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) of 140 known substances that produce combustible dusts and found poor or inadequate transmittal of information regarding potential dust hazards; 41% of the MSDSs reviewed by the CSB did not warn users about potential explosion hazards. Of the remaining 59% of MSDSs sampled, most of the information was either not stated in a place or manner clearly recognized by workers, or was not specific to hazards related to combustible dusts.”

Safety Hazards Working with Compressed Gas

Posted by proforma on March 14, 2009  |  No Comments

This gruesome accident illustrates the danger in allowing oil or grease to come into contact with oxygen under pressure. A welder who was adjusting the pressure on an oxygen regulator, had oil on his hand. There was an oxygen leak from the hose clamp and an explosion occurred. Read details here.