Police in Port Panama City say the explosion happened in two dust collectors. An investigation will determine what triggered it.

Authorities say it started in an area where a coating is put on pipes.

The facility will be shut down for several days while OSHA investigates.

After going from three shifts to one and briefly shutting down in December, Monday — the day of the blast — was the first time that all three shifts were up and running again.

Federal statistics show, in a 25-year period, 281 combustible dust explosions and fires killed 119 workers and injured 718.

This week, our SafetyNewsAlert.com Quick Poll was on combustible dust. We asked: Do you think OSHA needs a new standard on combustible dust?

• 51% said no, OSHA should use its existing regulations, and
• 49% said yes, current regulations aren’t enough.

A total of 430 readers voted. Check our home page for a new poll later this week.

In its final report on the explosion, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said ongoing releases of sugar from poorly designed and maintained dust collection equipment, conveyors, and sugar handling equipment led to the blast.

Inadequate housekeeping allowed highly combustible sugar dust to build up throughout the plant’s packing buildings.

A conveyor had been enclosed, creating a confined, unventilated space where sugar dust could accumulate to an explosive concentration. It’s likely the dust was ignited by an overheated bearing.

The initial explosion caused a cascade of secondary dust explosions in adjacent packing buildings.

On top of these problems, the CSB said Imperial hadn’t conducted evacuation drills for its employees and that the explosions and fires disabled most of the emergency lighting, making it difficult for workers to escape.

A 2006 CSB study identified 281 combustible dust fires and explosions between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers and injured 718, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. In April, OSHA started development of a combustible dust standard. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has recommended practices for preventing dust fires and explosions.

And the case hasn’t been settled.

The fact that the appeal is dragging on is significant.  But how it turns out may be even more significant.

When the fine was announced, company CEO John Sheptor said he hoped the whole thing would be settled “in a few weeks,” according to an article in the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle.

In the same article, plantiffs lawyer Mark Tate explains why that hasn’t happened: “(OSHA’s) pressing its case as doggedly as private lawyers would. Proposed OSHA fines used to get settled for pennies on the dollar. But not this time.”

This chart, posted by probublica.org, lends credence to the “pennies on the dollar” comment. Many of OSHA’s largest proposed fines eventually withered into small fractions of their original figures.

Does this mean OSHA is now overreaching? Or is developing a bite that matches its bark long overdue? Let us know what you think in the Comment Box below.

That’s the case with Phenix Lumber Co. in Phenix City, AL. OSHA has proposed $293,700 in penalties for 36 safety and health violations there.

For failing to correct five violations identified during a previous inspection, OSHA issued fines totaling $202,500. Those citations include failure to obtain audiograms for employees exposed to noise hazards, not implementing specific lockout/tagout procedures and lack of machine guards.

The other fines totaling $91,200 in penalties are for six repeat, seven serious and one other-than-serious violation. These include poor housekeeping of combustible dust, lack of safety signs, and using incorrect electrical and forklift equipment.

The company has 15 days to decide if it wants to contest any of the citations.

The three have introduced a bill that would require OSHA to issue a rule regarding the explosion hazard.

The bill is similar to one that passed the U.S. House last year but wasn’t acted upon in the Senate.

OSHA would be required to issue an interim rule within 90 days and a final rule within 18 months after the bill is signed into law. It would also force OSHA to add combustible dust to its Hazard Communication standard.

Introduction of the bill comes about one year after the explosion at the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth, GA, that killed 14 employees and resulted in OSHA fines of more than $8 million.

The bill would have wide-ranging effect because of the types of dust that would be regulated:

• organic (sugar, candy, paper, soap and dried blood)
• plastics and rubber
• sulfur
• wood
• furniture
• textiles
• pesticides
• pharmaceuticals
• fibers
• dyes, and
• coal, metals and fossil fuels.

To read the entire bill, click here and enter HR 849.

Several people were injured in a explosion at a furniture plant in Dubois County, IN.

Police in the town of Jasper say it happened at Indiana Flat Line Assembly Plant.

Reports say the explosion was caused by a part that got caught in a machine, causing the dust collection system to explode. The blast took out several doors and walls.

Six people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at local hospitals. Police evacuated several homes around the plant as a precaution.

OSHA investigated M&B Metal Products in Leeds, AL, after a roof collapse at the manufacturing plant.

M&B faces 44 alleged safety and health violations

The willful violation for accumulation of explosive paper dust comes with a $44,000 fine. The company also faces another $117,950 for 42 serious violations, including exposing employees to struck-by, electrical and noise hazards. It was also cited for one other-than-serious violation.

Oak Mountain Construction Co., which was performing repairs on the roof support system when it collapsed, received two serious safety violations with $5,000 in penalties for exposing employees to fall hazards and not conducting inspections to identify fall and roof collapse hazards.

In March, OSHA reissued its Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program to increase enforcement within specific industries that have experienced frequent dust fires and explosions.

For more information about combustible dust safety from OSHA, click here.