Legislation Needed to Protect Workers from Dust Explosions like Last Month’s at Imperial Sugar, Witnesses Tell Labor Subcommittee
OSHA Had Been Warned of Combustible Dust Hazard that Led to 12 Deaths at Georgia Sugar Refinery

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC --New rules are needed to help prevent worksite explosions like the one at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, in early February that killed 12 workers and critically injured 11 others, witnesses told the House Education and Labor Committee today.

The Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act (H.R. 5522), introduced by Reps. George Miller (D-CA) and John Barrow (D-GA), would force the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. While OSHA already has the authority to issue such a rule without Congress passing new legislation, the agency has failed to act despite the fact that the dangers of combustible dust have been well known for years.

“The loss of lives in workplace incidents is always a tragedy,” said Miller, chairman of the committee. “But what’s particularly troubling about the Imperial Sugar explosion is that, not only was it preventable, but OSHA had been specifically warned about dust hazards and provided with guidance on how to address them.”  

“Legislation like this is long overdue,” said Barrow. “We can’t afford to sit around and wait because this will happen again, and we owe it to the victims of last month’s tragedy to prevent that.”

When dust builds up to dangerous levels in industrial worksites, it can become fuel for fires. Combustible dust can come from many sources, such as sugar, flour, feed, plastics, wood, rubber, furniture, textiles, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, dyes, coal, and metals, and therefore poses a risk across a number of different industries throughout the United States.  

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which has launched a major investigation of the Imperial Sugar explosion, has preliminarily concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the CSB conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. Nearly a quarter of the explosions occurred in the food industry, including several at sugar plants.

The CSB study found no comprehensive OSHA standard that effectively controls the risk of industrial dust explosions. The Board recommended that OSHA issue rules to address the risks of dust explosions, but over a year later, OSHA has offered no indication that it is planning to issue rules on combustible dust.

“The disastrous accident at Imperial Sugar is but the latest in a long series of tragic dust explosions at U.S. industrial facilities stretching back over decades,” testified William Wright, board member and interim executive of the CSB, at today’s hearing. “Combustible dust can pose a serious fire and explosion hazard at thousands of U.S. industrial facilities. Dust explosions kill and injure American workers, destroy jobs and productive enterprises, and shatter communities.”

Tammy Miser, who became a workplace safety advocate after her brother died from burns sustained in a 2003 aluminum dust explosion at the Hayes Lemmerz manufacturing plant in Huntington, Ind., testified that families dealing with the aftermath of these types of explosions have been waiting years for OSHA to act.

“We know that it’s feasible to prevent these explosions,” said Miser. “Not only [has OSHA] failed these families [in Georgia], but also the families that had lost loved ones in dust explosions of 2003 that the CSB studied.”

The National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, has established voluntary consensus guidelines to control combustible dust hazards and prevent dust explosions.

“NFPA codes and standards adequately address how to mitigate or eliminate the hazards of combustible dust,” testified Amy Beasley Spencer, a senior chemical engineer at the National Fire Protection Association. “We believe the best method to accomplish this safety goal is for OSHA to develop a mandatory standard to address and mitigate dust hazards.”

While these standards are voluntary, the CSB found the standards to be effective in preventing explosions caused by combustible dust.

The explosion at the Imperial Sugar Refinery occurred on February 7. On February 8, Miller and U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, wrote to U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who oversees OSHA, requesting that she take immediate steps to issue mandatory rules on combustible dust. Chao has not responded. To see a copy of the letter to Chao, click here.

To learn more about H.R. 5522, click here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
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