House Labor Committee Approves Bill to Help Prevent Dust Explosions after Georgia Disaster Claims 13 Lives

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee passed legislation by a voice vote to help prevent combustible dust explosions like the one at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, on February 7 that killed 13 workers and injured more than 60 others.

The Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act (H.R. 5522), introduced by U.S. 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.

“We owe it to the families of the workers who have needlessly lost their lives to pass this legislation,” said Miller, chairman of the Education and Labor Committee. “It’s unfortunate that OSHA didn’t heed warnings from 2006 about the dangers of combustible dusts, but it’s downright stunning that OSHA still has no sense of urgency in dealing with these deadly hazards, even after the Imperial Sugar tragedy. Unlike OSHA, this Congress is not complacent about the safety of American workers.”

“The combustible dust explosion at the Imperial Sugar Company last February in Port Wentworth, Georgia was a senseless tragedy. Unfortunately, this explosion, like so many other recent incidents, could have been prevented,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. “That is why immediately after the explosion, Chairman Miller and I sent a letter to OSHA demanding that the agency begin work on a standard for combustible dust. Our goal is to make a permanent change that will protect workers from preventable hazards like the combustible dust explosion at Imperial Sugar.”

“This is an important step toward getting this bill signed into law.  I applaud Chairman Miller for making this a priority for the Education and Labor Committee, and I hope that we’ll see it on the House floor real soon,” said Barrow. “We owe it to the victims of the Imperial Sugar tragedy – and to all the other victims before that – to do what we can to prevent that sort of thing from ever happening again.”

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. The Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act would address these hazards by:

• Directing OSHA to issue interim rules on combustible dust within 90 days. The rules would include measures to minimize hazards associated with combustible dust through improved housekeeping, engineering controls, worker training and a written combustible dust safety program; 

• Directing OSHA to issue final rules within eighteen months. The rules would be based on effective voluntary standards devised by the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit organization, and in addition to items required in the interim rules, would include requirements for building design and explosion protection. The interim rules would remain in effect until the final standard is issued; and

• Directing OSHA to revise the Hazard Communication Standard to include combustible dusts.

When dust builds up to dangerous levels in industrial worksites, it can become fuel for fires and explosions. 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 2006 CSB study found no comprehensive federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration 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.

For more information on H.R. 5522, click here. 

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on combustible dust risks on March 12. For more information on the hearing, click here.

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