Dust explosions continue to plague companies in Asia Pacific, the most recent of which is a potato starch powder incident in Singapore that claimed the lives of 3 workers. Such industrial accidents in Asia Pacific involving ignition of combustible dust, resulting in fatalities as well as significant asset and financial impacts, demonstrate that there may still be gaps in how industry is managing this hazard in their day-to-day operations compared to regulatory requirements or industry best practices.
Authorities in the region have taken actions and have issued guidelines and recommended practices to help industries manage this hazard. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard NFPA 652, which is increasingly being adopted by a number of health and safety authorities as well as industries in Asia Pacific, provides broad requirements for the proper management of combustible dust fire and explosion hazards.
In Singapore, the Code of Practice for Handling, Storage, and Processing of Combustible Dust SS 667:2020 will be applicable to all building plans that are submitted to Singapore Civil Defence Force for approval from 01 December 2021. In the US, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), dust deflagration, other fire, and explosion hazards are regulated by Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, the General Duty Clause, for serious hazards, such as fire and explosion hazards for which there are feasible means of abatement. Both the Singapore Code of Practice and the US OSHA Act make references to the NFPA standards as potential means of abating combustible dust hazards.
In this webinar, ERM will discuss how the application of NFPA standards, as well as other industry best practice, can help to ensure the risk of combustible dust at facilities be managed to as low as reasonably practicable. We will share our recent experience in managing risks associated with combustible dust, and will also be joined by a speaker from Cargill, who will share their best practices on dealing with combustible dust.
Join this webinar to:
- Know if your facility might have combustible dust hazards
- Understand how your organization can meet regulatory/standards requirements
- Understand what industry peers are doing to manage combustible dust risk
