WorkSafe Reports on Mill Tragedies Nearing Completion
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 @ 3:59 AM
Prince George, B.C.- The WorkSafe BC final report on the fatal explosions and fires that destroyed the Babine Forest Products sawmill in Burns Lake, and the Lakeland Mills sawmill in Prince George, is close to completion. While no date for release of the report has been given, that date is said to be "soon".
While the exact cause of the two tragic incidents has not yet been disclosed, there has been much attention paid to the accumulation of dust in the sawmill operations.
WorkSafeBC has issued an alert focusing on the increased risk of dust ignition during cold winter months because of reduced levels of humidity.
“Industrial accident investigations by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board found that seven out of eight fatal combustible dust explosions from 1995 to 2009 occurred during cold winter months when these weather conditions were most prominent” reads the alert
The Babine Forest Products Sawmill tragedy occurred in January, the Lakeland Mills fatal blast and fire occurred in early spring.
According to WorkSafe B.C., when the cold weather hits, mills may change some of their normal warmer weather practices, and those changes ( such as the ones listed below) could increase the risks:
· Control measures and clean up practices that rely on the use of water may not be suitable or effective
· Openings such as bay doors and wall dampers may be closed up increasing the degree of enclosure and reducing natural ventilation or make up air
· Ventilation may be reduced or shut down to conserve heat
· Re-circulation of air from exhaust systems may also increase
· Portable heating units potentially introduce additional ignition sources into workspaces
WorkSafeBC calls on sawmills to “maintain attention on controlling the risks associated with combustible dusts. Employers need to assess for any additional risks associated with the impact of the environment on dust accumulations and the methods used to control dust in the winter.”
Comments
“increased risk of dust ignition during cold winter months because of reduced levels of humidity.”
It is interesting that several of the changing operating conditions of the HVAC system will tend to keep the humidity high which is reportedly important, but not remove dust particles.
So, if they do not switch the bag house exhaust from external in the summer to recirculate into the interior during the winter then they should do that to keep the humidity high and the particulates low.
Sorry to inform you gus that sawmills don’t have hvac systems. Unless you count a couple of fans on the roof an hvac system. Most aren’t heated either or not heated very well so that’s why things like ventilation fans are switched off and openings plugged when it gets cold out. Misting systems are also shut off during winter months because they freeze up. Bag House? Never seen a sawmill with a bag house.
In order to reduce the chance of this happening again they are going to have to run a sawmill like a gas plant. Explosion proof equipment throughout or stop cutting beetle killed pine.
NoWay …. In my world of building design, heating/ventilation/air conditioning systems may be simple or complex …. natural gravity systems or mechanical assisted.
So, anytime one encloses a space to essentially control the environment on has to consider exactly that, controlling the inside of the space, even if it is as simple as a tipi with a smoke flap which can be controlled to create a negative suction assist by orienting the flap properly in relation to wind direction.
But the article states that the HV(ac) systems are not quite that primitive, LOL. It states that in some cases
â¢âVentilation may be reduced or shut down to conserve heatâ and
â¢âRe-circulation of air from exhaust systems may also increaseâ
Perhaps local mills do not have bag houses. Oddly enough, a fire in an Ontario sawmill started in a baghouse.
Even odder is the report in the linked article that according to the âsafety siteâ ⦠â Worksafe BC is focusing on improved preventative maintenance relating to DUST COLLECTION systemsâ.
http://www.healthandsafetyontario.ca/WSN/News/Attn-Ontario-Sawmills,-explosions-and-fires-can,-a.aspx
So maybe we will be seeing an opportunity to sell some nice modern baghouses from Sweden soon â¦. ;-)
We have seen the carnage of not haveing a BAG HOUSE I would think a bag house could be manufactured in Canada and sold internationally that way it becomes a win win for all concearned.
http://www.worksafebc.com/news_room/features/2012/assets/pdf/WoodDustSawmillsCompilation.pdf
A link to an interesting report to industry best practices published May 2012, after the fires/explosions.
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