Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: ELECTRIC

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to an explosion hazard: a) On or about 12/2/09 at the outside flour truck unloading area; truck(s) containing bulk loads of flour are being pneumatically unloaded without the use of bonding and grounding practices increasing the chances of unexpected discharge of static electricity. b) On or about 12/2/09 in the flour silo area; west wall of the flour silo area has openings and penetrations such as but not limited to, six pipeline penetrations, three large openings, on one shoe box size opening along with a fire door that does not close tight, allowing flour dust from this area ( flour silo area) to enter the ammonia refrigeration room. Flour dust ( a Class II combustible dust ) was found inside an ordinary electrical cabinet containing 480 volts located in the ammonia refrigeration room. ABATEMENT DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED a) Feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct this condition would be; install a bonding cable connected to the plant grounding system and instruct employees who unload bulk flour trucks to connect bonding cable to truck prior to unloading. Reference; NFPA 61 - 2008 Prevention of Fires and Dust Explosions in Agricultural and Food Processing Facilities, Section 11.5.1 Receiving and Shipping Conveyances states: All transport modes such as rail cars ( hopper cars, box cars or tank cars ) and trucks ( both receiving and shipping in bulk), into which or from which commodities or products are pneumatically conveyed, shall be electrically bonded to the plant ground system or earth ground." b) Feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct this condition would be; seal the wall penetrations and repair the fire door to ensure tight seal for both conditions to prevent the migration of flour dust into other areas of the basement. NFPA 61 - 2008 Prevention of Fires and Dust Explosions in Agricultural and Food Processing Facilities, Section 4.3 Interior Wall Construction states: Necessary openings in fire walls and fire barriers shall be kept to a minimum and be as small as practicable. Such openings shall be protected with listed self-closing fire doors, ..... or penetration seals installed in accordance with NFPA 5000, Building Construction and Safety Code, Chapter 8, Fire- Resistive Materials and Construction.