Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: DUST&FUMES

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 fire and explosion hazards associated with the buildup of combustible agricultural dust: For Vigo Importing Company, located at 4701 W Comanche Ave., Tampa, FL 33614, as observed on or about 6/30/2010: combustible dust hazards were present in the following areas: a) For the chili and dry soup packaging lines: a dust collection system was installed to collect dust emitted from the packaging lines. The dust collector was not equipped with an explosion deflagration venting system, suppression system, or other protective means to prevent a combustible dust explosion. The dust collector was installed by CPE Filters, and its volume was approximately 44 cubic feet. The dust collector model number was 36-CNF-016. Employees who worked in the area on the dry soup packaging lines were exposed to an explosion hazard associated with the rupturing of the dust collector. The dust was analyzed to be a class 2 explosive dust with an explosion severity of 0.86. b) For the bread crumb manufacturing area, a combustible bread crumb dust was pneumatically conveyed through flexible duct that was not electrically connected to the other metal components of the conveying system. This was present in multiple places: duct from the dryer to the vibrating screens, ducts on the vibrating screens, and duct from the bread crumb hopper to the packaging line all were plastic and not electrically connected, grounded, and bonded to the rest of the conveying system. This condition resulted in the potential for static electricity buildup which could result in an explosion. The dust was analyzed to be explosive with an explosion severity of 0.17. ABATEMENT NOTE:(s) Among other methods, means of feasible and acceptable abatement include compliance with National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) 61 "Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions in Agricultural and Food Processing Facilities" (2008) edition, NFPA 68 "Standard on Explosion Protection by Deflagration Venting" 2007 edition and NFPA 69 "Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems" 2008 edition. These requirements include but may not be limited to: 1) Installation of explosion relief venting on the dust collector through straight ducts to the outside of the building not exceeding 20 ft. to ensure that explosion pressures will not rupture the collector 2) Install an explosion suppression system on the dust collector according to the standards outlined in NFPA 69 "Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems" 3) Assurance that the pneumatic conveying system is equipped with bonding and grounding systems which are inspected, maintained and proven effective.