It was 2:30 a.m. on February 7, 2016, when something went disastrously wrong at the JCG Farms Feed Mill in Rockmart, Georgia. A skeleton crew of seven workers was on duty that Sunday morning when the accumulated grain dust in the hammer mill exploded, killing 25-year-old Justin Deems and sending five other workers to the hospital. A federal OSHA investigation of the incident resulted in more than $100,000 in proposed fines against JCG Farms, as well as citations against two contractors at the facility.
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It’s not uncommon for a manufacturing facility to be dusty, and dusts of various types have long been identified as respiratory irritants or as substances that can cause serious lung disease—but what makes dust a potentially explosive hazard? And how can you prevent combustible dust explosions? OSHA has issued a new fact sheet that can help you answer these questions.
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