Page 38 - Occupational Health & Safety, November/December 2019

PROTECTIVE APPAREL
Effective PPE for Flammable Dust
Enhancing flame resistant PPE safety programs to protect against combustible dust hazards.
BY SCOTT FRANCIS
be taken to help reduce the likelihood and impacts of dust combustion. Being aware of the possibility and the dangerous outcomes of a combustible dust event can help ensure employees are more aware of their surroundings and, in turn, work to help them elimi- nate the hazard and protect themselves against it.
In addition to being aware of combustible dust hazards, taking appropriate measures to reduce the likelihood of a combustible dust incident is an impor- tant safety step. This includes maintaining a robust housekeeping plan that regularly vacuums the facility to help eliminate dust buildup. Employing explosion protection and prevention systems along with pre- ventative maintenance programs onsite can also help reduce the likelihood of dust combustion and can mitigate the impacts of an explosion.
As the last line of defense, a flame resistant daily wear program can help protect employees from the thermal impacts of lower pressure deflagration and flash fire events that can be the result of a dust com- bustion. We outline three benefits of implementing a daily wear program to enhance your safety program against combustible dust hazards.
Provides Continuous Protection
When a daily wear FR/AR PPE program is imple- mented, employees arrive to work wearing flame resistant garments, which provides them with con- sistent and ongoing thermal protection. With daily wear FR/AR PPE, the risk of having employees un- protected should an incident occur is greatly reduced. Additionally, a daily wear FR/AR PPE program en- sures employees have at least some FR/AR protection throughout the day and provides a solid foundation for additional task-based FR/AR PPE protection, if the task requires it.
It is important to note that daily wear FR/AR garments are most effective against thermal hazards when they are worn properly. Making sure sleeves are rolled down and collars are properly fastened can help provide better protection against thermal hazards. Additionally, the garments must be clean, free from debris and washed according to the manufacturer’s instructions for optimum protection.
The garment should also fit the employee’s specific body type. A dust combustion can impact any exposed or under-protected part of one’s body, so it is impor- tant for employees to wear FR/AR PPE that is not too loose or too tight to help mitigate the risk of injury. Ensuring each employee understands the importance of how garments should be worn and how they should
With the importance of personal protec- tive equipment (PPE) gaining influ- ence across industries, companies have begun to adopt PPE programs that help mitigate impacts of unexpected short-term thermal hazards. FR/AR daily wear is an important addition to workplace PPE programs as they help reduce the severity of injuries due to a thermal event which can cause severe injuries to those not wearing flame resis- tant (FR), arc-rated (AR) garments. One such hazard to be aware of and protect against is combustible dust.
Combustible dust is small flammable dust particles in the air. When these particles ignite from a spark or heat, and deflagrate in equipment, the resultant pres- sure build up can cause a dangerous—often violent— combustible dust event to occur. This explosion can further disperse combustible dust throughout the facility and can cause additional, lower pressure ex- plosions, also known as deflagration, which makes the initial thermal event even more dangerous. The com- bustion, or chain of combustions, can also cause flash fires which can lead to life-threatening second- or third-degree burns even if a person is not in the direct vicinity of the original explosion. Combustible dust is a major safety concern in multiple industries, includ- ing manufacturing and storage facilities with excess plastic, food, textile, paper and metal dusts.
It is important to conduct a thorough risk assess- ment via the hierarchy of risk controls, such as elimi- nation, engineering and administrative controls to reduce the likelihood of combustible dust incident occurrence and use the last control, PPE, to mitigate the severity of injury if an incident were to occur. NFPA 652 requires a dust hazard analysis to analyze how combustible the dust in the workplace may be. This analysis, with the aid of the risk control hierarchy, will also help to select safety precautions that should
34 Occupational Health & Safety | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019
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