When West Pharmaceutical Services’ plant in Kingston, North Carolina, exploded in 2003, resulting in six deaths, dozens of injuries, and complete destruction of the facility, it was ultimately concluded that the accident was preventable. Not simply in that the design of the suspended ceiling and operation of the facility didn’t take into account the hazards of combustible dust, but that some employees knew about the dust, but were unaware of the risk. According to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board report, while dust removal and good housekeeping were priorities at the facility, dust accumulated above the ceiling over time, going unrecognized as a serious hazard—even though maintenance workers were aware of the dust, they lacked an effective understanding of the danger.
Dust explosions resulting in injuries, fatalities and facility destruction are not uncommon at grain elevators, woodworking facilities, fossil fuel power generation plants, various food industry sectors involving materials such as sugar, flour, tobacco and more, as well biomass facilities that utilize pulverized or ground wood material to make energy or wood pellets.
