02.04.09
“This deadly workplace hazard has been known and understood too long for us to continue to do nothing,” said Miller. “Yesterday’s news that another combustible dust explosion occurred in Wisconsin is further evidence that our nation needs to act. I hope that with today’s bill introduction and the arrival of a new administration, our nation will finally help workers and business stop these preventable, and all too often, deadly explosions.”
“A year has passed since tragedy struck our community, but so far we haven’t enacted any real change. We’ve been told over and over that it’s not a question of if this type of accident is going to happen again, but when,” said Rep. Barrow. “We know what needs to be done. We need to put regulations that work in the workplace. I don’t care how long it will take, but I’m going to keep on pushing it until it gets done. Our prayers go out to the folks who are still suffering from their losses and injuries. Meanwhile, we should take this anniversary as a reminder that we have not yet done what we can do to prevent something like this from happening again.”
“Yesterday’s accident was just another reminder of the unacceptable risk posed to workers by outdated regulations on combustible dust,” said Woolsey. “While OSHA turned a blind eye to this issue under President Bush, I know that the new administration will confront this threat with the urgency that it deserves. I look forward to working with my colleagues and the new Secretary of Labor to take the necessary steps to update OSHA regulations on these potentially deadly substances and protect our workers.”
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which has launched a major investigation of the Imperial Sugar explosion, has concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the CSB conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards.
It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. The CSB found no comprehensive OSHA rules that effectively control the risk of industrial dust explosions and recommended that OSHA issue a standard.
The Worker Protection against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act would address these hazards by:
Reps. Miller and Barrow Reintroduce Bill to Protect Workers from Dust Explosions at Industrial Work Sites
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Rep. John Barrow (D-GA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, today reintroduced legislation to prevent workplace explosions. This weekend is the anniversary of the Imperial Sugar refinery disaster in Port Wentworth, Ga., which killed 14 workers and injured dozens. And yesterday, six workers were injured when a coal dust collector at a power plant in suburban Milwaukee exploded while it was being cleaned. The Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act, H.R. 849, would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. The U.S. House of Representatives passed similar legislation last April by a bipartisan vote of 247 to 165.“This deadly workplace hazard has been known and understood too long for us to continue to do nothing,” said Miller. “Yesterday’s news that another combustible dust explosion occurred in Wisconsin is further evidence that our nation needs to act. I hope that with today’s bill introduction and the arrival of a new administration, our nation will finally help workers and business stop these preventable, and all too often, deadly explosions.”
“A year has passed since tragedy struck our community, but so far we haven’t enacted any real change. We’ve been told over and over that it’s not a question of if this type of accident is going to happen again, but when,” said Rep. Barrow. “We know what needs to be done. We need to put regulations that work in the workplace. I don’t care how long it will take, but I’m going to keep on pushing it until it gets done. Our prayers go out to the folks who are still suffering from their losses and injuries. Meanwhile, we should take this anniversary as a reminder that we have not yet done what we can do to prevent something like this from happening again.”
“Yesterday’s accident was just another reminder of the unacceptable risk posed to workers by outdated regulations on combustible dust,” said Woolsey. “While OSHA turned a blind eye to this issue under President Bush, I know that the new administration will confront this threat with the urgency that it deserves. I look forward to working with my colleagues and the new Secretary of Labor to take the necessary steps to update OSHA regulations on these potentially deadly substances and protect our workers.”
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which has launched a major investigation of the Imperial Sugar explosion, has concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the CSB conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards.
It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. The CSB found no comprehensive OSHA rules that effectively control the risk of industrial dust explosions and recommended that OSHA issue a standard.
The Worker Protection against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act would address these hazards by:
- Directing OSHA to issue interim rules on combustible dust within 90 days. The rules would include measures to minimize hazards associated with combustible dust through improved housekeeping, engineering controls, worker training and a written combustible dust safety program;
- Directing OSHA to issue final rules within eighteen months. The rules would be based on effective voluntary standards devised by the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit organization. In addition to items required in the interim rules, the final rules would include requirements for building design and explosion protection. The interim rules would remain in effect until the final rules are issued; and
- Directing OSHA to revise the Hazard Communication Standard, which warns workers of potential on-the-job hazards, to include combustible dusts.
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