The first step is to have your material tested to see if it’s combustible. If so, the next step is a Dust Hazard Analysis (DHA). This process will help you identify and understand how to fix any fire and explosion risks in your facility, whether it’s a gap in housekeeping, uncompliant equipment, or hidden areas where dust piles up. Then you’ll need to create an action plan based on the DHA’s findings.
A dust explosion requires a combination of five factors:
This is called the Dust Explosion Pentagon. Generally, we refer to the fuel source as a combustible dust hazard. Wood, coal, flour, grain dusts, and metal dusts are common examples, but you should test your material to determine if it is combustible.
Vacuums should be customized based on factors like your application and the layout of your facility, so you can’t pick one off the shelf. Industrial vacs may need to be installed in a fixed location, located outdoors, or equipped with particular explosion protection or prevention features. To understand the type of vac you’ll need for safety and NFPA compliance, it’s best to speak with an expert.
There is no such thing as NFPA certification for industrial vacuum systems. The NFPA lists requirements for vacuums and other equipment, such as venting and explosion protection features, and it’s your supplier’s responsibility to explain how their solutions meet those requirements. When in doubt, don’t hesitate to ask.
Compressed air is actually prohibited by many regulations, and you may be fined by authorities such as OSHA and CCOHS for using it. That’s because compressed air doesn’t remove a combustible dust hazard — it just pushes it into another area of your facility. Self-contained engineering controls are the best way to prevent those hazards.
Unfortunately, no. No matter how much you clean, manual methods like sweeping can actually increase the risk of combustible dust explosions, because they don’t clean thoroughly and create flyaway dust that can settle in other areas of your facility. To prevent that, NFPA standards call for an engineered, self-contained system.
