NEWS - Manufacturing

By Lou Phelps, SBJ Staff

Feb 6, 2012 – It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years…that four years ago tomorrow, at about 7:25 p.m., local media began to get alerts that there had been an explosion at the Imperial Sugar plant. 

It was the first time in recent memory that local emergency groups were called into action for a major disaster in Chatham County, and it was hours before the horrible loss of life and extent of injuries became known.   

Tuesday, February 7, 2012 will mark the fourth anniversary of the massive sugar dust explosion that killed 14 workers and injured 38 others at the Imperial Sugar Refinery in Port Wentworth. The loss of life continues to be mourned in the community by family members and co-workers.

Seven months after the explosion, the federal Chemical Safety Board (CSB) board members came to Savannah in September 2009 to discuss the disaster, sharing what they had learned at that point, and providing insight into both what happened that night, and need for changes to OSHA and Federal and State regulations and management of manufacturing plants.  

The CSB concluded that Imperial Sugar had inadequately designed and maintained dust collection and sugar handling equipment, and that inadequate housekeeping practices allowed highly combustible sugar dust and granulated sugar to accumulate to explosive concentrations throughout the refinery’s packing buildings.

Today, the Chairman of the CSB, Rafael Moure-Eraso, issued a public statement on the four-year anniversary, saying that the investigation staff keeps “the memory of this tragedy close to us as we continue to advocate for changes in national workplace rules aimed at preventing such accidents in the future. We believe the safety recommendations that followed from our investigation of this accident will go far in saving lives. I am pleased to report that on this accident anniversary all but one of our recommendations have been successfully adopted by their recipients,” he said today.

Specifically, the CSB called on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, to “proceed expeditiously” on its 2006 recommendation that OSHA promulgate a new combustible dust standard for general industry.  “We believe such a standard is necessary to reduce or eliminate hazards from fires and explosions from a wide variety of combustible powders and dust,” he explained. “I am disappointed that OSHA has not moved forward on this recommendation. Completing a comprehensive OSHA dust standard is the major piece of unfinished business from the Imperial Sugar tragedy.”

“It is gratifying to be able to report that during 2011 the CSB designated Imperial Sugar’s responses to all five of our safety recommendations to the company as ‘Closed-Acceptable Action.’  Specifically, the CSB recommended that Imperial Sugar develop a corporate-wide comprehensive program to control combustible dust accumulation, develop training materials that address combustible dust hazards and train all employees and contractors, and improve its evacuation procedures.  We recommended Imperial Sugar comply with National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) recommended practices for preventing dust fires and explosions, and urged the company to conduct a comprehensive review of all of its manufacturing facilities’ adherence to NFPA standards,” he adds.   

“We recently received notice from Imperial Sugar’s property insurer, Zurich Services Corporation, that it is providing its risk engineers ongoing training in the hazards of combustible dusts, which we recommended. This will help ensure that hazards are identified during insurance inspections so that the companies can eliminate or reduce the hazard before a catastrophic accident occurs. Additionally a series of safety recommendations to AIB International and the American Bakers Association -- to develop combustible dust training and auditing materials -- also have all been given a status of “Closed-Acceptable Action.”

The CSB recently reissued its call for a dust standard from its investigation into three flash fires that occurred in a series of accidents at the Hoeganaes Corporation iron powder processing plant in Gallatin, Tennessee, taking five lives.  But OSHA lowered the CSB recommendation’s priority on its regulatory agenda in recent weeks.

“I continue to advocate for a comprehensive combustible dust standard, and encourage industry’s support.  Preventing dust explosions is a necessary investment: prevention saves lives and massive property losses.   It is my view that a comprehensive standard will save lives and prevent future combustible dust fatalities.

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.