Comments on: Is Enough Done To Stop Explosive Dust?

Sugar Plant Blast In February That Killed 13 Is The Latest Preventable Tragedy

[figanootz]

It is ridiculous to blame the government for this problem. The fault rest squarely on the companies involved. They know what is right and what is wrong yet the choose to do wrong because it cost money to clean up the dust. When are people going to learn the government will never be able to protect you. You have to look out for yourself.

[andy01013]

It is clear to me that the corporation with the bigge$t lobby will dictate OSHA policy. Perhaps the best route to pursue would not be through the government but rather through the insurance industry. We all know how the insurance industry can often dictate public policy such as seat-belt laws. In the case of dust explosions, I can only imagine the billions they must have paid out in accidental death benefits, disability benefits, workman''s compensation, property damage and civil lawsuits. Maybe if they had their eyes opened as to how profitable it would be for them to force these rules as a condition for insurability, then things might change.

[oneworldusa]

I lost a family member in an incident such as this. One of the 133.

[samrensho]

I think the Whitehouse should immediately declare a war on dust and set up a cabinet level post of Director of Dust Security. Take the millions of illegal aliens, give them dust rags and send them out across the nation to combat this new enemy of freedom and democracy.

[pete_in_az]

people only do what they are inspected to do. Unfortunately OSHA is like a traffic cop - I speed all the time but haven''t (knock on wood) gotten a ticket in years. But if I was in an accident I guarantee the traffic cop would give me a citation on the spot. If you are relying on the government to keep you safe you haven''t been paying attention. Don''t blame it on the Bush administration (yes i''m a liberal thank you) blame it on the people who run the place period. Its not rocket science, its not a new discovery, its so common of a hazard it makes me angry to see it portrayed otherwise.

[sistatee-2009]

Oh NO! Not the dreaded, CORN DUST BOMB!!!!

[lw837821]

The bottom line is that OSHA needs to and should upgrade their standards on dust control. Most importantly, companies need to be more responsible, forceful and liable in carrying out those standards. If not, Well, as your insurance carrier, we wont supply until you have met these standards. My heart goes out to all families who have been affected and have lost a loved one in a dust explosion.

[jsnbase]

It doesn''t matter what the dust is, it''s almost entirely related to the surface area of the particles. You can demonstrate this to yourself with a butane lighter and a bottle of standard talcum baby powder. Although I guess you probably shouldn''t....

As for whether or not government should get involved, I can''t see a single legitimate reason why they shouldn''t, only Internet-Standard Knee-Jerk Libertarianism(TM).

We are an overly legislated society, sure, but without regulations on things like this, there''s no incentive to improve. Hence the statistics stated in the article.

[republic1776]

Save us Uncle Sam!
Make new laws and large oversights.
Provide a means of kickbacks to the politicians.
---------------------------
Then the problem will never go away.


More people die in auto accidents.
Let the Factories address it.

[losted-2009]

I just watched your story about the dust explosions and I thought why not use that dust for fuel? With 30,000 factories in the US that produce dust, someone could use huge vacuums to collect it and then use it for fuel. It would be a great solution to multiple problems.

[Hansharriet]

Watching your presentation of the dust explosions, I found that your presentation blamed OSHA wrongly for not being effective in its investigations and in taking preventative action. In my opinion, the owners of th facilities where the explosions occur were responsible for not having safety inspections and employees should have blown the whistle, if and when they had been aware of these safety violations.

It is always easy to blame the government for tragic occurrences, but OSHA is always verbally yattacked by manufacturers for not giving exercising too much control over them. They lobby against increasing the OSHA budget. It seems that the present Administration wants to reduce the power OSHA has and reduce their number of inspections.
OSHA, in my opinion, should get increased money and manpower budget to be able to better protect the employees and us citizens.

[zim573]

bruha00
In 2006 that was one of the request that the CSB had made. This issues were not stated on the MSDS sheets in a broken down form. meaning if the dust is a bi product it was not required and the dust is mostly a bi product.

mjmbluford
To be honest I am not sure however there are ways to find out...contact someone from the COSH network http://www.usmwf.org/resources/cosh.htm or even call OSHA in your area. There is also a way to do so anonymously through my safe workplace http://www.mysafeworkplace.com/. Also I would be more than happy to find out the information if you would like to contact me. You will find my info on USMWF

There have been many asking why the companies are not to blame...the companies are to blame but the only way to get some and I am not saying all companies to do so is with regulations. This is OSHA''s job they were created to keep workers safe and healthful from recognized hazards and if they do not recognize the hazard they don''t have to deal with it.

roramius

It should not fall on the government, I agree but there has to be something in place to oversee and cross reference if it is going keep from being corrupt in any form. We really should need the court system. In a perfect world no one would kill or steal but they do and we need protection when it does happen.

[mjmbluford-2009]

I am employed at a factory that fabricates numerous parts for our customers from fiberglass roll stock. As part of the, this causes numerous dust particles that float throughout the plant and eventually land on the machinery and also the plant floor. This dust is so thick, and when I say thick, I mean at least a 1/4", that you can read someones shoe print without a problem to say the least. Would this dust be in the same catagory? Anybody

[bruha00]

My heart goes out to the families and victims of these terrible explosions. My question is, "Why are the owners/managers/supervisors not taking sole blame for these disasters?" They are in those positions because they should know the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) of the whole company''s materials and they should be responsible for the employees training. "When are we going to start taking responsibility for our own actions?"

[roramius]

How come on the story about explosive dust nobody blamed the owners of the plants that exploded??

Why does it always fall to the government?
To be fair you should have looked at the whole story.
Business owners are or should be experts in their field. It is up to them to keep a safe and clean workspace.
Unfortunately in todays society it is easier for the media and victims to blame the government.

This was just another hit piece against the Bush administration.
Bring back real reporting, or call yourself a tabloid.
Not a news source.

[kr168146]

My 8th or 9th grade science teacher (this would have been 1957 or ''58) demonstrated a dust explosion in the class (using Lycopodium powder, the favorite of magicians of the time, for producing impressive flashes), and then discussed the risk and power of dust explosions and cited a dust explosion that had recently been in the news. He reviewed the precautions that must be taken in specific industries and the effectiveness of such precautions, in preventing dust explosions. This was not a technical high school, but a small school in rural/suburban NJ.

Amazing, that after that one science class in ''57 or ''58, I and my fellow students were more aware of dust explosions, their significance and their prevention, than was OSHA and its inspectors a half-century later.

dk

[kr168146]

My 8th or 9th grade science teacher (this would have been 1957 or ''58) demonstrated a dust explosion in the class (using Lycopodium powder, the favorite of magicians of the time, for producing impressive flashes), and then discussed the risk and power of dust explosions and cited a dust explosion that had recently been in the news. He reviewed the precautions that must be taken in specific industries and the effectiveness of such precautions, in preventing dust explosions. This was not a technical high school, but a small school in rural/suburban NJ.

Amazing, that after that one science class in ''57 or ''58, I and my fellow students were more aware of dust explosions, their significance and their prevention, than was OSHA and its inspectors a half-century later.

dk

[kr168146]

My 8th or 9th grade science teacher (this would have been 1957 or ''58) demonstrated a dust explosion in the class (using Lycopodium powder, the favorite of magicians of the time, for producing impressive flashes), and then discussed the risk and power of dust explosions and cited a dust explosion that had recently been in the news. He reviewed the precautions that must be taken in specific industries and the effectiveness of such precautions, in preventing dust explosions. This was not a technical high school, but a small school in rural/suburban NJ.

Amazing, that after that one science class in ''57 or ''58, I and my fellow students were more aware of dust explosions, their significance and their prevention, than was OSHA and its inspectors a half-century later.

dk

[kr168146]

My 8th or 9th grade science teacher (this would have been 1957 or ''58) demonstrated a dust explosion in the class (using Lycopodium powder, the favorite of magicians of the time, for producing impressive flashes), and then discussed the risk and power of dust explosions and cited a dust explosion that had recently been in the news. He reviewed the precautions that must be taken in specific industries and the effectiveness of such precautions, in preventing dust explosions. This was not a technical high school, but a small school in rural/suburban NJ.

Amazing, that after that one science class in ''57 or ''58, I and my fellow students were more aware of dust explosions, their significance and their prevention, than did OSHA and its inspectors a half-century later.

dk

[diamondhd]

OSHA requires that employees are provided a safe work environment. Safety is in all of our hands at any given moment as well. If factory owners, supervisors or leaders ignor unsafe work practices and situations they are should be held accountable. It is their job to make sure their workers go home safe and sound every day. It is not OSHA that should be monitoring these plants, but the bosses, owners and work force. Without training on dust explosions etc. no one would every know problems that lie in wait.