Industrial Dust Collection & Dry Media Blasting Equipment Blog

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal did an extensive article on the recent sugar refinery explosion in Georgia. We in are industry are all too aware to the explosive nature of dust in the manufacturing environment. This is the reason that we are in the business of offering dust collection solutions to a wide range of industries.

This article pointed out that the refiner had gone to great lengths to address their dust collection needs. It is believed that dust that had collected in the ceiling rafters was what ignited this deadly explosion.

Those not associated with these industries often find it hard to imagine that sugar could be explosive. When I first worked for this company in the early 90’s I was shocked to learn that dust could be explosive. Dust explosions were so common in the early 70,s in the grain elevator industry. So much so, that the federal government studied the problem at length.

New regulations were put into place in 1987 to address dust control issues. A 2003 report showed that these new regulations showed a 42% drop in explosion and a 70% decrease in fatalities since these regulations where implemented. We who manufacture dust collection equipment are deeply saddened by this loss and our prayers go out to the families of this tragedy.

It at times like this that we again realize that the equipment that we manufacture not only saves the manufacturer money, but it ultimately was the potential to save lives. The need for a safe work environment is why we do what we do.