8th Worker Dies in Imperial Sugar Explosion
Sad news out of Georgia this morning.
A week after a deadly sugar refinery explosion, dozens of firefighters continued to battle the obstinate blaze Thursday and the death toll rose to at least eight.
Michael Kelly Fields, 40, died early Thursday at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, spokeswoman Beth Frits said. Sixteen other workers remained hospitalized there, 14 of them in critical condition, she said.
Seven other people have been found dead in the rubble at the at the Imperial Sugar Co. plant in Port Wentworth, and one worker remained missing.
At least 42 people were injured in the explosion; six workers were initially believed to have been killed, but a seventh body was found in the rubble yesterday, and the eighth died this morning.
Unfortunately, this was likely a preventable accident. Explosions like these are caused by combustible dust floating around that can ignite unless proper precautions are put in place.
But guess what? Elaine Chao failed to issue rules about combustible dust in 2006.
Top federal safety officials urged the Labor Department in 2006 to adopt critical regulations to prevent deadly dust explosions — like the one suspected in the deadly blast in a Georgia sugar plant Thursday — but the government has failed to do so.
In the past 28 years, about 300 dust explosions have killed more than 120 workers and injured several hundred others in sugar plants, food processors, and many industrial and wood manufacturers. Most are preventable by removing fine-grain dust as it builds up, experts say.
In 2007, OSHA Administrator and ex-unionbuster Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. finally released new instructions for explosive dust…
A combustible dust fire and/or explosion is a potential hazard to America’s working men and women. This instruction will be a valuable resource for those who inspect industrial facilities in the United States.
…so why are workers still getting killed by exploding dust, when OSHA claimed to step up its enforcement on the topic a year ago? Well, via OSHA Underground, some sorry statistics from November 06 on the sad state of affairs on this topic, and why there’s a lot of catch-up to do.
- 99% of the Certified Safety and Health Officials have not had any training in the hazards of combustible dust.
- There has been only about 3 total outreach sessions to companies affected on the topic.
- Only one OSHA Training Institute class cobbled together in December was held to mixed reviews
- Most OSHA offices do not any NFPA standards related to explosive dusts. It must be ordered and you might get it in 6 weeks.
Rep. George Miller already wrote to Elaine asking a lot of needed questions about these regulations and this latest explosion. Read his whole letter here.
