Although we talk about a company’s bottom line as the reason to implement engineering controls to reduce or eliminate respiratory hazards in the workplace, that doesn’t mean most organizations put profit above worker safety.

As defined by OSHA, combustible dust is “a solid material composed of distinct particles or pieces, regardless of size, shape or chemical composition, which can present a fire or deflagration hazard when suspended in air or some other oxidizing medium over a range of concentrations.”

Operations that produce dust as a byproduct of their processes rely on an industrial dust collection system to provide clean air to the workplace. However, the dust collection system itself could be a source of danger if it isn’t properly equipped and maintained.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has long asserted that chemical dust explosions are a "serious industrial safety problem." CSB research reveals that nearly 200 dust fires and explosions have occurred in U.S. industrial facilities over the past 25 years, resulting in approximately 100 fatalities and 600 injuries.

A new approach to dust monitoring is starting to spread throughout the industrial hygiene field. It is the use of a device that simultaneously does real-time direct reading combined with standard method in a compact wearable product. The beauty of this type of device is three-fold.

Due to a growing number of catastrophic fires and explosions caused by combustible dust in the last decade, OSHA has recognized combustible dust as a hazard. The presence of dust in a factory is now at the top of the list of items to inspect during an audit.

Responding to a complaint of unsafe working conditions, OSHA inspectors observed employees at an Illinois metal fabricating shop over-exposed to noise and dust hazards while manually powder coating metal products in two of the company’s paint booths.