Hello All

I'm currently putting together training materials for DSEAR

Does anyone know where I can get training video's showing how combustible flour dust can be in a manufacturing working environment?

A few years ago, I attended a training session and was shown a video of flour dust that had settled on pipework, this ignited similar to that of gun powder. I'm trying to find that video.

I've looked on you tube but unable to find any suitable video's that show flour dust igniting in manufacturing 

If anyone has any suggestions I would be most grateful 

Hi Peter

Thank you for your answer.

I'm aware that there will be little footage of someone taking a video during flour being ignited, it was more a general enquiry to locate a video I've seen previously 

Is this any use - i think its wood dust not flour, but similar result - part of some HSE research at their Buxton Labs.

DSEAR dust explosion at HSE laboratory Buxton. Video of the Practical. I pity Fred the manikin (he needed surgery post the explosion). On a serious note... | By SHREC LtdFacebook | Facebook

Try looking on internet search engine (videos) for;

"grain dust explosions and how to prevent them"

Should come up with various videos including "Deadly Dust II"...there are others in the series.

Obviously not an endorsement - other materials are there for you to consider.

regards

When an operational firefighter, I attended a fire at a large flour packing factory involving a large electrical control panel. It was perhaps 2m wide and 3m tall and full of relays, transformers and contactors and it was well alight

This was around midnight with no staff on site. We only carried a small BCF extinguisher which was totally insufficient. So as normal, we searched around for some CO2 but struggled to find any across the entire site.

As a second panel became involved in fire and smoke filled to space- and with no way to isolate to power supply to enable us to use water, we really had to act quickly. So we were forced into the perhaps illegal move of breaking in to neighbouring  businesses and 'borrowing' their CO2 extinguishers.

It turned out management were so anxious about dust explosions from clumsy application of high pressure CO2 media, that they removed all CO2 extinguishers - not very helpful at all

So what happens now? Do businesses operation flour mills and similar dust prone environments keep the site free of CO2 extingusihers? It seems a bit excessive and an ill conceived strategy to me 

So what happens now? Do businesses operation flour mills and similar dust prone environments keep the site free of CO2 extingusihers?

Hi Messy,

In answer to your question, due to being an animal feed producer, we create grain dusts and have 7 Co2 extinguishers inside our mill, among other types of course.

I can't see why anyone would remove extinguishers - surely the fact they were there in the first place would have been due to risk assessment and guidance from specialists.

Most people use the imperial sugar incident for training purposes the results causing an explosion are the same