Quick post- 60 minutes on combustable dust this Sunday, Tammy Miser from Weekly Toll will appear

“Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.” Tammy Miser Congressional hearing on combustible dust


Please excuse the commercial, I have no control of that

Tammy Miser has created a tremendous amount of awareness to the senseless deaths that occur due to the absence of OSHA standards with regard to explosive dust, the petition on the right hand side of this site is her idea. She runs the blog Weekly Toll and the USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities and she has testified in front of Congress. Word is that Tammy will be appearing this Sunday night on 60 Minutes lead story, "Is Enough Done To Stop Explosive Dust?", the show will feature Carolyn Merritt, former CSB chair, Ed Foulke (OSHA) and Rep. George Miller

At least 13 people might still be alive today if industry and the government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration did more to stop dust explosions in America’s factories, says a former government safety official.

Carolyn Merritt, former head of the government's Chemical Safety Board, talks to 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley about the deadly problem of combustible dust this Sunday, June 8, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

On 4/30/08, the House , with a lot of support by Education and Labor Chairman George Miller and many others, passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, H.R. 5522 by a vote of 247-165

From The Gavel

This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.

Learn more in our current legislation section >>

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on March 12 with testimony from Tammy Miser, sister of a victim of a 2003 combustible dust explosion in Huntington, IN:

Take a look at the other stories I have done on this (I know for a fact that OSHA, The Dept. Of Labor, Senate and Congress have read them), a lot of sites and bloggers have helped spread the word and raise awareness. Please forgive me for not mentioning them all right now, I need sleep too.

Tammy Miser is helping workers, I admire her commitment and it shows the power of bloggers to change the world.

You can help, sign the petition on the right.

Quick post- 60 minutes on combustable dust this Sunday, Tammy Miser from Weekly Toll will appear

“Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.” Tammy Miser Congressional hearing on combustible dust


Please excuse the commercial, I have no control of that

Tammy Miser has created a tremendous amount of awareness to the senseless deaths that occur due to the absence of OSHA standards with regard to explosive dust, the petition on the right hand side of this site is her idea. She runs the blog Weekly Toll and the USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities and she has testified in front of Congress. Word is that Tammy will be appearing this Sunday night on 60 Minutes lead story, "Is Enough Done To Stop Explosive Dust?", the show will feature Carolyn Merritt, former CSB chair, Ed Foulke (OSHA) and Rep. George Miller

At least 13 people might still be alive today if industry and the government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration did more to stop dust explosions in America’s factories, says a former government safety official.

Carolyn Merritt, former head of the government's Chemical Safety Board, talks to 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley about the deadly problem of combustible dust this Sunday, June 8, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

On 4/30/08, the House , with a lot of support by Education and Labor Chairman George Miller and many others, passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, H.R. 5522 by a vote of 247-165

From The Gavel

This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.

Learn more in our current legislation section >>

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on March 12 with testimony from Tammy Miser, sister of a victim of a 2003 combustible dust explosion in Huntington, IN:

Take a look at the other stories I have done on this (I know for a fact that OSHA, The Dept. Of Labor, Senate and Congress have read them), a lot of sites and bloggers have helped spread the word and raise awareness. Please forgive me for not mentioning them all right now, I need sleep too.

Tammy Miser is helping workers, I admire her commitment and it shows the power of bloggers to change the world.

You can help, sign the petition on the right.

House passes Combustible Dust protections

With work from the labor federations, bloggers and the unfortunate accident at the Imperial Sugar facility, The US House has passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, H.R. 5522 by a vote of 247-165. 165 Republicans voted against American workers.

According to The Gavel ( 4/30/08) :

This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.

Learn more in our current legislation section >>

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on March 12 with testimony from Tammy Miser, sister of a victim of a 2003 combustible dust explosion in Huntington, IN:

Tammy Miser: “Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.”

Thank you Tammy, for your hard work to memorialize workers who die on the job. I watched with great adoration your courage to speak in front of congress on behalf of workers.

Shawn did not die in vain. Through your persistence you have helped to change the world for the next worker, for that we are all grateful.

Thanks to Jesse Lee for posting this at The Gavel


To read more about Tammy Miser and her contributions, as well as those of Rep. George Miller, please take a look at the article "Our Memorial Day" by Esther Kaplan published this week at the Nation

Please sign the Combustible Dust Petition

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From the pages of USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities, a petition now being sponsored by the Change to Win Federation, please sign it, end the massacre that is the lackadaisical OSHA voluntary standard. Enough is enough, please sign the petition.

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H.R. 5522: Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008>>> You can view the entire hearing here: Click here to watch archived hearing webcast » It is long about a little over 2 hours but if your really interested in how the system works, what some of our congress men think about OSHA as of lately or combustible dust it is a must see. You can also see individual parts here

<<<Give Us Combustible Dust Standards Between 1980 and 2005, 119 workers were killed and more than 700 injured in combustible dust explosions. These explosions were preventable -- but even though the U.S. Chemical Safety Board recommended in 2006 that regulations needed to be put in place to protect workers from death or injury from combustible dust accidents, OSHA chose instead to maintain its program of voluntary corporate compliance. But as Former CSB Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt put it, "the problem with voluntary standards is not everyone volunteers." This petition calls on OSHA and the Department of Labor to stop relying on voluntary compliance and issue a general industry standard for preventing combustible dust accidents in the workplace. Tell me more

To read more about the plight to change the way OSHA deals with industries that explosive dust is a factor, and the multi-tiered campaigning by labor and social advocacy groups who would like to see this changed, please check out Imperial Sugar explosion death toll rises to 13, OSHA backs lack of standard before Congress, Ga. creates own standard, and we need more signatures from 3/16/08

The 200th. signature on the petition to change OSHA's useless explosive dust rules is none other than an OSHA employee.

#200 "As an OSHA employee, I was ashamed and deeply offended by my Agencies response at Rep Miller's Hearings. Like Rep. Miller said "I again see no sense of urgency from OSHA". The OSHA Watchdog has acted like a Lapdog again." - Bob Whitmore , Maryland

This is the petition that many web activists have supported, by linking and adding to their sites. It was created in the wake of the Imperial Sugar explosion, which now has a death toll of 13, there are still many victims in critical and severe condition. The petition in a nutshell asks OSHA to adopt a "Standard" for explosive dust, instead of the current "Voluntary" method. If there was a OSHA "Standard" in effect and it was adhered to, there most likely wouldn't be a need for this petition.

Please take a moment of you life to read my last article from March 16th. on how desperately this is needed and how OSHA is defending the current rule:
Imperial Sugar explosion death toll rises to 13, OSHA backs lack of standard before Congress, Ga. creates own standard, and we need more signatures

Once you have read the stories, click the pictures below, I'm sure your name will wind up on the list, you can even sign anonymously.

In Solidarity with the American worker,
Joe

Imperial Sugar explosion death toll rises to 13, OSHA backs lack of standard before Congress, Ga. creates own standard, and we need more signatures

Regina Habersham , Georgia
"please do something my only child was killed please change the laws"- signature from petition

The Petition

OSHA has been twiddling it's thumbs about this matter for over a month, they have even read my site with all the stories urging readers to sign the petition

The petition which was started a few days after the Imperial Sugar, formerly Dixie Crystal, Refinery explosion. It was created by Tammy from the Weekly Toll Blog (the sister site of the USMWF-United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities)

Do something, you laxidasical*...

Now it has been over a month since it has been created and has been at the top of my site and while I have help to spread the petition to other sites and have gotten quite a few visitors here, there are only a small few who are taking the minute or 2 to sign it.

It seems that most of you do not really care to honor those who died and make sure that this doesn't happen again on American soil. Take a stand with Regina Habersham, who lost her only child to this blatant neglect of having a STANDARD RULE!

The petition is simple, it states that the undersigned want OSHA to adopt RULES on explosive dust, not just recommendations that companies can choose to abide by on a voluntary basis. From the petition:

We want OSHA to issue comprehensive combustible dust standards and we fully back the Committee on Education and Labor in their request to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao for answers and action based on the CBS investigations and recommendations.

The Big Labor Federations Agree "Something must be done"

On March 4th Joe's Union Review reported in the article "2 out of 2 giant labor federations agree, OSHA must adopt explosive dust standard, you can help, please sign the petition.":

All labor, both the AFL-CIO and Change To Win have been writing and acting to assure that OSHA will enact a STANDARD that all companies must follow in regards to explosive dust.

In the wake of the Imperial Sugar (formerly Dixie Crystal) dust explosion which killed 12 and has 11 more in critical condition. There has been a lot of awakening to the fact that OSHA can only recommend the strategy to defend against explosions in plants where there is a high possibility of an explosion due to combustible dust particles.

The Weekly Toll blog, which is the sister site of the USMWF- United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities, started a petition 2 days after the explosion, that states:

We want OSHA to issue comprehensive combustible dust standards and we fully back the Committee on Education and Labor in their request to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao for answers and action based on the CBS investigations and recommendations.

That petition can be found here also, at the top left hand side. It can also be found on the Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires blog, which was created by Watermon, who is the same man who created the Combustible dust accident Google map and is a contributer of the OSHA Underground blog.

A byproduct is that this is the first case in which I have noticed both labor federations as a united front. Both blogs are fighting for this. Both are spreading awareness with some of their top writers. While it would be nice if they mentioned Weekly Toll and the petition, I guess we'll take what we can get.

The E-Action I wish I knew about

On March 12th. of 2008, American Rights at Work, through their sister-site, ShameOnElaine.org, which highlights the misdeeds of Secretary Of Labor Elaine Chao, was asking us to send an E-Mail to our Congressmen (CC to Elaine herself) which would urge them to support H.R.5522 Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008, which would require the Secretary of Labor to issue interim and final occupational safety and health standards regarding worker exposure to combustible dust, and for other purposes which can be read about above.

OSHA, what a waste of our hard earned

OSHA has become an impudent, understaffed and underfunded Governmental agency which is supposed to be there before an accident happens, but which according to various sources is so understaffed that it would take 108 years, as of 2005 data*, to inspect every workplace in the United States just once and that doesn't take into the the budget cuts our wonderful administration has imposed on the agency since '05, $1 million was just taken away from the agency with the passage of the omnibus bill.

OSHA defends current standard, or lack thereof

OSHA sat through the hearing defending the current voluntary methods that are on the books already. According to Occupational Hazzards (3/13), during the hearing in front of Congress on the 12th., OSHA Administrator Edwin Foulke Jr. stated:

the agency would consider rulemaking on combustible dust a “strong option,” but only if its investigation of the Feb. 7 Imperial Sugar refinery explosion and an inspection of existing standards – identified in OSHA's National Emphasis Program (NEP) – reveal that the standards don't adequately mitigate the potential for the hazards associated with combustible dust.

“We have 17 different standards that are applicable to combustible dust,” Foulke told members of the House Education and Labor Committee, noting that existing standards on ventilation and factory housekeeping can be used to address combustible dust hazards. “After the NEP has been in effect and we have conducted enough inspections we will evaluate and review the inspection data to determine if the standards we currently have are adequate to address combustible dust hazards.”

William Wright, board member and interim executive of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), argued that the Imperial Sugar refinery explosion was the deadliest industrial explosion in the United States since 1980 – killing 12 worker and critically injuring 11 others, and therefore, confirms the immediate need for OSHA to issue a mandatory measure for employers.

Not only that, but he affirmed that a regulatory standard would make employers highly aware of the engineering and safety practices needed to prevent dust explosions.

However, the OSHA chief remained adamant that a new standard may not be the solution to prevent more tragedies. He insisted that the agency's multi-pronged approach, which includes enforcement of standards, combined with education for employers and employees, should be effective enough to fight combustible dust hazards.

“The effectiveness of a standard always depends on how well employers implement the requirements, and many tragic accidents in the last decade could have been avoided or minimized if employers had complied with existing OSHA standards,” Foulke said.

Are you kidding me? For one second do we, the American public buy the idea that what is the rule is good enough? Rep. G.Miller (D-Ca.) had strong words for Mr.Foulke, which you can read in full at the Occupational Hazard story entitled "OSHA Not Issuing Combustible Dust Standard Anytime Soon" (3/13)

While OSHA fiddles, Ga. death toll rises to 13

Here's OSHA Underground, in their story entitled "While OSHA Fiddles..." (3/14):

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Another burn patient has died of injuries suffered in an explosion at a Georgia sugar refinery, bringing the death toll to 13.

Six patients remain in critical condition a little more than a month after the blast at the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth. Four are in serious condition.

Investigators have said the explosion was fueled by airborne sugar dust at the refinery, near Savannah. They have not yet determined what ignited it.

Standards an uphill battle, let's do it together

Unfortunately this is an uphill battle, the only way to enforce change is to let them know you are knowledgeable and willing to put your name to it, signing the petition is the first step, all the other sites that are taking action keeping each other informed is another, American Rights at Work should have sent myself, the AFL-CIO, WIN Radio, CTW, OSHA Underground and all other interested parties an E-Mail before the 12th. regarding the E-Mail to congress, It could have gotten a lot more response. I have a lot of Labor links on the left hand side of my site, I'm sure more than one would have ran a story. So in the future, lets keep one another posted of these events.

Georgia leading by example

There was however one step in the right direction which has come in this mess, the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John W. Oxendine issued new regulations for industries in the state of Georgia that produce inflammable dust. According to Occupational Hazards story "Georgia Issues Combustible Dust Regulations" (3/13)

“These regulations will set new standards for safety in industries that produce flammable dust in their manufacturing processes,” Oxendine said.

He said the new rules will require all industries in Georgia that produce combustible dust to draw up emergency plans, practice implementing the plans and train employees in evacuation techniques.

At Oxendine’s request, the International Fire Code Committee has approved for their final action hearings, requirements for factory fire emergency evacuation procedures and drills for the 2009 edition of the International Fire Code.

All manufacturers in Georgia will be required to have a designated safety officer. Monthly reporting will ensure that emergency plans are in place and drills are conducted, according to the rule. Additionally, the rule will require facilities making, processing or handling combustible particulate solids that create combustible dust to comply with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E-2004, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, as well as numerous other NFPA standards.

“The explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar plant was the most devastating loss of life in Georgia in 16 years,” Oxendine said. “I want to make sure this type of accident never happens again.”

Rep. John Barrow (D-GA.) spoke to the Congressional hearing on HR 5222, he stated "Georgia isn't waiting," and continued “[Oxendine] has exercised his authority under Georgia law to adopt the voluntary standards promulgated by the people who know best how to prevent these disasters from happening – the NFPA – and made them mandatory in Georgia.

Barrow further noted “We now have to worry about Americans losing their jobs to other Americans, just because they happen to live in states where they haven't learned the lessons of Imperial Sugar yet,” he said. “Unsafe competition is unfair competition.”

Get E-Active! It's easy.

This is an uphill fight, Get E-Active, sign the petition, left hand top of this site or any of the buttons below:

*laxidasical - (Slang) A state of sloth and apathy. An attitude of laziness. To be slack.
Example in use (1)"He lay in the hammock in a laxidasical manner, while his house fell down around him for want of maintenance" (2)"She laxidaically handed in her project assignment having done the least amount of research she could get away with."
*NOTE: Not sure the exact figures, but I know it's somewhere around that, may have been 137 years, or 108 inspectors in NYS, but I'm close. Yeah of course I'm right, according to The Hill in a 2005 article entitled To make American workers safer, strengthen OSHA

2 out of 2 giant labor federations agree, OSHA must adopt explosive dust standard, you can help, please sign the petition.

All labor, both the AFL-CIO and Change To Win have been writing and acting to assure that OSHA will enact a STANDARD that all companies must follow in regards to explosive dust.

In the wake of the Imperial Sugar (formerly Dixie Crystal) dust explosion which killed 12 and has 11 more in critical condition. There has been a lot of awakening to the fact that OSHA can only recommend the strategy to defend against explosions in plants where there is a high possibility of an explosion due to combustible dust particles.

The Weekly Toll blog, which is the sister site of the USMWF- United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities, started a petition 2 days after the explosion, that states:

We want OSHA to issue comprehensive combustible dust standards and we fully back the Committee on Education and Labor in their request to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao for answers and action based on the CBS investigations and recommendations.

That petition can be found here also, at the top left hand side. It can also be found on the Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires blog, which was created by Watermon, who is the same man who created the Combustible dust accident Google map and is a contributer of the OSHA Underground blog.

A byproduct is that this is the first case in which I have noticed both labor federations as a united front. Both blogs are fighting for this. Both are spreading awareness with some of their top writers. While it would be nice if they mentioned Weekly Toll and the petition, I guess we'll take what we can get.

Heres the most recent stories from both, and they have both covered this in depth previously:

Change To Win 3-04-08

by Jason Lefkowitz, March 4,

OSHA to Workers: All Right, All Right, We'll Check if Your Workplace is About to Explode. But Just This Once!

On February 20, I wrote in this space about OSHA's inaction on the problem of "combustible dust" -- invisible particles that build up in some workplaces, creating a dangerous risk of explosions -- and how that inaction led to the deaths of twelve workers and injuries to many more when the Imperial Sugar plant at Port Wentworth, Georgia exploded on February 8, along with many other deaths and injuries in other accidents over the years.

Since then, there has been a steadily growing call for OSHA to (belatedly) do something about combustible dust. On February 20, several Change to Win unions presented Labor Secretary Elaine Chao with a petition demanding action, and op-ed pages in Georgia have taken up the call as well.

Yesterday, Congressional leaders Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Rep. John Barrow (D-GA) introduced legislation to force OSHA to act and scheduled hearings for March 12 to investigate why the agency dragged its feet. And also yesterday -- nearly a month after the Imperial Sugar explosion, and just days before those hearings -- OSHA chief Edwin Foulke, Jr. announced that his agency would finally be doing something:

Federal inspections will be carried out at hundreds of plants where combustible dust is a workplace hazard, a top safety official said Monday at a sugar refinery where dust is suspected of causing a deadly explosion.

Ed Foulke Jr., head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, announced the inspections while visiting the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, where a blast on Feb. 7 killed 12 workers injured dozens more.

OSHA has not completed its investigation of that explosion but is sending letters to 30,000 companies that deal with combustible dust to discuss the dangers, Foulke said in a telephone interview.

But the question isn't whether or not OSHA will do a one-time inspection or send an "FYI" letter to corporations and hope they will voluntarily clean up their workplaces. The question is whether OSHA will enact a permanent, standing rule that will ensure now and in the future that buildups of combustible dust are prevented. And the AP report on OSHA's new statement makes it clear that OSHA is in no hurry to make that rule:

Foulke said Monday that more work must be done to determine whether existing standards on ventilation and factory housekeeping can be used to address existing concerns, and to determine how a standard can be crafted so it makes sense for different industries with different types of dust.

So OSHA's position is that we need more research to determine if there's any need to do anything about these factories that keep blowing up. Never mind that the Chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said in November 2006 that "new federal standards are necessary to prevent further loss of life" from combustible dust accidents.

These hearings ought to be pretty lively, don't you think?

(By the way, if you want to follow this issue, a great resource is the new Dust Explosions blog. It's a product of the same person who created that Google Map of combustible dust explosions I cited in my earlier post on combustible dust. The OSHA Underground blog is useful as well.)

UPDATE (12:20PM): From UFCW -- Chao and OSHA: Too Little Too Late:

The explosions could have been prevented had OSHA heeded the recommendations made by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board made in November 2006. That year, the CSB conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards following three worksite catastrophic dust explosions that killed 14 workers in 2003. The CSB report noted that a quarter of the explosions that occurred between 1980 and 2005 that were identified, occurred at food industry facilities, including sugar plants.

OSHA’s Katrina-like inaction on this workplace risk follows a pattern of the agency ignoring scientific evidence and its own rule-making guidelines. By law, OSHA was supposed to respond to the CSB’s recommendations within six months.

AFL-CIO 3-04-08

House Democrats Call for Strong Standards to Prevent Dust Explosions

by Mike Hall, Mar 4, 2008

Memorial to the 12 workers killed in the Imperial Sugar Co. blast.

The Feb. 7 sugar dust explosion in Port Wentworth, Ga., that killed 12 Imperial Sugar Co., workers and seriously injured another 11 who are still in the hospital, has resulted in renewed calls for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to create combustible dust level standards to prevent such explosions.

Yesterday, Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.), House Education and Labor Committee chairman, and John Barrow (D-Ga.) introduced legislation requiring OSHA to move quickly on a dust standard.

Without a congressional mandate, however, it doesn’t appear as though OSHA will move any more quickly than it has in the past when safety experts determined a standard was needed. OSHA Administrator Edwin Foulke told reporters Monday that before OSHA would act:

We need to have the documentation, we have to have the research, we need to have the evidence.

Here’s a question for Foulke. Aren’t the 281 dust explosions that have killed 119 workers and seriously injured another 781 since 1980 evidence enough that it’s time to put rules in place to prevent such deadly blasts and keep workers alive? Says Miller:

The tragedy at Imperial Sugar shows that the threat of dust explosions is very real at industrial worksites across America and needs to be addressed immediately. It’s unfortunate that it takes the Congress of the United States to tell OSHA how to do its job. The agency has known about these dangers for a long time and should have acted years ago to prevent explosions like this one. Workers cannot be asked to wait any longer for these basic protections.

In 2006, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board issued a report calling for mandatory regulations to prevent such explosions. But OSHA has ignored the board’s calls for dust level standards and instead is relying on corporations to voluntarily regulate themselves. Foulke said OSHA’s next step is sending letters to some 30,000 businesses about the dangers of combustible dust.

When dust builds up to dangerous levels in industrial worksites, it can become fuel for fires and explosions. Combustible dust can come from many sources, such as sugar, flour, feed, plastics, wood, rubber, furniture, textiles, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, dyes, coa and metals, and so poses a risk across a number of different industries.

About a quarter of the dust explosions have occurred in the food industry and last week, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), along with the Teamsters (IBT), petitioned OSHA to issue an emergency combustible dust standard.

The day after the Port Wentworth explosion, Miller and Rep. Lynn Woolsley (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Workforce Protections subcommittee, sent a letter to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao urging her to take immediate steps to move OSHA to issue mandatory rules on combustible dust. She has yet to respond.

Sign the petition, you can do it here or just go directly to the Petition Site

11th victim dies from Imperial Sugar blast, 12 more in critical condition, sign the petition.

Unfortunately an 11th victim from the Imperial Sugar refinery blast has died, please take a moment of your time to sign the petition at the left hand side of this site to encourage OSHA to set safety standards in explosive dust workplaces.

From the Associated Press:

Toll From Sugar Plant Blast Climbs to 11

14 hours ago

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Another burn patient has died of injuries suffered in an explosion and fire at a sugar refinery, bringing the death toll to 11, officials said Sunday.

Two weeks after the blast at the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth, 12 other patients remain in critical condition at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta. Two are in serious condition.

A 15th patient, whose name was not released, died Saturday evening, said Beth Frits of the Burn Center.

A memorial had been held earlier in the day for the other victims, the 10th of whom died Friday.

The explosion was fueled by airborne sugar dust at the refinery, near Savannah, investigators have said. They have not yet determined what ignited it.

(This version CORRECTS that 12 patients are in critical condition, not 14.)

Don't let this happen again, sign the petition. As of now refineries can only voluntary agree to adapt standards for explosive dust, lets have OSHA make it mandatory.

Please sign the petition to stop events like the 10 Imperial Sugar workers killed in the fiery dust explosion

Please sign the petition on the left hand side of my site, don't let OSHA ever let this happen again.

From Macon.com:

City mourns 10 dead in sugar refinery explosion
By Russ Bynum - Associated Press

SAVANNAH --Ten wreathes of carnations, white as pure sugar, stood at the front of the stage as a woman stepped to each one and hung a hardhat in its center - a reminder of 10 Imperial Sugar workers killed in the fiery dust explosion at the company's nearby refinery.

More than 700 employees of the refinery in neighboring Port Wentworth, family members and friends of those killed in the Feb. 7 blast gathered for a memorial service Saturday at the Savannah Civic Center to remember as a group the men they had buried individually in the past week.

Many dabbed their eyes with tissues handed out by Red Cross volunteers as Cory Thomas, the grown son of fallen refinery worker Tony Thomas, read Bible verses offering words of comfort. Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson noted in his welcoming address that the tragedy was also personal for him. His cousin, 56 year-old Eric Barnes, died in the blast.

"You can ask anybody in Savannah or in the community around Port Wentworth, it definitely affects everybody," Richard Ussery, who has worked in the refinery for 17 years, said as he hugged and greeted friends leaving the memorial.

For Antonio Washington, who drives a forklift in the refinery warehouse, it was a chance to say goodbye to two friends he last saw the night of the explosion.

Washington left the memorial hobbling on a crutch, saying the force of the blast knocked him off his forklift and left him with a broken big toe. He counts himself among the lucky ones. Barnes, who worked near him, perished in a break room that collapsed. He said he'd also chatted with 56-year-old Earl Johnson, who also died, during a cigarette break shortly before the explosion.

"I'd like to remember everybody like they were," said Washington, who couldn't bring himself to attend either man's funeral. "I think about them everyday."

The memorial service came a day after the death toll climbed to 10 when an employee suffering from severe burns died Friday at an Augusta hospital. The worker's name had not been released by the hospital or Imperial Sugar.

Also killed were Truitt Byers, 54, of Savannah; Early Quarterman, 55, of Savannah; Byron Singleton, 26, of Ellabell; Shelathia Harvey, 31, of Hinesville; Mike Williams, 55, of Savannah; and Michael Kelly Fields, 40, of Rincon.

"They were men of faith, they were good sons, they were loving husbands and caring fathers," John Sheptor, president and CEO of Imperial Sugar, said during the service. "We will miss you and we will remember you for the rest of our lives."

Sheptor also praised the firefighters, paramedics and police who swarmed to the 90-year-old refinery to save the injured and battle the intense blaze that burned for a week after the explosion. He also thanked several unnamed heroes among the refinery's ranks of employees.

Two brothers working at the plant rushed back inside a burning building to save their uncle, Sheptor said, and two other employees scrambled to shut off a large boiler operating dangerously close to the flames and the firefighters working to extinguish it.

Shutting down the boiler potentially saved "hundreds of lives - all of our emergency response personal, the injured and many of our employees who were gathered just at the foot of that boiler," Sheptor said

Imperial Sugar declined to name those men, saying they wished to remain anonymous.

Investigators determined the explosion was caused by sugar dust collecting in a basement area beneath the refinery's three giant storage silos, though exactly what ignited the dust remains under investigation.

Thirteen workers who suffered severe burns in the explosion remain hospitalized in critical condition at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta. Two others are in serious condition.

Updated: 10 are dead in Imperial Sugar Explosion

From The Weekly Toll WebBlog, please go there and sign the petition at the top of their page called : Give Us Combustible Dust Standards - Stop The Insanity

People Were In There

Posted by Tammy at 8:34 AM
Yes people were in there and some actually came out. The New York Times took an aerial view of the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth, Ga.

“I saw people come running out burnt, screaming, hollering, their skin hanging off them,” said Jason Perry, who hurried to the plant after the blast to search for an uncle who was working that night. “One lady hit the ground, and then the medical was on her so fast you couldn’t see what was going on.”

Gruesome details emerge not even 48hours later, a scene many will not soon forget.

At 10:46 PM last night I received the New Your Times article and I tried like hell to write about this once again, to give everyone a back ground of all the time and effort spent (the Times article say it all) by some to keep this from once again happening but somehow I just couldn't find the strength to do so this time.

We all have this idea that we are invincible, tough as nails, we can take whatever comes our way and that's part of the problem, were not! We are not rocks, we just do what we have to to get by.

I had written an article, One Death, Many Losses, and I know there are flaws in it but to be honest I haven't been able to rework it and I am not sure I ever will but it gives a brief over view of what one family experiences during this time. We are helpless while these events are happening but we are not now, we can do something to keep this from happing to another family. We don't have to be perfect or hard as nails; we just need to gather strength were we can, stand up and fight back and if we can't let someone else take over for a while.

I will not set back while OSHA sends us a few crumbs any longer, I WANT BREAD & ROSES! So expect a monthly letter from me.

What a terrible tragedy, go sign the petition, lets get a few thousand signatures.

The USMWF (United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities) is an organization who is focused on (from their website):

Families who have a loss need to be acknowledged. We will not allow others to discount us any longer. We are the brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and children of America. Families and their losses are not a number or a statistic. We are the very ones making your profits. We are not asking for more than we are entitled to, Our Right, The Right to a Safe and Healthful Workplace. We need leaders to restore our faith in governmental humanity.

The AP has an updated story: Burning Sugar Slows Ga. Refinery Search

Although officials previously said the fire that had raged in the refinery since the explosion was all but extinguished, authorities said Sunday that fires still burned in the silos. Helicopters were to be brought in Sunday to pour retardant to put out the flames, Wilson said.

Rescue workers and company managers were trying to determine where the missing men might be. Officials were focusing on at least three areas of the plant, including the silos.

The search was halted at sunset because the debris-strewn refinery remained too hazardous for nighttime searches. It resumed Sunday morning.

Imperial Sugar was one of the largest and oldest employers in this city of 5,000. The vast refinery was a network of warehouses, silos and buildings eight stories tall connected by corridors of sheet metal.

Seventeen workers remained hospitalized Sunday in critical condition with severe burns. Three others were released Sunday, said Beth Frits of the Joseph M. Burn Center in Augusta.

One of the critically injured, 49-year-old Gene Daniel Bryan Jr., moved his head Sunday in response to relatives, even though he was in a medically induced coma, said his sister, Penny Daley.

Bryan, a supervisor, led several of his employees to an exit but they had to flee down a staircase that was engulfed in flames, Daley said in a telephone interview.

"It's hard to say it makes it all worth it, but I'm just glad to say he was able to help somebody," Daley said.

Investigators with the Georgia Fire Marshal's office, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board began arriving Saturday.

Imperial President and CEO John Sheptor has said sugar dust in a silo used to store refined sugar before packaging likely ignited like gunpowder. Sugar dust can be combustible if it's too dry and builds up a static electric charge.

Updated- according to CBS: 5 bodies have been found

UPDATE 2/19/08 :

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

Now we have a toll of 10, please sign the petition at the top left hand side of the site to ensure that OSHA will adopt a explosive dust standard. You can view an updated story here at :
Please sign the petition to stop events like the 10 Imperial Sugar workers killed in the fiery dust explosion

Please note: there are now 11 deaths from this explosion you can read the update at:

11th victim dies from Imperial Sugar blast, 12 more in critical condition, sign the petition.