Webinar: How to Identify Combustible Dust Hazards

Combustible Dust poses one of the highest safety risks to a surprising variety of industries; some of whom do not realize that their processes and materials generate combustible dust – dust that could trigger a deadly explosion or costly six-figure OSHA fines. Some studies have claimed that the average cost of abating Combustible dust violations after an inspection approaches one million dollars. Industries, such as food, wood, chemical, plastics, and metals are regularly affected, but if you have bag houses and dust collectors, you may be affected.

In this session, we will discuss the basic process of combustible dust explosions and deflagrations, legal issues, common OSHA errors, and the roles of counsel and experts with practical workplace experience. We will discuss how experts and attorneys sift through the multiple applicable consensus standards, and state and local ordinances to come up with the best approach; often less costly than first anticipated.

The often neglected and misapplied first step is to conduct a dust hazard analysis or Process Hazard Analysis. This webinar will provide viewers with a guide to identifying combustible dust hazards, as well as touching upon the principles of dust clouds and ignitable atmospheres, mechanics of dust flash fires and explosions and how to analyze processes and buildings to determine where dust fire and explosion hazards may exist, and ways to mitigate hazards.

Speaker

Howard Mavity, Partner, Fisher Phillips LLP

Howard Mavity is a partner in the firm’s Atlanta office. He founded and co-chairs the firm’s Workplace Safety and Catastrophe Management Practice Group. He draws upon his past business experience in transportation, logistics, construction, and industrial supply to work with clients as a business partner, and focuses on eliminating employee problems by commonsense management. Howard has provided counsel for over 225 occasions of union activity, guided unionized companies, and has managed approximately 550 OSHA fatality cases in construction and general industry, ranging from dust explosions to building collapses, in virtually every state. He has coordinated complex inspections involving multi-employer sites, corporate-wide compliance, and issues involving criminal referral. Howard is active in rulemaking and dealings with federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other agencies. He oversees audits of corporate labor, HR, and safety compliance. He also responds to virtually every type of day-to-day workplace inquiry, and has handled cases before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and numerous other state and federal agencies.

Howard frequently speaks to business associations, bar groups, and professional groups. He also lectures and conducts training for numerous private and governmental employers and speaks at a national MBA program. Howard is “AV” Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and he has been featured as one of the “Georgia Super Lawyers” in the Atlanta Magazine survey since 2004 and in the 2006 Georgia Trend Magazine, Georgia Legal Elite. He has also been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 2017. In 2013 he was named one of the “50 Most Influential EHS Leaders” by EHS Today.  He is also co-editor of the firm’s Workplace Safety and Health Law Blog. Howard has been quoted in USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNBC and by other media outlets. Howard was also recognized as a Top Author in the 2016 JD Supra Readers’ Choice Awards, which acknowledge top authors for their thought leadership writing.

Sponsored by

Camfil APC recognizes that an industrial dust collection system can be a main cause of explosions if it isn’t properly designed for each operation. Our Gold Series dust collectors are built to specific requirements and exceed OSHA mandates for indoor air quality. When equipped with a Camfil explosion vent, they offer the highest combustible dust explosion protection in accordance with NFPA and ATEX standards. Camfil also offers dust testing, ASHRAE Standard 199 testing, and NFPA standards training.

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