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U.S. has tough standards for wood dust, inquest told

The explosive potential of wood dust has long been recognized in the United States, an expert told a coroner's inquest into the Lakeland Mills disaster on Monday.
Lakeland Mills
Lakeland Mills is seen from the air following an explosion and fire which destroyed the mill on April 23, 2012.

The explosive potential of wood dust has long been recognized in the United States, an expert told a coroner's inquest into the Lakeland Mills disaster on Monday.

Amy Cronin of Boston-based Strategic Code Solutions, an industrial safety consultancy, said an insurance company survey of 166 dust-related explosions between 1993 and 2006, found wood dust to be the leading source of fuel in 70 of them and agreed with United Steelworkers counsel John Rogers that it's not an emergent issue south of the border.

According to the standard set by the National Fire Prevention Association, Cronin said wood dust of 3.2 mm in depth – about the depth of a nickel – covering more than five per cent of a facility's surface – floors and level surfaces above – is enough to pose a hazard. Dust at Lakeland was deep enough to be measured in inches, she noted.

If the sawdust in a sawmill is deep enough that you can see your footprint or write your name in it, "it can be a problem," Cronin said. 

In addition to the basic recipe for a fire – fuel, ignition and oxygen – Cronin said the addition of compression and dispersion created the conditions for an explosion.