CSB: Poor Design, Failure to Test Dust Collection System Among Causes of U.S. Ink Flash Fire
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said that a flash fire that burned seven workers, one seriously, at a U.S. Ink plant in New Jersey in 2012 was the result of an accumulation of combustible dust inside a poorly designed dust collection system that had been put into operation only four days before the accident.
In a report released Jan. 15, an investigation team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) concluded that the dust collection system at a U.S. Ink plant in East Rutherford, N.J., was so flawed it only took a day to accumulate enough combustible dust and hydrocarbons in the duct work to overheat, spontaneously ignite, and cause an explosion in the rooftop dust collector. The resulting fiery flash enveloped seven workers, causing serious injuries for one.
