Dust Safety Science releases its 2021 Mid-Year Incident Report
02 November 2021
Dust Safety Science has published its 2021 Mid-Year Incident Report with coverage of combustible dust incidents from around the world including statistics, comparisons, and source data. Since 2016, the organisation has published semi-annual reports analysing the materials, industries, and equipment involved in combustible dust fires and explosions around the world.
In the 2021 Mid-Year report, Dust Safety Research shows that there were 51 combustible dust fires and 28 dust explosions worldwide during the first half of 2021 which led to eight deaths and 44 injuries. Over the last six years, since the organisation began tracking incidents, the average has been 31 dust explosions, three fatalities, and 28 injuries per year.
The report details how food and wood products made up over 75% of the combustible dust fires and explosions recorded, while the materials also resulted in 61% of injures and 62% of fatalities. As shown in previous reports, wood processing, wood products, agricultural activity and food production make up a large portion of the overall fire and explosion incidents. The report says that since 2017 wood products have ranged from 21% to 28% of the incidents, while agricultural activity and food production has ranged from 33% to 50%.
In terms of equipment and causes, storage silos demonstrated the highest percentage of combustible dust incidents with six fires and six explosions reported. Incidents involving dryers resulted in the largest number of injuries.
A full year report for 2021 will be released at a later date. To download the full 2021 Mid-Year Report, click here.
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