ABSTRACT
Sugar, milk, fabric, polyethylene, phenolic resin, rubber, wood, coal, and iron. What do these have in common? Their dust or powdered forms have all been implicated in major workplace explosions. Grain elevators-they have blown up, we know that. But sugar? In February 2008, in an old Georgia sugar processing plant, sugar dust ignited inside a recently enclosed conveyor. The explosion’s shock wave loosened years of accumulated sugar powder from the tops of beams, ‰xtures, and equipment. Floors buckled, and sugar that had accumulated under machines was released to the «oor below. The resulting clouds of sugar powder exploded, and that process repeated in a series of explosions, working its way through the plant. A total of 14 people died, and others were permanently disabled.
