Purdue Extension workshops will help farmers and employees of grain handling facilities better understand how to prevent grain dust combustion and explosions.
Funded by a grant from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the workshops include sessions on awareness of the hazards which cause grain dust combustion episodes, identifying and eliminating risk factors throughout a grain handling and milling facility, and preventative and safety improvement controls. There will also be a demonstration of grain dust explosion. Participants will receive a comprehensive training handbook and a certificate of completion.
The workshops will be held on June 21, 1-5 p.m. CDT, at the Consolidated Grain and Barge Company, 2801 Bluff Road, Mt. Vernon, and June 22, 8 a.m. to noon EST, at the Daviess County 4-H Building, Eastside Park, 4-H Way, Washington.
“On average, there are 10 grain dust explosions every year in the United States, causing damage, injury, and death,” said Kingsly Ambrose, assistant professor in Purdue University’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. “Our goal is to raise awareness of the perils of grain dust explosions and reduce this number.
“Our participants will be able to identify active steps to reduce immediate threats, improve their knowledge of dust reduction methods, and better understand the combustion and explosion potential of grain dust.”
Ambrose is presenting the workshops with Chad Martin, Purdue Extension renewable energy specialist.
The workshops are designed for anyone who works directly with grain in large and small facilities. Businesses and larger grain-handling facilities with larger groups of employees interested in participating can schedule on-site training for their organization, Martin said.
Registration for the event is free, and is required by June 16 for both workshops. For more information or to sign up, contact the Purdue Extension-Posey County office at 812-838-1331 (June 21 workshop) or the Purdue Extension-Daviess County office at 812-254-8668 (June 22 workshop). For more information for either location, contact Martin at [email protected].
Ambrose and Martin will also present a workshop on preventing grain dust combustion and explosion at CONVEY17, a national compliance conference and trade show sponsored by the National Grain and Feed Association and Grain Journal magazine. The conference will be held July 24-26 in Kansas City, Mo. For more information about the conference, go to https://www.ngfa.org/upcoming-events/convey/.
