Hazards Analysis, Code Compliance & Procedure Development

Services to identify process safety hazards and facilitate compliance with established standards and codes.

Combustible Dust Testing

Laboratory testing to quantify dust explosion and reactivity hazards

Flammable Gas & Vapor Testing

Laboratory testing to quantify explosion hazards for vapor and gas mixtures

Chemical Reactivity Testing

Laboratory testing to quantify reactive chemical hazards, including the possibility of material incompatibility, instability, and runaway chemical reactions

ISO Accreditation and Scope
Fauske & Associates fulfills the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in the field of Testing
DIERS Methodology

Design emergency pressure relief systems to mitigate the consequences of unwanted chemical reactivity and account for two-phase flow using the right tools and methods

Deflagrations (Dust/Vapor/Gas)

Properly size pressure relief vents to protect your processes from dust, vapor, and gas explosions

Effluent Handling

Pressure relief sizing is just the first step and it is critical to safety handle the effluent discharge from an overpressure event

Thermal Stability

Safe storage or processing requires an understanding of the possible hazards associated with sensitivity to variations in temperature

UN-DOT

Classification of hazardous materials subject to shipping and storage regulations

Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Biological

Model transport of airborne virus aerosols to guide safe operations and ventilation upgrades

Radioactive

Model transport of contamination for source term and leak path factor analysis

Fire Analysis

Model transport of heat and smoke for fire analysis

Flammable or Toxic Gas

transport of flammable or toxic gas during a process upset

OSS consulting, adiabatic & reaction calorimetry and consulting

Onsite safety studies can help identify explosibility and chemical reaction hazards so that appropriate testing, simulations, or calculations are identified to support safe scale up

Mechanical, Piping, and Electrical

Engineering and testing to support safe plant operations and develop solutions to problems in heat transfer, fluid flow, electric power systems

Battery Safety

Testing to support safe design of batteries and electrical power backup facilities particularly to satisfy UL9540a ed.4

Hydrogen Safety

Testing and consulting on the explosion risks associated with devices and processes which use or produce hydrogen

Spent Fuel

Safety analysis for packaging, transport, and storage of spent nuclear fuel

Decommissioning, Decontamination and Remediation (DD&R)

Safety analysis to underpin decommissioning process at facilities which have produced or used radioactive nuclear materials

Laboratory Testing & Software Capabilities

Bespoke testing and modeling services to validate analysis of DD&R processes

Nuclear Overview

Our Nuclear Services Group is recognized for comprehensive evaluations to help commercial nuclear power plants operate efficiently and stay compliant.

Severe Accident Analysis and Risk Assessment

Expert analysis of possible risk and consequences from nuclear plant accidents

Thermal Hydraulics

Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions

Environmental Qualification (EQ) and Equipment Survivability (ES)

Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions

Laboratory Testing & Software Capabilities

Testing and modeling services to support resolution of emergent safety issues at a power plant

Adiabatic Safety Calorimeters (ARSST and VSP2)

Low thermal inertial adiabatic calorimeters specially designed to provide directly scalable data that are critical to safe process design

Other Lab Equipment and Parts for the DSC/ARC/ARSST/VSP2 Calorimeters

Products and equipment for the process safety or process development laboratory

FERST

Software for emergency relief system design to ensure safe processing of reactive chemicals, including consideration of two-phase flow and runaway chemical reactions

FATE

Facility modeling software mechanistically tracks transport of heat, gasses, vapors, and aerosols for safety analysis of multi-room facilities

Blog

Our highly experienced team keeps you up-to-date on the latest process safety developments.

Process Safety Newsletter

Stay informed with our quarterly Process Safety Newsletters sharing topical articles and practical advice.

Resources

With over 40 years of industry expertise, we have a wealth of process safety knowledge to share.

Recent Posts

Ensure NFPA Compliance Through Corporate Level Combustible Dust Audits

Posted by The Fauske Team on 10.31.22

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) CPL 03-00-008 Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (NEP, reissued) has been in effect since March 11, 2008. The purpose of this OSHA NEP is to reduce the risk of fires and/or explosions occurring at facilities that handle combustible particulate solids. This Instruction references other applicable OSHA regulations and is supported by related National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standards. These NFPA standards include:

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This is where a corporate level combustible dust audit can help. These types of audits look at dust management practices and equipment including dust collectors, ductwork and other dust containers to identifying safety issues, prioritize corrective actions and determine any additional information required to mitigate fire/explosion hazards. The information they provide helps enable senior management to understand prioritized recommendations and develop a systematic action plan based on safety needs.

Although many standards are relevant, NFPA 654 Standard for the Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids is often the reference standard for combustible dust audits. Audit protocol items related to facility dust hazard assessments include, but are not limited to, materials, equipment and facility design, explosion protection, electrical area classification and damage control, along with administrative issues such as dust control/ housekeeping, ignition source control, training for new and veteran affected employees and contractors, Management of Change (MOC), Process Hazard Analysis (PHA), and inspections and preventive maintenance. Reports from individual facility findings and recommendations should follow a standard format, and allow for local management to obtain a clear understanding of the issues related to their specific site, as well as compare findings with plants of similar technology. Below are some of the common findings gleaned from a corporate combustible particulate/dust audit. 

Common Audit Findings: Systems

  • Additional testing needed
  • Improved dust control/housekeeping required
  • Employee/contractor training not implemented or documented
  • Bonding & Grounding – other ignition source control needed
  • Management of change (MOC) system not in place
  • Employee not outfitted with proper personal protective equipment (PPE) 

Common Audit Findings: Equipment

  • Explosion protection required
  • Electrical area classification needed
  • Alarms and controls needed
  • Maintenance and inspection programs not documented 

Managing compliance is a necessity and can sometimes be perceived as an overwhelming task. The findings of a corporate audit can help the company’s internal EH&S group identify areas for improvement and where needed, initiate a revision of their current protocols, both for legacy facilities as well as new design/construction. 

So, you can see, a corporate combustible dust audit is an important part of any combustible hazard/dust management program to help identify hazards, evaluate potential risks, implement safeguards and maintain compliance. 

Need assistance with your corporate combustible dust audit needs? We can help!

 Common Questions Regarding Dust Sample  Collection, Preparation, and Testing

Is My Dust Combustible?

 

 

Topics: Combustible Dust, dust cloud, dust control, dust collector

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Is My Dust Combustible?

A Flowchart To Help You Decide
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