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

Weighing In On Balancing Knowledge And Action To Combat Dust Hazards

Posted by The Fauske Team on 11.05.18

By Sara Peters, Customer Specialist, Fauske & Associates, LLC


Combustible Dust ControlRecently, the US Chemical and Safety Board’s (CSB) revealed that their investigation into the May 2017 explosion at Didion Milling Company in Cambria Wisconsin exposed an industry wide issue that underscores multiple recent dust related incidents. It revealed what seems to be a wide spread disparity in understanding among workers in dust producing facilities regarding the hazards of combustible dust as well as when/how much dust in a facility is perceived to be a problem. In light of the understanding gap and the ongoing incidence of such tragic events, the CSB issued a call to action to explore this further.

This call to action asks those impacted by dust including companies, workers, regulators, safety experts, etc. to answer some basic questions addressing matters related to how much dust respondents consider too much/unsafe. Are dust hazards effectively communicated across organizations? Are workers provided adequate guidance for prioritizing competing/conflicting standards regarding combustible dust control? How effective is communication regarding the hazards of combustible dust? All of this is information important to the evaluation of a facility’s safety procedures, but one key area that seems to have been overlooked for consideration is how risk factors into the equation.

Dr. Ashok Dastidar, Vice President, Dust & Flammability Testing and Consulting Services states, “The questions that the CSB are asking offer insight into the misunderstandings and knowledge gaps regarding the dangers combustible dust poses. It’s important to remember, however, that a hazard is inherent to a material, but the risk related to that material has to do with the manner and environment in which it is used. An effective safety program needs to incorporate information addressing both.”

Dr. Dastidar reiterates the benefit of dust hazard analyses as required by NFPA 652 as an effective means to evaluate risks in a facility stating, “Understanding how we can create a stronger awareness regarding the hazards of dust will enhance our ability to educate those affected by it. But, following the proper steps to characterize dust and addressing the unique variables creating risk in each individual situation through a dust hazard analysis (DHA) should still be a first step in developing a process safety plan.”

The takeaway here should be that mitigating the possibility of a combustible dust event requires an effective mix of action combined with education and communication. This call to action is a worthy conversation starter but can only impact change if the lessons are used to implement a more mindful approach to combustible dust control.

Want to know more about how to handle the combustible dust hazards and risks? Download our Dust Hazard Analysis Brochure today and see the benefits of our Dust Hazard Analysis course!

 Download Dust Hazard Analysis Brochure

 

Topics: Combustible Dust, dust hazard, Combustible Dust Hazards Analysis

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