In today’s episode of the Dust Safety Science podcast, we’re talking about how much damage a typical dust explosion causes. This topic is part of our Help Desk series and addresses questions we’ve received from our community regarding the scope of dust explosion effects, associated costs, and damages.
Just as we explored the market size of dust explosions in the United States last week, today’s discussion addresses a broader question that frequently arises within our Help Desk community. Our goal is to provide actionable information and solutions for the wide range of queries we encounter. Whether you’re seeking information on specific dust explosiveness, technical intricacies in various operations, or even recommendations for expert assistance within a specific region, we’re here to help.
As we continue to address your inquiries, we invite you to be part of this ongoing conversation. If you have a question that you’re eager to have answered promptly, feel free to send an email to [email protected]. Your engagement helps us create a dynamic platform that serves the needs of our valued listeners.
Gauging Explosion Damage Can Be Challenging
When gauging the magnitude of damage inflicted by a typical explosion, it’s vital to recognize the diverse nature of the costs involved. Beyond immediate destruction, such as equipment and facility damages, there are potential fines issued by regulatory bodies like OSHA, as well as legal actions initiated by environmental associations and affected communities.
Within this realm, we encounter two significant focal points: the loss of product and the subsequent downtime in production. Remarkably, it’s the downtime in production that tends to emerge as the most substantial expenditure for companies grappling with incidents such as dust fires or explosions.
An FM Global report, titled “Ignition Sources: Recognizing the Causes of Fire,” was published around 2012. The scope of this report encompasses three categories of ignition sources: those inherent in processes or equipment, those arising from equipment malfunction, inadequate design, or lack of essential protective systems, and those introduced by human actions. It is replete with informative tables and figures, including a compilation of the top ten ignition sources ranked according to the dollar value of losses reported by FM Global’s clientele.
Within this document, there’s a short section that addresses dust explosions. This section states that between 2007 to 2011, FM Global’s clients encountered a total of 139 fire or explosion incidents involving dust. Upon reviewing the data, we counted around 21 explosions, averaging approximately 5.2 per year, and approximately 118 fires, averaging about 29.5 fires annually during the 2007 to 2011 period.
These incidents collectively generated an estimated $336 million in damages and caused facility costs amounting to $2,012. Furthermore, the mean loss incurred from a dust fire during this timeframe was $1.9 million in 2012 dollars. Correspondingly, the average cost engendered by a dust explosion reached $5.3 million in US dollars.
Now, translating these values into present-day currency, each dollar today holds a value equivalent to about 1.33 times that of 2012. Consequently, the estimated cost of an average fire stemming from combustible dust today would tally at approximately $2.5 million USD, while an average explosion would carry an approximate $7 million USD price tag solely in terms of damages.
Other Insights From the Report
The report contains several noteworthy observations. One notable aspect is that 1 out of 15 of the recorded losses specifically stemmed from hot work. Additionally, they highlight that a substantial 70% of property losses were attributed to actions or inactions taken by individuals. Furthermore, the document outlines the top five ignition sources ranked by the magnitude of loss caused. These sources are electricity, hot work, spontaneous ignition, and hot surfaces.
Considering the broader implications for the US economy, our incident reporting consistently captures around 30 significant dust explosions and 130 fires annually within the United States. When you factor in these occurrences alongside today’s dollar values based on the losses outlined in the report, the estimated damages amount to $210 million from explosions and $325 million from fires. This amounts to a grand total of $535 million, though it’s crucial to recognize that this sum likely falls significantly below the actual figures due to potential underreporting or undervaluation.
The presented amount could be regarded as a conservative minimum estimate, as what we’re capturing in our incident database probably only represents a fraction of the true occurrences. For fires, this could be as little as 1% of the actual events, while for explosions, the figure might hover between 10% and 1%. Consequently, the actual extent of damages is probably considerably higher. Thus, this $535 million is possibly a conservative minimum baseline.
Before we conclude, another noteworthy aspect to consider is that the impact of product loss and production downtime typically far surpasses the damages inflicted on the facility and equipment. In a typical incident, the costs of production downtime can range from 5 to 15 times higher than those incurred by facility damages. This trend aligns with insights from insurance companies as well. The substantial losses, such as those reaching hundreds of millions, often stem from production downtime, where the inability to maintain operations results in the potential loss of millions or even a million dollars’ worth of products per day.
Conclusion
When assessing the aftermath of a dust explosion, it’s crucial to consider the diverse range of costs involved beyond immediate destruction. This includes equipment and facility damages, regulatory fines from bodies like OSHA, and legal actions from environmental groups and affected communities. The US currently experiences about 30 significant dust explosions and 130 fires. Factoring in today’s values, damages total around $535 million. However, these figures likely understate reality due to underreporting.
Dust explosion damage is complex, extending beyond immediate losses, but documents like the FM Global report encourage a dynamic community conversation. If you have questions about the contents of this or any other podcast episode, you can go to our ‘Questions from the Community’ page and submit a text message or video recording. We will then bring someone on to answer these questions in a future episode.
Resources mentioned
The resources mentioned in this episode are listed below.
Dust Safety Science
Combustible Dust Incident Database
Dust Safety Science Podcast
Questions from the Community
Dust Safety Academy
Dust Safety Professionals
Publications
Ignition Sources: Recognizing the Causes of Fire
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