In today’s episode of the Dust Safety Science podcast, we’re speaking with Jeff Davis, Senior Explosion Safety consultant with Fike Corporation, about the Fike Explosion Protection Checklist. Jeff explains why Fike felt the need to create this type of document, how it’s meant to be used, some of the elements of the checklist, and what can happen when some of these elements are not considered.
Jeff explained that Fike’s services include pressure relief, fire protection and explosion protection. In the past, OEMs and end users would request explosion protection equipment, but there was a disconnect involved. What is their process? Why do they need this? Is this the correct product for them?
“That’s really where we felt this need for this explosion protection partner checklist,” Jeff says. “First and foremost, this checklist is about educating the consumer as well as contractors and OEMs.”
He said that while doing dust hazard analyses and other services, he would ask site representatives whether they have explosion protection and, if so, what it consists of and whether it is being maintained. Most times, the response is along the lines of “What is that? Or no, we don’t have any of that.”
“[Then] I’ll walk through the facility and I’ll find equipment with explosion protection on it. It’ll have explosion vents or flamelesss venting or suppression. I’ll say, “Well there’s an explosion vent.” They’ll say, “Oh, you know, we didn’t know what that was. It was just on the equipment when we bought it.”
These encounters inspired the development of the Fike Explosion Protection Checklist. The point was to educate everyone about a necessary but complicated resource. This is critical knowledge whether you have a new plant and processes or a retrofit.
The Fike Explosion Protection Partner Checklist- an Overview
“It’s broken into four areas and we give some example questions in each section,” Jeff says. “All these sections may not pertain to everyone. It depends on where they’re at and their state in the explosion protection journey.
“I’ve recently worked with somebody who we thought needed a DHA. We found out that they’re covered under OSHA’s Process Safety Management program, so they incorporated everything into that. Okay, we’ll take a step back. You don’t need the risk because you’ve done that, and it’s above and beyond what you needed to do. So then we state, “ Well, we don’t need that one step. So let’s look at these other steps. And what do you provide? What is your equipment, and how do you align with us?”
Section One: Subject Matter Expertise
Jeff recalled that several months ago, someone reached out to Fike for a DHA, and it was a novel process with a catalyst they weren’t familiar with in the metals industry.
“We’ve done a lot of work in the metals. We’ve got experts on that. But it was a novel process with a different type of catalyst that we weren’t (familiar with) and we were up front about that with them. They ultimately were able to find a consultant who actually had an expert in that specific field. It’s really important to make sure you’re getting the right partner that understands your process.”
Section Two: Business Alignment
Business alignment is about meeting a business’ logistical and budgetary needs, with logistical being especially important in today. Appropriate questions to ask a potential explosion protection partner include:
- What equipment are you making?
- Do you manufacture it or is it outsourced?
- Where is it manufactured and what are the turnaround times?
- Can you meet the required timeline?
- Can you meet our budgetary needs?
Section Three: Risk Assessment
Jeff emphasized the importance of working with a provider who understands your facility and hazards.
“Furthermore, you should also understand what end product you’re getting,” he explains. “What is the DHA? What approach do they use for it? Is it risk-based? Is it just NFPA conformance-based? Because it’s very important to understand what that output is going to be. Is it what you’re expecting it to be? Is it something that you can use? Or is their first recommendation is to hire someone to interpret this for you? That’s really important, and it’s also what will lead to looking for explosion protection and dust testing later on.”
Section Four: Solutions and Service
This section examines the types of solutions a potential explosion protection partner can provide, such as equipment and service. Equally important is what they DON’T provide, as not all providers will have the resources to offer a full protection solution. The goal is to find someone who has what you need and the guidance to help you get the most out of it.
Conclusion
When asked for some parting words of advice, Jeff said, “[Explosion protection] is not a one size fits all approach. If you haven’t haven’t done that DHA or the risk analysis and you just want to start looking at protection, take that step back and go through that process and make sure you’ve completed that before you’re trying to select explosion protection.”
If you would like to discuss further, leave your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also reach Jeff Davis directly:
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffdaviscti/
Website: https://www.fike.com/
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
Dust Safety Science
Combustible Dust Incident Database
Dust Safety Science Podcast
Questions from the Community
Dust Safety Academy
Dust Safety Professionals
Dust Safety Share
Companies
Documents
Fike Explosion Protection Checklist
Dust Hazard Analysis
Fike Explosion Protection Services
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