In today’s episode of the Dust Safety Science podcast, Alex Ing, Fire Protection Engineer with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in Boston, Massachusetts, talks about where the NFPA is heading and what this direction may mean for combustible dust code users.
Alex is currently in his fourth year with the NFPA Industrial Chemical team, where he acts as liaison for gases, pyrotechnics, special effects and explosives. He also supports the combustible dust projects which include NFPA 652 as well as all the commodity-specific standards.
Alex explained that NFPA is looking to add value to the codes and standards that it writes.
“We want information and knowledge organization. We have many volunteers and experts, [so] we are tapping into our expertise on different projects, especially the new dust training that’s coming out. We’re looking at enhanced content, and then we’re intrinsically looking at the way we provide standards going into the 21st century.”
NFPA Code Delivery Is Going Digital
By way of example, the hard copy NFPA code and standard book is extremely popular- more so than its PDF version. To ensure that updates are readily available, NFPA is publishing an upgrade link that also gives access to auxiliary content like explanatory language.
“One of NFPA’s goals for this year is to put 325 plus codes and standards, handbooks and other resources into NFPA LiNK™ so that they are available on-demand from any device,” Alex says. He added that all of the most recent dust standards are currently available online through the NFPA LiNK, which also has a feedback feature if anyone has a technical question.
Combustible Dust Codes are Being Combined
A longer-term project is a consolidation of the NFPA dust standards. NFPA 652 started as the fundamentals of combustible dust, but there were still commodity-specific standards. Now, everything is in the process of being combined into a single online manual because there are certain aspects about combustible dust that are repeated throughout all of the codes.
“This way, you don’t have to go through several different books before you find what you’re looking for,” Alex says.
An Online NFPA 652 Training Series is Being Launched
NFPA is now offering an online training series based on the 2019 version of NFPA 652.
Alex explained that the goal was to modernize the existing dust training material, which he described as “death by Powerpoint.” They added video, interactive exercises, simulation, and other resources to make the training more engaging.
“We took 652 as a code and broke it into three modules,” he says.
1. Combustible Dust Safety Awareness
Combustible Dust Safety Awareness is the first module and offers a comprehensive overview of personal, peer, and facility safety. Its goal is to provide guidelines on how to deal with dust so that catastrophic incidents can be prevented. The audience includes new engineers, plant process workers and operators, and anyone else who needs to be more aware of dust hazards.
2. Dust Hazard Evaluation
The Dust Hazard Evaluation module aims to help participants better understand the important factors to consider when performing a DHA, as well as how to achieve compliance. It answers three key questions:
- Why is a dust hazard analysis being carried out?
- When is it being carried out?
- Who will be conducting it?
This module is geared toward experienced engineers, fire prevention experts, facility managers, staff inspectors, and risk managers. This module will not teach learners how to complete a DHA, but rather how to understand the numerous considerations that need to be made beforehand.
3. Controls for Combustible Dust Hazards
The objective of this module is to provide engineers, agency leaders, professionals, plant process and risk managers with an understanding of how controls are recommended and implemented. In other words, it spotlights the safeguards in place to mitigate, control and contain dust hazards.
All three modules are completely customizable and can be taken individually or in succession, depending on the needs and skill level of the audience.
Conclusion
NFPA and its stakeholders are part of a fire and life safety ecosystem. For years, NFPA evolved codes from the reference standards, but that’s only one piece of the ecosystem. There are other pieces that NFPA is expanding on, such as training: without a skilled workforce, codes and standards aren’t going to be effective and the ecosystem will be broken. By transitioning to online access and delivery, NFPA is making it possible for users to receive relevant information when they need it.
If you would like to discuss further, leave your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also reach Alex Ing directly:
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-ing-1005a4143/
Website: https://www.nfpa.org/
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.
NFPA 652 Combustible Dust Online Training provides the flexibility to choose the courses that you require and to work at your pace and convenience. Explore prevention and mitigation strategies for flash-fire and explosion hazards as well as methods for maintaining a safer work environment with expert instruction on combustible dust hazards awareness, evaluation, and controls.
Save 10% today when you use coupon code NFPA10DSS –
Resources mentioned
Dust Safety Science
Combustible Dust Incident Database
Dust Safety Science Podcast
Questions from the Community
Dust Safety Academy
Dust Safety Professionals
Organizations
NFPA
Fire Protection Research Foundation
Standards
NFPA 652
Services
NFPA LiNK™
NFPA Combustible Dust Online Training
Thanks for Listening!
To share your thoughts:
- Leave a note in the comment section below
- Ask a question to be answered on the show
- Share this episode on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook
To help out the show:
- Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes
- Leave a review and rate our show in iTunes to help the podcast reach more people
