Corn-Processing Plant back in Operation after Fatal Fire

Two days after a fire claimed two lives at an Archer Daniels Midland corn-processing plant in Decatur, Illinois is back in operation.

DECATUR — A corn-processing plant was back in operation Monday after an air-handling unit caught fire late Sunday, killing two Archer Daniels Midland employees.

Source: sj-r.com via watermon

OSHA regulators state that it could be up to six months in determining the cause of the fire in the air handler unit.

Nick Walters, director of OSHA's Peoria area office, said the agency has six months to complete such an investigation but likely could finish prior to that time.

Source: herald-review.com via watermon

Time is of the essence especially in dealing with work sites  that generate combustible dusts such as the tragic explosion that occured at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Georgia, three evenings earlier. It dosen't matter whether the potential fuel for the fire or explosion is sugar, corn, saw dust, aluminum dust, or what ever. Human nature will find a source for ignition.

The implementation of a comphrehensive  OSHA industry standard on combustible dust environments is what's required instead of a patchwork of  state fire codes. Over a decade ago Decatur, Illionois experienced a tragic dust explosion at a wet corn milling facility that claimed five workers on January 10, 1997. Since 1980 there has been eleven prior incidents at wet corn milling facilities similiar to the ADM corn-processing . Luckily in this incident an explosion did not ensue, which is a credit to the ADM plant personnel in maintaining exceptional houskeeping standards.

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