WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – Though 2020 will be remembered as the year of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, one statistic that won’t be a part of that conversation is grain-dust deaths. Kingsly Ambrose is a Purdue University associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering and recently released the 2020 annual grain dust explosions report that catalogs the number of deaths and injuries nationwide. According to the report, there were eight grain-dust explosions in 2020, resulting in nine injuries but no fatalities. Those statistics place 2020 slightly higher for injuries (average 8.1) and below the average for fatalities (1.7 per year). Dust explosions occurred in eight different states including Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Arkansas. Four of these explosions occurred in a grain elevator, and the remaining four in a feed mill, corn mill, rice mill, and grain processor for dietary fiber. Grain dust is a highly combustible substance and often airborne in handling and processing facilities and explosions occur when there is a source of ignition, often from small, unintentional sparks within the facility.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)