Latest Insights in the Evolving Digital World

Winter Safety Risks for Wood Manufacturing

Wood manufacturing plants, like sawmills, paper mills, pallet manufacturers, and plywood manufacturing companies should take extra care to avoid dust explosion risks during cold winter months. Surprisingly enough, winter temperatures can increase the risk of

Low humidity in winter environments can lead to the easy dispersion of dust, which can then easily ignite and cause explosions and dangerous fires in the workplace.

The biggest ignition possibilities include reduced interior ventilation, internal air re-circulation, closed wall dampers and bay doors, the use of portable heaters, and the overheating of gear reducers. Although many gear reducer manufacturers make their gear reducers resistant to overheating, the presence of high levels of dust combined with low-humidity environments can lead to problems with wood-based factories.
In fact, earlier in 2012, two factories in cold climates saw explosions due to the increased accumulation of dust in wood factories.

The best way to reduce your risk for winter explosions is to manage dust collection properly. First of all, choose gear reducers made by gear reducer manufacturers that are resistant to overheating. Make sure the gear reducers are designed to work in high-dust environments. Ensure all dust collection methods are functioning properly. Use humidifiers to increase the humidity inside the factory to keep dust moist. Efforts to reduce fire hazards manually, through the use of water sprays, are less effective than simply ensuring current dust collection methods are in place and cleaned frequently to ensure there is always enough room for new dust to collect and be disposed of.

Following these steps will greatly reduce the amount of fire hazard in a woodworking factory, even during the dangerous winter season.