Kansas State University will offer a combustible grain dust prevention workshop teaching advanced mitigation methods on July 31 in Kansas City, Missouri. The free workshop will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Westin Crown Center Hotel.

It will follow a safety conference being co-sponsored by the National Grain and Feed Association and Grain Journal.

The three-hour training will focus on housekeeping practices, proper grain unloading and grain handling, and controls, with a demonstration of sensors and other engineering controls. In this program, the emphasis will be on controlling dust in the grain receiving area, spouting design, bucket elevator safety, sensors for bucket elevators and other material handling equipment. In addition, the course will cover venting, explosion suppression and isolation.

"The past two years, we have focused on increasing awareness of basic grain dust explosion understanding and mitigation techniques. Now we will go beyond this to research-based mitigation methods," said Kingsly Ambrose, project leader and K-State assistant professor in grain science and industry.

As a result of the workshop, participants will be able to identify active steps to mitigate immediate threats, improve their knowledge on dust mitigation methods and have a better understanding of equipment used throughout a grain handling facility.

This initiative is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Online registration for the workshops is available at www.grains.kstate.edu/igp/ (scroll to Combustible Dust Workshop). More information is available by contacting Ambrose at graindust@k-state.edu or 785-532-4091.

Kansas State University News Release