A new report from Purdue University says that nationwide grain dust explosions totaled nine incidents in the United States during 2023, resulting in 12 injuries but no fatalities.
“Dust explosions are one of the most serious hazards that occur in the grain industry,” says study author Kingsly Ambrose of Purdue University. “The explosions can also lead to significant financial and personal losses due to downtime, repair, injuries, and fatalities.” Last year’s nine incidents were no increase from the nine incidents reported in 2022. The ten-year average of 8.4 explosions remains relatively unchanged. Ambrose says all the big explosions occurred in the Midwest, with most of them taking place in the corn handling or processing industry.
The probable ignition sources were identified in two of the cases as fire, with another due to an equipment malfunction, and the others were caused by unknown sources. “Education is the key to prevention,” Ambrose adds.
