"This accident was caused by poor equipment design, poor maintenance and poor housekeeping. If the dust was not allowed to build up, this terrible accident would not have happened and we would not have had the terrible injuries that we saw," Bresland said.
Imperial Sugar had been aware of the hazard of combustible dust for decades before the accident that also caused 36 injuries, mostly related to burns and many of which were life-threatening, the board said on Thursday.
It recommended that Imperial Sugar adopt better procedures and training for dealing with the hazard of combustible dust...But several international unions criticized the board for not repeating in the report its earlier recommendation to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration of strong standards on combustible dust in factories.
"They (CSB) seem to be leaning toward the interests of industry ... rather than toward the interests of the stakeholders involved," said Jim Frederick of the United Steelworkers health safety and environment department.
"Had a combustible dust standard been in place at Imperial Sugar this catastrophic incident would not have taken place," Frederick said.
Continued.. - Reuters
