Dear Sir/Madam:

I am writing today to bring to your attention an issue of critical importance to you, your employees and your company. The purpose of this letter is to emphasize how critical it is for the safety of your employees that you comply with all applicable OSHA standards, in particular those relevant to combustible dust. To highlight the significance of this issue, OSHA has launched a National Emphasis Program and is distributing the enclosed Safety and Health Information Bulletin (SHIB). Combustible dusts are often either organic or metal dusts that are finely ground into very small particles, fibers, fines, chips, chunks, flakes, or a small mixture of these. When these particles become airborne and come in contact with an ignition source a deadly explosion could occur.

Your establishment has been identified as being in an industry that often faces this potentially deadly hazard. To assist your organization in identifying and abating combustible dust hazards, I am enclosing a copy of OSHA's SHIB titled Combustible Dust in Industry: Preventing and Mitigating the Effects of Fire and Explosions. It is imperative that you take the time to review the information in this bulletin and take necessary steps to prevent such potentially lethal hazards. Failure to attend to housekeeping standards or to conduct maintenance on your ventilation systems or electrical controls places your employees and your facility at risk.

OSHA is available to provide assistance to companies facing all types of safety and health hazards. OSHA's onsite consultation program, which is designed primarily for small employers (companies of 250 or fewer employees) can help you identify safety and health hazards including combustible dust hazards in your workplace and find effective solutions for eliminating or controlling those hazards. This program is administered by a state agency and operated separately from OSHA's enforcement program. The service is free and confidential. In addition, the OSHA state consultant can assist you in developing and implementing a safety and health management system for your workplace.

If you have any further questions, please call you local OSHA Area Office or your state's consultation program. Information on both is available at www.osha.gov. Thank you for your attention to this very important matter.

Sincerely,

Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.
Assistant Secretary