New Emergency Management Lesson Learned: Explosions in Georgia

On February 7, 2008, a series of explosions occurred at the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth, Georgia. Fourteen people died from the explosions, and 36 workers were treated for serious burns and other injuries. The explosions also destroyed multiple buildings at the facility. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) identified the root cause of the explosion to be an accumulation of combustible granulated and powdered sugar and sugar dust. The sugar and cornstarch equipment was not designed to minimize the accumulation of this dust, according to the CSB. The CSB also faulted the company for its inadequate emergency evacuation plans. The written emergency response procedure directed workers to use an intercom system in event of an emergency. However, this intercom system was not available inside refiner or packing buildings. Personnel inside the plant only received emergency notifications through word of mouth, two-way radios, and cell phones. Therefore some workers were not promptly notified of the emergency. While the company had posted evacuation routes, the company failed to train employees or conduct emergency evacuation drills. In addition, emergency lighting did not provide adequate illumination; therefore, some workers had difficulty in finding their way to safety when the explosions and fires knocked out the normal lighting. The CSB noted in its report that prior to the accident company workers had experienced a number of near misses related to dust accumulation and small fires. Rather than alert the company and workers to the dangers, however, these near misses emboldened the workers to continue with the unsafe operation and accept the risk.

Lessons Learned: It is almost a cliché that a plan that is not tested is worthless. Unfortunately, this is a lesson that many organizations fail to learn. The fact of the matter is that individuals tend to respond poorly to rare incidents, especially low frequency-high consequence events. A large part of this is because of a lack of experience. Training and drills are ways of gaining that experience before an event occurs. Training should include the use of communications systems and other special equipment used in an emergency. 

U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, “Investigation Report: Sugar Dust Explosion and Fire, Imperial Sugar Company, Port Wentworth, Georgia, February 7, 2008,” Report No. 2008-05-I-GA, September 2009.