Recently we undertook a DSEAR assessment for a client and it became obvious that they had thought that the assessment was just going to be a rubber stamping of what they were already doing. The feedback was that they hadn’t had any problems in the last 30 years and they didn’t expect any.
However their processes would routinely involve liberating large volumes of organic dust and organic dust does have the potential to explode. It would need the both the dust concentration to be above the LEL (lower explosion limit), for a source of ignition to be present and also for the dust to be contained (in order to explode rather than burn). But the key message is that DSEAR does require the potential risks to be identified as part of the risk assessment process.
It’s not unusual for businesses to contact us with the view that they just need an assessment to confirm they are doing the right things to satisfy their insurers. On most occasions there are areas of risk that have not been recognised or maybe overlooked. Here a fresh pair of eyes from a highly experienced DSEAR consultant can help to point these out; and make the necessary recommendations for improvement.
If your businesses has areas where flammable vapours, gases and dusts are present; even if only from time to time then you must consider the potential risks.
