Unit 3.5: Explosion protection and prevention

Unit 3.5, "Explosion prevention and protection ", in Division 3 is concerned with all questions of explosion prevention and protection at workplaces in companies, especially in the field of dust explosions. Handling combustible dusts is often associated with dust explosion hazards. This concerns both dust and fibrous products such as aluminium powder, powdered sugar, wheat flour or polyamide flock (useful dusts) and waste dusts, such as those that are generated in processing or due to the abrasion of handling combustible solids. The unit's focal points are:

• Consulting
  Key task is consulting the German accident insurance institutions and their member companies in questions of explosion prevention and protection. The aim is to identify their respective hazards and associated risks and to eliminate or minimize them to an acceptable level.
• Combustion and explosion charecteristics of dusts
  Combustion and explosion characteristics of dusts are determined in the dust explosion laboratory. The lion's share of the results can be included in the GESTIS-DUST-EX database database. These data are a useful benchmark in practice (see also BIA-Report 13/97 "Combustion and explosion characteristics of dusts").
• Dust extractors free of ignition source and industrial vacuum cleaners of Type 22
  In cooperation with units 3.4 and 5.2 dust removal equipment and industrial vacuum cleaners are tested in terms of their use in potentially explosive atmosphere of Zone 22.