Despite significant safety advancements in the pellet industry, the potential remains for pellet plants to experience major unwanted events (MUEs) such as explosions, fires, and fatal accidents that are hard to prevent with traditional approaches to safety.
WPAC and BCFSC partnered to pursue a process known as Critical Control Management (CCM), which is already widely used in mining, chemical, and oil and gas industries around the world, but is new to the wood pellet industry.
With CCM, companies understand their equipment better, workers are able to operate and maintain that equipment safely, the equipment is more reliable, and plant managers know what activities are most important.
By late 2021, the CCM committee, comprised of representatives from WPAC, BCFSC, and Dalhousie University, achieved the goal of completing bow ties and critical controls to WorkSafeBC for each of WPAC’s member plants. BCFSC also provided on-site and online support to all 15 operations.
WorkSafeBC is funding a Dalhousie University Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science research project that will build on this work and transfer this knowledge to employees and employers throughout the wood pellet industry across Canada and internationally.
WPAC Resources
Read fact sheet: Critical Control Management
Watch videos: Critical Control Video Series
Use bow ties: Bow Ties
Read Canadian Biomass Magazine article: Critical Control Management Initiative On Track for Wood Pellet Sector
Energy Safety Canada Process Safety Reference Materials
- An Introduction to Process Safety (Volume 1)
- A Barrier Focused Approach (Volume 2)
- Measure What You Already Do (Volume 3)