Good Housekeeping With Industrial Vacuums  Fri, 01/08/2010 -
11:11am   In a recent hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on
Employment and Workplace Safety, Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., assistant
secretary of OSHA, said the provision will “state more
explicitly what has always been true: that the standard applies
to accumulations of dust that contribute to an explosion hazard.
This clarification of language in the Housekeeping provision
will eliminate any doubt that employers are obligated to prevent
combustible dust from accumulating in their workplaces.”
Although OSHA’s General Industry Housekeeping provision does not
specifically address housekeeping and fugitive dust, several
other OSHA standards, such as the Dust Control Handbook For
Minerals Processing, suggest the use of vacuums for good
housekeeping procedures.  Chapter 7 of the handbook advises:
“Eliminate the use of compressed air jets to clean accumulated
dust from the equipment or clothing and substitute a vacuum
cleaning system (and) use a vacuum clea