Dust Control Critical

Employ safeguards to enhance efficiency with a cleaner, safer work environment.

- Craig Thomas

Managing an efficient bulk material process in the food industry requires paying attention to a long list of variables and small details. Any of them could negatively impact the overall effectiveness and ultimate profitability of an operation. Perhaps no single challenge is as out of sight as the impact of material “dusting” at a facility.

Benjamin Franklin once famously said, “Write your injuries in dust, your benefits in marble.” While he was referring to highlighting one’s successes in life, his words are very applicable to the challenges dusting presents to a bulk material operation. Here’s the good news: Finding success in the fight against dusting is within reach, and if obtained, the benefits would be worth commemorating in the finest marble.

Identifying the causes, implementing fixes and understanding the tremendous impact dusting can have on a food processing operation’s bottom line is critical to addressing it—before it becomes a problem.

CHALLENGES In the food industry, there can be no product contamination or clouds of dust created during processing. When there is no margin for error, the number of challenges associated with dusting add up quickly – and they cannot be ignored.