Safety bylaw would require dust mitigation plans

An amendment to Penticton’s Fire and Life safety bylaw requiring businesses that producing dust have a mitigation and safety plan is moving ahead.

Fire chief Larry Watkinson introduced the amendment to Penticton city council this week, explaining that dust build up is a serious problem that creates a risk of fire or explosion.

Watkinson showed a video showing how fine wood dust can build up in an operation and is very flammable. On a large scale, this is the problem that led to two fatal explosions at wood mills in northern B.C. in 2012.

Related: Lumber, pellet mills still have dust hazard

Businesses create different levels of fine dust in their operations, Watkinson explained, from large manufacturing to “ma and pa” artisan shops. The amendment would give the fire department the ability to work with the operations and develop a plan that suits the operation and meets or exceeds best practices.

Watkinson said he knows of one business that is “probably the largest dust producer in Penticton” and their plan is only to maintain strong housekeeping rules.

“They hire students and they hire laborers, and they sweep and they clean. They remove the dust from the facility all day long. That’s their dust mitigation plan,” said Watkinson, adding the operation met both fire department and WorksafeBC requirements for dust mitigation.

“It is those that don’t follow those practices and allow dust to build up. Then we have a catastrophic event,” said Watkinson. With the amendment in place, it would also be easier for the fire department to apply fines for non-compliance.

Those fines might be small, he explained, but the doesn’t mean an operation can’t be fined every day until they bring in better practices.

Right now, the fire code doens’t clearly define what is required for dust mitigation.

“It is very ambiguous, and it doesn’t give us any real sense of what we can or cannot do,” said Watkinson. “The cost of a plan is going to be much less than if there was a fire in that facility.”

The requirement would only apply to operations with a City of Penticton business licence, not home hobbyist woodworking operations.

‘I am curious as to if the symptoms are the same, why wouldn’t we be looking at that?” asked Coun. Andre Martin, adding that home operations pose a similar problem.

“I certainly see it as the same threat. We don’t have authority or jurisdiction to enter privates shops to do inspections and enforce code,” said Watkinson, adding that unless a situation is an immediate threat to life or property, the fire department doesn’t have the right to enter a property.

Penticton city council questioned if there shouldn’t be more public consultation and whether provincial organizations shouldn’t be more involved and take more of the burden, but in the end, they gave the amendment its first three readings, with only Coun. Andre Martin opposed. The amendment still requires another vote to be adopted.

“As much as I respect going to the public, this is a health and safety issue, and I truly respect the professional’s opinion,” said Coun. Max Picton, adding that creating consistent mitigation plans is an important factor.

Council also approved a new two-year mutual aid fire protection agreement with the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen.

“We have some work to do modernizing the agreement, but we can’t do without as we go into wildfire season,” said Watkinson, explaining the short term.

The main focus of the agreement is to deal with large events that deplete the local resources available immediately to that community.

“Penticton being the largest muuncipality in the mural aid agreement, we do take on a larger burden as it relates to supporting our local communities,” said Watkinson explaining that is still a fraction of what it would cost Penticton to create the capacity to deal with major events, like wildfire and flooding, without mutual aid.