The changing complexity of fire and health protection problems in vegetable‐oil processing plants

Abstract

w HEN my subject was first mentioned to me, it seemed that fire and health protect ion problems had grown more complex with the years. Af te r f u r t he r thought I realized tha t this was not necessarily so. Therefore I shall discuss changes and lack of changes, ra ther than increases, in the complexity of our problems. As addit ional clarification, it should be explained that most of my experience with vegetable-oil fire and health protection problems has been in the crudeprocessing end of the business so what I say is bound to be slanted in the direction of crude milling. Many years ago, when I first had anyth ing to do with a vegetable-oil processing plant, a crude mill was a mult is toried affair, often of brick or stone with wooden floors and roof. Near ly a lways there was a basement that contained the main lineshafts, which in tu rn were driven by a steam engine located somewhere near the middle of the building. The main mill building l i terally was j ammed full of machinery driven by lineshafts and counter shafts. The work spaee between machines usual ly was dark and inadequate. Auxi l ia ry buildings, for seedand products-storage, often were of wood, and many of them were fire traps. Machinery in auxi l iary buildings f requent ly was driven f rom the main engine by means of lineshafts s tretching across the mill yard. As well as I can remember, a great m a n y of our fires were caused by hot bearings, by the rubbing of belts on wood, and by sparks produced by scrap iron passing through machinery. Processing machines, conveyors, and elevators often contained m a n y wooden par ts and l i terally added fuel to the fires. As far as injuries to personnel were concerned, men were hur t by falls, by get t ing caught on line shafts, pulleys, and belts, and by being crushed in the process of handl ing heavy objects by hand. Infections were common because m a n y things were handled by hand and because locker-room and firstaid facilities were poor. In the bull/ handl ing of slow-flowing materials like cottonseed and cottonseed hulls, men often were covered up by caving materials. Regre t tab ly this problem has not been conquered and may even be worse in these days of bulk storage tanks and houses with high side-walls. Although we often feel tha t we have not made much progress in our industry, today ' s crude mills have changed much more than one may think. Most of the older mills that still operate have been electrified and now use group and individual drives. Newer mills have been built on one level and may not have any line shaft ing or open drives at all. Also the new plants general ly are of fire-proof construction. In almost all cases the l ighting and cleanliness have great ly improved; and the men have more and better work-space, locker rooms, and first-aid facilities. The danger of fire a n d / i n j u r y f rom screw conveyors and f rom material e t e ~ t o r s has been great ly reduced by the replacement of the wooden housings with t ight and substantial steel housings. Fires