WASHINGTON — The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Sept. 17 awarded Kansas State University a grant of $104,901 to train workers and employers on preventing explosions from grain dust at mills and elevators.

“This grantee will provide training to workers and employers on how to prevent grain dust explosions,” OSHA said. “Plan to develop educational materials to cover controlling dust generation during unloading and grain handling, avoiding turbulence during handling, better control of bucket elevator operation, and use of appropriate sensors and explosion vents.”

The training and materials will be developed/conducted in English and Spanish, OSHA said.

The dust generated at grain handling operations creates risks of fires and explosions. Kansas has had several grain dust explosions in recent years, including major ones at Haysville and Atchison that resulted in fatalities.