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B.C. groups working to prevent dust buildup in sawmills

March 31, 2014, Victoria – The B.C. government, the forest industry, their unions and WorkSafeBC have released a plan aimed at preventing sawmill explosions.

In a joint statement, the groups lay out a multi-point strategy to limit potential combustible dust and make sure mills comply with safety regulations.

Part of the plan includes a dust mitigation and control audit, to ensure best practices, province-wide.

A campaign alerting workers to their right to refuse unsafe work is also being launched.

WorkSafeBC is doubling the size of its designated inspection team to 20 and will add more sawmill inspections.

Changes come after two separate sawmill explosions and fires in north-central B.C. in 2012 killed four people and injured dozens more.