Book excerpt: Following three catastrophic dust explosions that killed 14 workers in 2003, the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) initiated a study of dust explosions in general industry and what can be done to reduce their risk. The CSB has concluded that combustible dust explosions are a serious hazard in American industry, and that existing efforts inadequately address this hazard. The CSB investigations of the 2003 incidents--West Pharmaceutical Services, CTA Acoustics, and Hayes Lemmerz International--identified a number of common causal factors, and subsequent research into several other serious explosions in previous years revealed similar common factors. The CSB identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers and injured 718, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. The incidents occurred in 44 states, in many different industries, and involved a variety of different materials.