Client Overview
The client, part of a major food production group, operates a large-scale flour mill in Sydney and manages multiple flour and feed mills across both New Zealand and Australia. As a key operator in the food manufacturing sector, their operations create potentially hazardous areas (zones) of combustible dust, meaning they fall under prescriptively regulated frameworks due to the significant explosion risk. Their sites are typical of the safety in manufacturing industry, where managing combustible materials safely is an essential compliance obligation.
The Goal: Enhancing Combustible Dust Risk Management
In milling operations, when flour is suspended in the air under certain conditions, it creates an explosive atmosphere. If ignited, this can lead to a combustible dust explosion, causing catastrophic damage and serious safety implications. Despite prescriptive regulatory focus on electrical ignition sources, studies such as one from BIA indicate they contribute to only about 3% of dust fire and explosion incidents with the remainder caused by mechanical, static, hot work and other causes
To better manage these risks associated with all ignition sources, the client engaged TEG Risk to perform a site-wide review of their hazardous area classification and Australia-based requirements related to combustible dust controls. The goal was to identify deficiencies in compliance and risk management across all departments and processes and to develop a prioritised action plan aimed at reducing the likelihood of explosion events while enhancing compliance with hazardous area regulations.
Why TEG Risk?
TEG Risk was selected based on its extensive work with the client’s New Zealand operations. The team had previously delivered critical support, including hazardous area classification (zoning) studies, combustible dust risk assessments, and hazardous area training tailored to flour milling environments. TEG Risk’s strength lies in its specialist knowledge of dust combustion, risk assessment, and machine safety compliance, underpinned by practical experience in safety in the manufacturing industry.
Our consultants are certified in several unit standards within the AS/NZS 60079 series, which governs work related to hazardous areas, including classification, scope, planning, and design. This ensures verified competency in this practice area that meet both national and industry-specific requirements such as AS/NZS 4761. Our proven track record and ability to align complex combustible dust consulting with real-world operations made our team the clear choice for this project.
The Solution: Site-Wide Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Prioritised Controls
TEG Risk conducted a comprehensive audit across the Sydney milling site, combining physical inspections with standards-based systems assessments to identify risks, estimate the level of risk and highlight potential compliance points to address.
The audit applied the AS/NZS 60079 and AS/NZS 4745 standards to systematically assess gaps in hazardous area classification, ignition source control, electrical equipment maintenance, change management, and installation documentation. This technical framework ensured that all aspects of hazardous area class compliance were examined.
A physical plant review was carried out to inspect the actual state of equipment, particularly focusing on protective systems such as explosion vents and conformity to the standards that electrical equipment in hazardous areas must conform to (AS/NZS 60079.14). To identify the highest-risk areas for combustible dust explosion, TEG Risk completed a heuristic and semi-quantitative risk assessment approach in line with AS/NZS 4745 – the Code of Practice for combustible dust. This process focused on key zones where the largest dust explosion consequence and risk was likely to exist..
Despite a compressed on-site timeframe of less than three days, the audit also covered permit-to-work procedures, management of static electricity, employee competencies, and systemic controls.
Challenges
The project faced multiple challenges due to the scale and complexity of the facility. The client’s milling operations involved intricate material flows and overlapping systems, making the site difficult to inspect within the short timeline. The breadth of the review—spanning physical plant, technical systems, maintenance practices, change management, training, and procedural controls—required a methodical approach, but also had to integrate findings from diverse operational and management systems into a practical, site-specific roadmap to support both immediate improvements and long-term resilience.
Results: Reduced Risk, Improved Compliance, Informed Strategy
TEG Risk’s report offered clear, actionable recommendations, focusing on critical risks. Updates were suggested for zoning studies to align with current standards and improvements to maintenance processes for electrical equipment inside likely zones recommended to improve demonstration of compliance with regulatory requirements.
Other plant/equipment based solutions were identified that would reduce risk significantly including protective systems for bucket elevators and static electricity control that were promptly added to the capital works programme.
From a management systems perspective, TEG Risk provided recommendations to reduce risks associated with Hot Work Permits, plant and process change management, personnel competency and housekeeping requirements.
The schedule of recommendations were prioritised based on both risk and the impact to risk reduction to aid the client in their planning, providing a clear path to reduced risk and a safer work place.