From: glhurst@onr.com (Gerald L. Hurst)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: Flash Powder Bomb?
Date: 25 Sep 1995 19:39:20 GMT
Organization: Consulting Chemist
Lines: 26

In article <DFGxx3.HoA@iptcorp.com>, eric@iptcorp.com (Eric Wilner) says:

>I don't question the validity of concerns about static, but, for
>the incautious, there are far more likely hazards out there which
>call for (some of) the same precautions.

I don't know how it is in the fireworks industry, but in
the field of explosives, static electricity is a major
concern both in manufacturing and in the field, even though
the majority of the products are far less sensitive to
sparks than I am led to believe many fireworks are.

There is a geographic correlation in the perception of
the dangers associated with static elecricity. It is
a much bigger concern in avalanche control than in
Florida quarrying.

One extremely hazardous condition arises in the pneumatic 
loading of ammonium nitrate.

The problem of was considered great enough by the national
safety council to invite me to deliver a paper on the
subject of static electricity and explosives handling 
before the big flood. The paper followed an accident in
which a forest service employee was killed by a spark
conducted by Canadian safety fuse.