NFPA Journal - Spring 2022 - 49

COMMON DENOMINATOR
Static electricity is a factor in incidents that have resulted in deaths, injuries, and
property damage in a range of industries and settings around the world. The recent
Fire Protection Research Foundation report, " Static Electricity Incident Review, "
published last August, lists 89 incidents researchers found through news reports,
academic journals, insurance claims, and other sources. The following is a selection
of incidents included in the report, as well as others that occurred more recently.
2001
OIL REFINERY EXPLOSION
SOUTH KILLINGHOLME, ENGLAND
An explosion caused by electric static in a
liquid petroleum tank injured two workers at
one of the UK's largest oil refineries. The blast
shattered windows a half-mile away, and sent
flames shooting 200 feet above the facility,
according to reports.
2010
MANUFACTURING PLANT FIRE
TAIWAN
Static in a polypropylene manufacturing plant
ignited liquid acetone, causing a fire and
explosion that killed one worker, injured five
others, and caused an estimated $20 million
in damage.
2018
GUNPOWDER EXPLOSION
HUNAN, CHINA
A worker at a firecracker factory sustained
serious burns after a large explosion occurred
while he was transporting a batch of gunpowder
on a wheelbarrow. Officials found
that static electricity had ignited the explosive
powder, triggering a large ball of flame.
2019
AGROCHEMICAL EXPLOSION
DAHEJ, INDIA
Two people died and eight others were critically
injured when static sparked a flammable
solvent, causing an explosion and subsequent
fires at an agrochemical plant. The explosion
occurred during a solvent transfer process,
safety officials said.
2019
GAS STATION FIRE
MEXICO
A young girl standing on the back of a pickup
truck at a gas station was seriously burned
when static from her clothes ignited gas vapors
as her father filled a container with fuel. The girl
suffered first and second-degree burns.
2019
PACKAGING PLANT FIRE, 19 DEATHS
NINGBO, CHINA
An investigation revealed that a fire in a packaging
plant started when static electricity ignited
a heated isoparaffin mixture being poured by a
worker. The fire destroyed 1,100 square meters
of factory floor space, killed 19 people, and sent
three more to the hospital with injuries.
2012 
FUEL TRANSFER AT MOTOR SPORT GARAGE
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Static electricity sparked a fire at a Formula
One racing team garage when a crew member
pumped fuel into an ungrounded container.
It's believed that weather conditions led to the
static discharge. The crew member suffered
burns, and a number of computers and other
equipment were destroyed.
2013
HOSPITAL FIRE
DOERNBECHER, OREGON
Static electricity from bedding and clothing
ignited a mix of olive oil-which was being
used to remove medical testing residue-and
hand sanitizer, resulting in a fire that burned
an 11-year-old Oregon girl in her hospital
bed. The girl's T-shirt caught fire, and she
suffered serious burns on more than 10 percent
of her body.
2021
FACTORY FIRE
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
Static electricity on an adhesive mixing
machine sparked a fire at a chemical facility,
sending a firefighter to the hospital and forcing
neighboring communities to evacuate. Significant
portions of the facility, which reportedly
did have grounding equipment to prevent
static electricity, were destroyed in the blaze.
2021
TONER FACILITY EXPLOSION
NAGANO, JAPAN
It is believed that static electricity on production
equipment caused an explosion on the
production line at a toner factory owned by the
company Konica Minolta. No deaths or injuries
were reported, but the blast damaged production
equipment and at least one exterior wall of the
facility. The accident led to a reduction in global
printer toner supply, according to reports. -J.R.
static incidents in the report happened
in the United States, implying
that incidents in other countries are
significantly underrepresented, the
report's authors noted.
Just as alarming, the nature of
the static incidents uncovered in the
report seem to suggest that the guidance
in NFPA 77 is either not well
known or not closely followed. " Many
of the cases analyzed occurred not
because of lack of guidance in NFPA
77, but rather a lack of awareness of
the guidance, or inappropriate application
of the guidance, " the report
authors wrote.
As for why that is, Robinson
speculates that there are two likely
possibilities. " Either NFPA 77 is written
in a way that makes it difficult
to understand and we need to clarify
it, or there are too many people out
there that don't know that NFPA has
a recommended practice on static
electricity, " he said. " Those are clearly
things that we need to address. "
INVISIBLE DANGER
Because its processes are largely
invisible to us, it can seem that static
has a dangerous habit for suddenly
appearing at the most inopportune
times. But a better and more accurate
explanation is that static is an omnipresent
part of our world; it's only
when conditions align, when flammable
vapors or dust mix at just the right
concentration, that we notice how
opportunistic and dangerous static
can be.
History's most famous example
of the hazardous potential of static
occurred in New Jersey on May
6, 1937, when the Hindenburg, an
800-foot-long German airship, ignited
and burned in dramatic fashion as it
attempted to dock with its mooring
mast, killing 35 people. Scientists
now believe that a combination of a
passing thunderstorm, a light rain,
and the ship's landing ropes dragging
on the ground caused the airship's
massive aluminum frame and canvas
shell to take on a static charge. The
airship's lift was provided by highly
flammable hydrogen, and when a
spark found a small hydrogen leak
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