The investigators found that the conveying equipment used on site was neither designed or maintained to minimize the production of sugar dust. They found thatinadequate housekeeping activities resulted in sugar dust accumulating throughout the facility to unacceptably high levels. Further they found that the recently installed enclosure around the
conveyor belt increased the likelihood of a dust explosion by allowing the concentration of dust particles to exceed the minimum explosible concentration (USCSHIB, 2009bU.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2009b)