and gaseous biofuel pathways are short-to mid-term solutions to bring the marine sector closer to its targets. SAFER BY DESIGN Day 2 of WPAC was all about safety, with five speakers taking to the stage to outline best practices and ongoing proj-ects to enhance the safety of pellet opera-tions across Canada. WPAC members take part in monthly safety meetings to check in on research developments and lessons learned. Bill Laturnus, a senior safety advisor with the BC Forest Safety Council, said members should consider themselves lucky to have access to these meetings. “I really don’t think another industry has anything like that,” he said. Referring to his work with the pellet industry to implement a safety process called bowtie analysis and critical control management, he said the safety meetings, “set the stage to have the commitment and support from industry before we started the process.” Fike Canada’s Jeff Mycroft summa-rized the findings from WPAC’s Belt Dryer Working Group, urging producers who operate or are considering purchas-ing a belt dryer to read their document to help inform their decisions. The study tackles safety issues and hazards related to direct heated dryers, Mycroft said, but the takeaways are applicable to most dry-ers used in the wood processing industry. Kayleigh Rayner-Brown, principal with Obex Risk, shared her work advanc-ing process safety management (PSM) in pellet plants in partnership with WPAC, Dalhousie University, the BC Forest Safety Council and Dust Safety Science. Her conclusions found that “explicit and effective” integration of PSM in wood pellet plants can help in prevention and mitigation of loss of control incidents. Mike Tasker, occupational safety offi -cer with WorkSafeBC, outlined the role his organization took on to implement bowtie analysis in the pellet industry with partners like the BC Forest Safety Council. Initial momentum was slow, he said, but companies have since made sig-nificant capital investments to improve processes and lower risk. A JOURNALIST’S VIEW The conference wrapped up with a much-anticipated keynote from B.C. political columnist Vaughn Palmer. The seasoned journalist shared his ballot pre-dictions following B.C. Premier John Horgan’s planned exit, and the likely re-sult on forest policy. Responding to questions from the audience about facing down well-fund-ed and organized ENGOs, Palmer said the fibre study is a significant stand to address a major point in their criti-cisms. “Your industry, though small, is not alone,” Palmer said, referring to the strides made across the forest industry to address social license. Stay tuned for news of WPAC’s 2023 conference dates on www.pellet.org. • For more wood pellet conference coverage and daily biomass news, visit www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca YOUR SOLUTION FOR BULK MATERIAL HANDLING Truck Dumpers Trailer Tippers Portable Tippers Receiving Hoppers airoflex.com 563-264-8066 PELLETS WOODCHIPS BIOMASS Canadian BIOMASS 563.264.8066 CB_Hoffman_Fall22_CSA.indd 1 2022-10-12 10:32 AM 15
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