Safety in blackpowder factories

The manufacture of blackpowder is one of the most dangerous in the production of explosives. 

The individual operations are carried out in danger buildings , separated by safety distances. These distances are reduced if the buildings are mounded. For unmounded buildings the average safety distance is 50 m. A blow-out construction 

Shelters for the workers should be set up in the vicinity of each building. These are huts covered with earth at the side of the operating building. If the buildings have three stout walls the shelter may be located behind one of them. Doors and windows should be large to give plenty of light, and closed from outside with a wooden 

Electric cables should be carried in steel conduits on the exterior of the walls. Incandescent lamps inside the building should be recessed into the walls and pro- 

All machines must be well earthed, all their frictional parts being made of bronze, wood etc. If steel parts must be used they should be lubricated profusely, if possible, with solid grease (vaseline, cup grease). Particularly dangerous machines (e.g. corning mills) must be operated by remote control (Fig. 106). 

---