Nine injuries and zero fatalities were logged during the eight grain dust explosions that were recorded in the US during 2020, according to the latest edition of Purdue University’s annual report on grain dust explosions.

The 10-year average for injuries is 8.1 and 1.7 for fatalities. The author of the report, Kingsley Ambrose, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue, noted that a several types of combustible grain dust were involved in the 2020 incidents, including corn, wheat, mixed feed, rice, and dietary fiber.

“Most companies use this information for training their employees,” Ambrose said in a Purdue release. “Regulatory authorities also use incident reports for their training purposes. It helps with creating or spreading awareness of dust explosions and their causes.”

8 grain explosions were documented by Ambrose in 2019. Those incidents claimed one life and seven received injuries. The 10-year average is 8.1 explosions.

One explosion took place in a feed mill, three occurred in grain processing mills and four were logged in grain elevators. Most of the explosions occurred in the US Midwest, including locations in Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas and Nebraska and one blast was recorded in Texas.