This paper is a report of an experimental programme on the explosion protection of bucket elevators by venting. The project was a collaborative effort with funding by the Health and Safety Executive and manufacturers and users of bucket elevators through the British Materials Handling Board. Two bucket elevators were used in the project-a single leg elevator and a twin-leg elevator. Four dusts were used with K-st values up to 211 bar in s(-1) and dust clouds were produced by dust injection and by normal operation. Reduced explosion pressures were measured and guidance has been derived from the results. This guidance is in terms of vent spacing as a function of the K-st, value of the dust. Crown Copyright (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.