The following is the second post in a three-part series on hot work. The series will give an overview of hot work, safety hazards, team members, permit programs, and a precautionary checklist.
When working in a field that involves high risk, such as hot work, it is important to establish a reliable team that enables a safe and responsible work environment. Each member of a hot work team must understand how their role is integral to the safety of each worker, and their responsibilities to the overall project.
To briefly recap our first post, hot work is defined as any process that could result in ignition of explosive, flammable or combustible materials due to cutting, drilling, heating or other hot work activities. To ensure the safety of workers and property, areas designated for hot work are required to obtain a program permit and implement precautions to minimize risk.
So, who makes up a hot work team? And what are their individual responsibilities?
Hot Work Management
Management personnel have ultimate responsibility within a hot work team. As the team leader, these individuals are responsible for maintaining the flow of work, overseeing high-level contracting and safety needs. Below is a list of specific tasks delegated to management:
- Establish approved areas and procedures for hot work activities, including cutting, welding, drilling and more.
- Designate individuals responsible for authorizing hot work operations in areas not specifically designed or approved for such processes.
- Be aware of potential fire hazards involved in hot work process, as well as the provisions of the permit program.
- Ensure that only approved equipment, such as torches, manifolds, regulators or pressure reducing valves, and acetylene generators, be used.
- Ensure that persons performing hot work are suitably trained in the safe operation of their equipment, the safe use of the process and emergency procedures in the event of a fire.
- Select contractors that employ suitably trained personnel and who have an awareness of the magnitude of the risks involved for various hot work activities.
- Advise all contractors with regard to flammable materials or hazardous conditions.
Supervisors
For daily, on-site activities, supervisors take charge of the hot work process area and worker activities. It is essential that they are attentive to the status of the workplace, workers and any incidents that occur. Below is a list of a supervisor’s responsibility to the hot work team.
- Be responsible for the safe handling of hot work equipment and for the safe execution of the hot work process.
- Determine the combustible materials and hazardous areas present, or likely to be present, in the work location.
- Protect hot work combustibles from igniting by implementing the following:
- Have the work moved to a location free from dangerous combustibles.
- If the work cannot be moved, have the combustibles moved to a safe distance from the work or have the combustibles properly shielded against ignition.
- See that hot work is scheduled so operations that might expose combustibles to ignition are not started during the hot work process.
- Secure authorization for the hot work operations from the designated management representative.
- Determine that workers secure approval that conditions are safe before going ahead.
- Determine fire protection and extinguish equipment are properly located at the site.
- When fire watchers are required, the supervisor should see that they are available at the site.
- When a fire watcher is not required, a final check-up should be made by the supervisor one half-hour after the completion of cutting or welding operations to detect and extinguish possible smoldering fires.
Individuals performing hot-work
Individuals performing hot work activities, including cutters and welders, should handle the equipment safely and use it so as not to endanger lives and property. Although activities vary by project, the following are basic safety precautions that should be observed by workers.
- Obtain approval from supervisor before starting hot work activities at site.
- Perform hot work processes only where conditions are safe.
- Continue to work only as long as conditions are unchanged from those under which approval was granted.
Fire watchers
Securing fire watchers is the responsibility of the individual in charge of authorizing hot work activities, such as the supervisor, whenever hot work is performed in a location that a fire might develop. A fire watch should be maintained for at least a half-hour after completion of hot work operations to detect and extinguish possible ignitions.
A fire watch should be obtained for the safety of the team and facilities when any of the following conditions are present:
- When a noticeable amount of combustible material within the building construction or contents is closer than 35 ft. (11 m.) to the point of operation.
- When a noticeable amount of combustibles are more than 35 ft. (11 m.) away, but are easily ignited by sparks.
- When wall or floor openings within a 35-foot (11 m.) radius expose combustible material in adjacent areas, including concealed spaces in walls or floors.
- When combustible materials are adjacent to the opposite side of metal partitions, walls, ceilings, or roofs and are likely to be ignited by conduction or radiation.
Fire watchers should:
Have fire-extinguishing equipment readily available and be trained in its use, including practice on test fires.
- Be familiar with facilities and procedures for sounding an alarm in the event of a fire.
- Watch for fires in all exposed areas, and try to extinguish them first only when obviously within the capacity of the equipment available, or otherwise sound the alarm immediately.
To create a well-oiled team that is proactive in making a hot work site safe, it is important to review these responsibilities and define roles up-front. What have you found to be effective for your team? Feel free to leave a comment below — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Stay Tuned!
In the final post, we will discuss the specifics of a hot work permit program and provide a precautionary checklist for hot work safety. You can also read our first post on the basics of hot work.
Jeff Hendershot is a Property Specialist with Westfield Group. You can connect with him at http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhendershot.
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