Templates:Hot Work ٍSafety Program
6 min readDo you need a Hot Work program? If your organization performs operations or maintenance involving open flame, sparks or high heat, the answer to this question is likely yes. This includes operations such as brazing, cutting, drilling, welding, grinding, soldering and torch work. The prevention and protection against fires and other hazards associated with hot work can be addressed by general requirements as specified by OSHA standard 29CFR 1910.252. This applies for employees working within a designated hot work area as well as those working outside of a designated hot work area.
HSSE World is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment and to protecting our employees from injury or death caused by uncontrolled hazards in the workplace. HSSE World recognizes the potential for fire from hot work operations. The Hot Work safety Program has been established to help protect the safety of HSSE World’s employees and property by establishing appropriate hot work procedures and designated areas for hot work operations.
This program applies to all employees (permanent, temporary and contractors) who complete hot work or work in areas where hot work is taking place. All employees are required to follow the procedures outlined in this program. Any deviations from this program must be immediately brought to the attention of the Program Administrator.
Program Responsibilities
Management. The management of HSSE World is committed to the overall safety of its workers and facilities. Management supports the efforts of the Program Administrator by pledging leadership support and financial resources for this program and ensuring the program is being followed.
Program Administrator. The Program Administrator reports directly to upper management and is responsible for developing and implementing the Hot Work Program. The Program Administrator is responsible for:
- Developing safe usage protocols for all heat, flame and spark-producing equipment
- Providing appropriate training to all employees of <Company Name> that perform or authorize hot work activities
- Establishing designated hot work areas
- Establishing procedures and a permit system for performing hot work in non-designated areas
- Designating individuals on all shifts who can approve hot work activities and issue permits in non-designated areas
- Identifying the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) needed during the hot work procedures
- Completing air monitoring in the event a potentially explosive atmosphere is identified
- Providing outside contractors working on <Company Name’s> premises with training and information on the Hot Work Program and procedures
- Retaining records of training and all hot work permits
- Reviewing program at least annually, and when changes are needed or new equipment is added
Supervisors. Supervisors are responsible for:
- Ensuring that only qualified and trained authorized employees perform hot work activities
- Ensuring that employees who are found to have insufficient skills or understanding of hot work procedures do not perform hot work activities and receive retraining before conducting any hot work procedures
- Ensuring employees comply with all procedures described in this program
- Ensuring all hot work activities are approved prior to being performed in both designated and non-designated areas
- Completing hot work permit requests when necessary
- Identifying dangerous situations, not suitable for hot work
- Designating a fire watch employee for all hot work performed in a non-designated area during and for no less than 30 minutes after work is completed
- Conducting final inspections after a fire watch period has concluded
- Inspecting designated hot work areas after each shift to ensure no smoldering materials are present
- Providing information to the Program Administrator regarding needed improvements to this program
Hot Work Approver. A hot work approver is an employee who has been trained to approve hot work. Duties of the hot work approver include:
- Determining if the work can be completed or moved to a designated hot work area
- If the work cannot be moved, ensuring all combustible materials in the vicinity are removed
- If all combustible materials cannot be removed, ensuring that guards are in place to confine the heat, sparks and slag.
- Inspecting hot work areas and reviewing planned safety precautions before hot work operations begin
- Communicating to employees regarding hot work activities to ensure their safety
- If approval for hot work is granted, issuing and posting hot work permits which list all required precautions
- Establishing a fire watch during and for no less than 30 minutes after completion of the hot work
Authorized Personnel. Authorized personnel includes employees or contractors who are trained to perform hot work activities including soldering, welding, pipe-cutting, heat-treating, grinding, thawing pipes, hot riveting, torch-applied roofing and any other application involving heat, sparks or flames. Duties of authorized personnel include:
- Completing all required hot work training
- Seeking approval and/or a permit to perform hot work prior to beginning operations
- Performing hot work activities and procedures in accordance with this program
- Inspecting designated hot work areas for combustibles and other hazards prior to beginning hot work
- Inspecting hot work equipment to ensure it is in safe operating condition before beginning work
- Retaining control of the equipment while hot work is in progress
Fire Watch Personnel. A fire watch is a designated employee who monitors the hot work area for fires while work is being performed and for 30 minutes after its completion. Duties of the fire watch personnel include:
- Maintaining continuous watch over hot work activity during and for 30 minutes after work has been completed
- Monitoring adjacent areas for fires
- Extinguishing small, controllable fires with extinguishing equipment available in hot work area
- Activating fire alarm if an uncontrollable fire occurs
- Signing the hot work permit 30 minutes after the work is complete and re-posting signed permit in hot work area
- After the hot work and mandatory 30 minute monitoring period is complete, periodically returning to the area where the hot work was completed to check for fires for three hours
- Ensuring that the supervisor has conducted a final inspection after the fire watch period has concluded and signs off on the permit
- Having a supervisor find another trained person to relieve him/her if the designated individual must leave for any reason
Other Personnel. This includes employees or contractors who are neither authorized personnel nor fire watch personnel but are still exposed to areas where hot work is performed. Other personnel should not perform any hot work activities. Duties include wearing proper personal protective equipment when in a 35 foot radius of hot work.
The following template can be used to help your organization develop a written Hot work Program. This template cannot be used as is – you must customize the template to meet the needs of your organization. We have made this template easier for you to customize by adding visual prompts that identify some areas where your input is needed. These are identified by yellow highlighted, red text in the template. You may also change any of the text in the template to meet your organization’s needs – for example, department names, job titles, listed responsibilities and audiologist.
Disclaimer. This sample safety program template cannot be used as is. You must customize the template to meet the needs of your organization. HSSE WORLD does not guarantee that this template is or can be relied on for compliance with any law or regulation, assurance against preventable losses, or freedom from legal liability. We make no representations or warranties of any kind whatsoever, either express or implied, in connection with the use of this template. HSSE WORLD will not be liable for your use of the template as customized by you. All safety programs and policies, including this template and the information you supply to complete it, should be reviewed by your legal counsel and/or risk management staff.