When is a Fire Watch actually required?
Fire watches are usually the youngest and lowest paid crew member on the job. But why is this? After all they are the difference between a job done safely and the potential loss of an entire business. Most people think hotwork fires are rare - and they would be WRONG! Anyone who subscribes to my incident alerts can tell you that each week I report two or three significant hotwork fires. And even then, I am only reporting those that are significant enough to make the news and I only report those that are industrially related. Anyone can do a Google search and see there are dozens of Hot Work incidents each week that displace hundreds of residents from their homes and I do not list those where a family member was using a torch to kill weeds or thaw pipes. But this article is meant to settle the debate as to when is a fire watch actually required. Here is what OSHA, NFPA, and IFC state: |
Partner Organizations I am proud to announce that The Chlorine Institute and SAFTENG have extended our"Partners in Safety" agreement for another year (2024) CI Members, send me an e-mail to request your FREE SAFTENG membership
Member Associations
|
