Hot Work Fire Watch Checklist

How to use this checklist

Print it and work through it with the permit authorizing individual before the torch is lit, tick the boxes as each item is done, and keep the completed sheet with the permit. The step-by-step version below the checklist explains each stage. The checklist follows OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.252(a)(2)(iii) and NFPA 51B; where a site’s permit system adds requirements, the permit governs.

Before the work

• Hot work permit issued, read and posted at the work location
• Permit authorizing individual named and reachable
• Sprinklers and detection in service, or an impairment plan in place if they are bypassed for the work
• Combustibles moved at least 35 feet from the work in every direction
• Combustibles that cannot be moved shielded with fire-resistant covers
• Floor and wall openings within 35 feet closed or covered
• Areas below and behind the work checked, including the floor below an opening and the far side of a wall
• Ducts and conveyors that could carry sparks shut down or protected
• Extinguishers of the right type staged within reach, charged and inspected
• Charged hose line available where the site’s permit requires it
• Alarm method confirmed and the fire department’s number posted
• Fire watch assigned, trained in extinguisher use and alarm procedure, with no other duty
• Fire watch log opened with the permit number, location and start time

During the work

• Watch continuously in sight of the work and the spaces sparks can reach
• Shields and covers checked as the work moves
• Work stopped if wind, a moved shield or a new combustible changes the conditions
• Any small fire extinguished and reported; any fire beyond that, alarm raised and the area cleared
• Log entries for the start of work, stoppages and any event

After the work

• Post-work period held: at least 30 minutes under OSHA, at least one hour under NFPA 51B, or the longer period the permit sets
• Work area, floor below, far side of walls, roof drains and voids checked for smoke, heat or smoldering
• Further monitoring performed where the permit authorizing individual requires it
• End time, post-work period and final check recorded in the log
• Permit closed and signed by the fire watch and the permit authorizing individual
• Permit and log returned to the site file

Notes on filling it in

The clearance items are the ones most often skipped, and they are the ones a post-work fire usually traces back to: paper-faced insulation behind a wall, cardboard on the floor below, a duct that carried a spark forty feet. Walk the 35 feet with a flashlight and look down and through, not only around. The watch’s training box matters: an untrained watch cannot use the extinguisher it is standing next to. And the post-work period is not a waiting room; the checks in that period are the ones that find a fire that started an hour ago. The 35-foot rule answer and the OSHA rules article go through the regulation. Price Protection staffs hot work fire watch across Greater Houston, with the log and the equipment. This is a summary, not legal advice.