Hot Works in your Workplace
As part of your fire safety management hot works and the risks imposed should be taken into consideration with appropriate measures taken to minimise risks involved within the workplace.
Without the correct measures in place a stray spark or other heat source created by the works has the potential to cause serious harm to your employees and business.
BS9999 defines "hot work" as “any procedure that might involve or have the potential to generate sufficient heat, sparks or flame to cause a fire”.
Hot work procedures can include:
- Welding
- Grinding
- Flame Cutting
- Soldering Any process that uses flame or the has the potential to cause sparks and produce heat.
Home office data obtained by Zurich UK shows the fire service attending 1587 construction fires over a fire year period from January 2019, 28% of which were caused by hot works or other heat sources. Zurich's own claim data shows 15% of the total cost of all Uk fires in commercial & industrial properties involved hot work.
Hot Work Permits
Hot work permits for a maximum of one before any work on site begins.
The permit should detail:
- Who will be carrying out the work
- What the work will involve,
- Hazards identified and the actions taken to remove them
- Fire watch procedures,
- Site inspection procedures and emergency procedures.
The permit procedure only works if the organisation has strict procedures in place to ensure that what is detailed on the hot work permit is been carried out.
Fire Risk Assessment
Our risk assessments take hot work procedures into account and will identify what measures or policies a business should be implementing to ensure any hot work carried out is done so safely and within the requirements of the permit.
This could be as simple as finding an alternative to hot works if at all possible, implementing and keeping on top of good housekeeping through to thermal imaging cameras where the risk is sufficient enough to warrant them.
To find out more about our fire risk assessments visit Fire Risk Assessments
You can also give us a call on 0800 180 4132 or email us at info@whiterosefiresafety.co.uk