Minimizing Hot Work Fires
Property Risk Management Guide from Liberty Mutual Insurance
Highlights:
■■ Managing hot work operations
■■ Managing contractors
■■ Permit procedures
■■ Hot work operator
responsibilities
■■ Fire watch responsibilities
Applying the points in this guide should aid in preventing the
loss of property from fire or explosion as a result of hot work in
institutional, commercial and industrial operations.
Hot work is any operation involving open flames or producing heat and/or sparks,
including but not limited to welding, oxygen and arc cutting, open flame soldering,
brazing, hot riveting, grinding, pipe thawing, etc.
This hot work guide is intended for property managers, supervisors, employees and
outside contractors involved in performing hot work operations. The application of this
guide should aid in preventing loss of property from fire or explosion as a result of hot
work in institutional, commercial and industrial operations.
Hot work operations introduce potential ignition sources that require strict supervision
and control to minimize hot work losses. Unsupervised hot work fires result in millions of
dollars in property damage and business interruption every year.
All hot work losses are preventable!
Managing Hot Work Operations
Management plays a vital role in the control of hot work exposures and is responsible for
the overall safe operations of hot work activity. Preventing hot work fires requires careful
implementation and enforcement of a written hot work safety program coordinated by a
Fire Safety Manager. To be fully effective, the program must be implemented for all hot
work operations and must be continuously reviewed and updated to stay current with
process, occupancy and personnel changes within your facility.
The Fire Safety Manager is designated by management and is responsible for regulating
all non-production hot work and ensuring that all basic safeguards and precautions are
in place before any hot work can proceed.
A hot work program will be effective only if it is backed by a written hot work policy that
is established and communicated by upper management. The policy should clearly state
responsibility, accountability and consequences for failure to comply.
The hot work program should outline basic safeguards before any hot work is permitted:
■■ Designate a Fire Safety Manager.
■■ Whenever possible, limit hot work operations to designated areas such
as a maintenance shop, a detached outside location of noncombustible
construction and occupancy or other suitably segregated areas.
■■ In the event hot work operations cannot be moved to a designated area, establish
permissible hot work areas. Permissible areas are areas that require a hot work
permit and are made safe by removing or protecting combustibles from ignition.
■■ Use approved apparatus such as torches, manifolds, regulators or
pressure reducing valves, acetylene generators, etc. Always ensure
all equipment is in good working order and well maintained.
■■ Ensure that all individuals involved in hot work operations, including
contractors, are trained in the safe operation of the equipment.
■■ Instruct all individuals involved in hot work of inherent risks
and emergency procedures in the event of a fire.
■■ Advise all on-site contractors of site-specific flammable materials,
hazardous processes, or other potential fire hazards.
PE 1004 R1
 Managing Contractors
Supervise and follow-up on all contractor activities. The Fire Safety Manager or other
designated person should be responsible for contractor actions.
■■ Make contractors aware of established hot work policies
and procedures and hold them accountable.
■■ Specifically identify in the contract, the work to be completed.
■■ Require the contractor to provide a certificate of insurance prior
to starting any work. The policy limit of liability should be in line
with the potential loss if something were to go wrong.
■■ Remove any wording in the contract that waives subrogation rights.
■■ Require the contractor to provide written notice of
cancellation of their liability insurance.

Hot Work Permit

The hot work permit is issued by the Fire Safety Manager and authorizes hot work
operations to be conducted in a specific area, on a specific date, by a specific individual
or group.
Permit Procedures
■■ Examine work site to ensure that all hot work precautions are taken.
■■ Fill out the date, location, purpose, work to be done by
and precautions taken on the hot work permit.
■■ Sign and date the permit. Detach the top portion and issue to the
person responsible for conducting the work. Maintain the bottom
part of the permit as a reminder to follow-up on the project.
■■ Check to the work site periodically for changes in conditions
and to ensure the work is being done safely.
■■ Re-examine the work area upon completion of the
work, prior to releasing the permit holder.
■■ Make follow-up visits to the work site for up to three
hours after the completion of the work.
■■ Maintain the hot work permit on file.
Prior to issuing the permit for hot work operations in a non-designated area, the Fire
Safety Manager is responsible for verifying that all safeguards and controls are in place:
■■ Ensure fire protection, detection and alarm systems are in service,
where provided. If the systems are not in service, postpone all hot
work operations until the fire protection has been restored.
■■ Follow Liberty Mutual Property Insurance Impairment Procedures,
PE3001, when a fire protection system must be taken out of service.
■■ Schedule hot work operations during planned shutdowns of hazardous operations.
■■ Determine the length of the period for which the hot work permit is valid,
based on local conditions. Limit each permit to a maximum of 24 hours.
■■ Inspect the area at least once per day during the hot work
project to ensure that it is a fire-safe area.
■■ Provide a fire watch during hot work operations to ensure safe conditions.
Maintain the fire watch for a minimum of 30 minutes after the completion of
the hot work operations to detect and extinguish possible smoldering fires.

PE 1004 R1 2
 ■■ Monitor the hot work area for an additional three hours after the
completion of work using production personnel, watchman, the Fire Safety
Manager or other appropriate method based on local conditions.
■■ Verify that hot work equipment is in satisfactory operating
condition and appropriate for the job.
■■ Allow only experienced, reliable individuals to operate equipment.
■■ Sweep up all combustible materials, such as paper clippings,
wood shavings or textile fibers, for a radius of 35 ft.
■■ Relocate combustibles at least 35 ft. horizontally from the work site or protect
with metal shields or fire-retardant covers, guards or curtains. Edges of
covers at the floor should be tight to prevent sparks from going under them.
Ensure fire-retardant covers are of the appropriate type for the job.
■■ Cover combustible floors with damp sand or protect with
noncombustible materials or fire-retardant shields.
■■ Cover or seal openings or cracks in walls, floors or ducts within
35 ft. of the site with fire-retardant or noncombustible material
to prevent the passage of sparks to adjacent areas.
■■ Prohibit hot work on pipes or other metal that is in contact with combustible
walls, partitions, ceilings, roofs or other combustibles that are close
enough to hot work operations to cause ignition by conduction.
■■ Provide fully charged and operable fire extinguishers of the
appropriate type and size in the immediate work area.
■■ Ensure hose stations within the hot work area are ready for service. Hoses
are permitted to remain on the reel or rack and not charged until needed.
■■ Cover automatic sprinklers with a wet rag when hot work is done in
close proximity. Remove the rag upon completion of the hot work.
■■ Take special precautions to avoid accidental operation of automatic fire detection
or suppression systems (for example, special extinguishing systems or sprinklers).
■■ Move hot work operations to a location free from combustibles.

Hot Work Operator Responsibilities

Examine all equipment to ensure it is in safe operating condition.
Obtain approval by the Fire Safety Manager before starting hot work operations.
Monitor work site and cease hot work operations if unsafe conditions develop and notify
management, the area supervisor or the Fire Safety Manager for reassessment of the
situation.

Fire Watch Responsibilities

■■ Thoroughly understand the inherent hazards of the
work site and how hot work affects them.
■■ Ensure that safe conditions are maintained during hot work operations.
■■ Stop the hot work operations if unsafe conditions develop.
■■ Maintain fire extinguishing equipment to ensure it is
readily available, and be trained in its use.
■■ Watch for fires in all exposed areas and attempt to extinguish them only when
the fires are obviously within the capacity of the equipment available.
■■ Know the procedures for sounding an alarm in the event of a fire.

PE 1004 R1 3
■■ Maintain the fire watch for at least 30 minutes after completion of hot
work operations in order to detect and extinguish smoldering fires.
■■ Provide an additional fire watch for up to three hours after completion of the hot
work operations where the ignition of combustibles cannot be directly observed.

References
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 51 B, Standard for Fire
Prevention During Welding, Cutting and Other Hot Work.

Contact
Email: propertyengineering@libertymutual.com

libertymutualproperty.com @LibertyB2B

The illustrations, instructions and principles contained in the material are general in scope and, to the best of our knowledge,
current at the time of publication. No attempt has been made to interpret any referenced codes, standards or regulations.
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© 2014 Liberty Mutual Insurance, 175 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116. PE 1004 R1 02/14