Fire Protection in Shipyard

Employment
 General provisions

• Purpose and Scope 501

• Fire safety plan 502
• Precautions before hot work 503
• Fire watches 504
• Fire response 505
• Hazards of fixed extinguishers on board vessel 506
• Landside fire protection system 507
• Training 508
 Purpose
• Requires employers to protect all employees
from fire hazards in shipyard employment,
including employees engaged in fire
response activities
• Provides increased protection for shipyard
employment workers from the hazards of fire
on vessels and vessel sections and at land-
side facilities
• Reflects new technologies and national
NFPA consensus standards
 Scope
• Covers employers with employees
engaged in
– Shipyard employment aboard vessels
and vessel sections
– Land - side operations
– Regardless of geographic locations
 Employee participation
• Employer’s must provide for employees or
employee representatives to participate in
developing and reviewing programs and
policies to comply with this subpart
 Multi-employer worksites
• Host employer responsibilities

– Inform employers about the content

of the fire safety plan including
hazards, controls, fire safety and
health rules, and emergency
procedures

– Ensure safety and health

responsibilities for fire protection are
assigned as appropriate to other
employers at the worksite
 Multi-employer worksites (cont’d)
• Contract employer responsibilities

– Ensure host employer knows about the fire-

related hazards associated with the contract
employer's work and what the contract
employer is doing to address them

– Advise the host employer of any previously

unidentified fire- related hazards that the
contract employer identifies at the worksite
 Fire safety plan
29 CFR 1950-502

• Employer responsibilities
• Plan elements
• Reviewing the plan with employees
• Additional employer requirements
• Contract employers
 Plan elements
• Plan must include:
– Identification of significant fire hazards
– Procedures for recognizing and reporting unsafe
conditions
– Alarm procedures
– Procedures for notifying employees of a fire
emergency
– Procedures for notifying fire response organizations
of a fire emergency
– Procedures for evacuation
– Procedures to account for all employees after an
evacuation; and
– Names, job titles, or departments or individuals who
can be contacted for information about the plan
 Reviewing the plan with employees

• The employer must review the plan with

each employee at the following times:
– By March 14, 2004, for current employees
– Upon initial assignment for new employees; and
– When the actions the employee must take
under the plan change because of a change in
duties or a change in the plan.
 Additional plan requirements
• Must be accessible to employees,
employee representatives and OSHA
• Review and update at least annually
• Document affected employees have been
informed about the plan
• Give a copy to outside fire response
organizations that will respond to fires
 Contract employers
• Contract employers in shipyard
employment must have a fire safety
plan for their employees, and the plan
must comply with the host employer's
fire safety plan

• The contract employer can adopt the

host employers fire safety plan to
meet this requirement
 Precautions for hot work
29 CFR 1915 – 503

• General requirements
– Designated areas
– Non-designated areas
• Specific requirements
– Maintaining fire hazard free
conditions
– Fuel gas and oxygen supply
line and torches
 General requirements -
designated areas
• The employer may
designate areas that are
free of fire hazards
for hot work in sites
such as:
– Vessels
– Vessel sections
– Fabricating shops
– Subassembly areas
 Non-designated areas

• Visually inspect area where hot work

will be performed, including adjacent
areas unless Marine Chemist’s
certificate or Shipyard Competent
person’s logs is used for
authorization

• Perform hot work only in areas that

are free of fire hazards, or controlled
by physical isolation, fire watches,
etc.

• Maintain fire hazard-free conditions

 Precautions for hot work – specific
requirements

• Fuel gas and oxygen supply lines and

torches

– No unattended lines in confined spaces

– No unattended charged lines in enclosed

spaces for more than 15 minutes

– Fuel gas and oxygen hose lines disconnected

at end of each shift
Precautions for hot work – specific
requirements (cont’d)

– Roll lines back to supply manifold or open air

and then disconnect torch, or
– Disconnect extended fuel gas and oxygen
hose lines at the the supply manifold
• Only if the lines are given a positive means of
identification
• Use a drop test or other positive means to ensure
the integrity of fuel gas and oxygen burning system
before resuming hot work
 Fire watches
29 CFR 1915 - 504

• Written policy

• Posting fire watches

• Assigning employees
to fire watch duty
 Written policy
• Detailed fire watch training

• Identifies duties
employees will perform
and equipment they will be
given

• Includes personal
protective equipment
(PPE) that must be made
available and worn
 Posting fire watches
• Must post a fire watch during
hot work if any of the
following are present:
– Slag, weld splatter, or sparks
might pass through an opening
and cause a fire
– Fire-resistant guards or curtains
are not used to prevent ignition
of combustible materials on or
near decks, bulkheads, etc
– Combustible material is closer
than 35 ft. and cannot be
removed, shielded or protected
 Posting fire watches (cont’d)
• Hot work is carried out on or near
insulation, combustible coatings that
cannot be shielded, cut back,
removed, or inerted
• Combustible materials adjacent to
the opposite sides of bulkheads,
decks, etc. may be ignited by
conduction or radiation
• The hot work is close enough to
cause ignition through heat radiation
or conduction on:
– Insulated pipes, bulkheads, decks,
partitions, or overheads; or
– Combustible materials and/or
coatings
 Posting fire watches (cont’d)

• The work is close enough to

unprotected combustible pipe
or cable runs to cause ignition

• A Marine Chemist, a Coast

Guard-authorized person, or a
shipyard Competent Person
requires that a fire watch be
posted
 Assigning employees to fire
watch duty
• Employees must not be assigned
additional duties while the hot
work is in progress
• Employees must be physically
capable of performing fire watch
duties
• Employees assigned to fire
watch duty must:
– Have a clear view and immediate
access to all areas included in the fire
watch
– Be able to communicate with workers
exposed to hot work
– Be authorized to stop work and restore
safe conditions within hot work area
 Assigning employees to fire
watch duty (cont’d)
• Remain in the hot work area for 30 minutes after
completion of the hot work - Unless the
employer or its representative surveys the
exposed area and makes a determination that
there is no further fire hazard

• Be trained to detect fires in areas exposed to the

hot work

• Extinguish incipient stage fires in the hot work

area

• Alert employees of any fire beyond the incipient

stage; and

• If unable to extinguish fire, activate the alarm

 Fire response
29 CFR 1915 – 505
• Employer responsibilities
• Written policy information
– Internal response
– External response
• Medical requirements for shipyard
response employees
• Organization of internal fire
response functions
• Personal protective clothing and
equipment for fire response
employees
• Equipment maintenance (PPE)
 Employer responsibilities
• Decide what type of response will be
provided and who will provide it
– Internal fire response
– Outside fire response

• Create, maintain, and update a

written policy that:
– Describes the internal and outside
fire response organizations that the
employer will use; and
– Defines evacuation procedures, if
the employer chooses to require a
total or partial evacuation of the
worksite at the time of a fire
 Written policy – internal response
• The basic structure of the fire
response organization
• Number of trained fire response
employees
• The fire response functions that
will be carried out
• Minimum number of fire response
employees necessary
• Type, amount, and frequency of
training that must be given to fire
response employees
• Procedures for using protective
clothing and equipment
Written policy – outside response
• Types of fire suppression
incidents to which the fire
response organization is
expected to respond at the
employer's facility

• Liaisons between the

employer and the outside fire
response organizations
 Written policy – outside response
(cont’d)

• A plan for fire response functions that:

– Addresses procedures for obtaining assistance from
the outside fire response organization
– Familiarizes the outside fire response organization
with the layout of the employer's facility or worksite
– Sets forth how hose and coupling connections will be
made compatible and location of adapter couplings
– States employer will not allow use of incompatible
hose connections
 Written policy – combination of
internal and outside response
• The basic organizational structure of the
combined fire response
• Number of combined trained fire responders
• Fire response functions that may need to be
carried out
• Minimum number of fire response employees
necessary
– Number and types of apparatuses, and
– Description of the fire suppression operations
established by written standard operating procedures
for each particular type of response at the worksite
• Type, amount, and frequency of joint training
with outside fire response organizations
 Employee evacuation
• Emergency escape procedures
• Procedures to be followed by employees who
remain at worksite to perform critical operations
during the evacuation
• Procedures to account for all employees after
emergency evacuation is completed
• Means of reporting fires and other emergencies
• Names or job titles of employees or departments
to be contacted for further information or
explanation of duties
 Written emergency response
• The employer must include the following
information in the employer's written
policy:
– A description of the emergency rescue
procedures; and
– Names or job titles of the employees who are
assigned to perform them
 Medical requirements for shipyard
fire response employees
• The employer must ensure
that:
– Fire response employees
receive medical exams to
assure they are physically and
medically fit for duties expected
to perform
– Fire response employees,
required to wear respirators
meet the medical requirements
– Each fire response employee
has an annual medical
examination; and
– Medical records are kept on
fire response employees
 Organization of internal fire
response functions
• Organize fire response functions to ensure
adequate resources for emergency operations
• Establish lines of authority and assign
responsibilities to ensure components of the
internal fire response are accomplished
• Set up incident management system to
coordinate and direct fire response functions,
including:
– Specific fire emergency responsibilities
– Accountability for all fire response employees participating
in an emergency operation; and
– Resources offered by outside organizations
– Provide information as required to the outside fire
response organization to be used
PPE for fire response employees
• General requirements
• Thermal stability and flame resistance
• Respiratory protection
• Interior structural firefighting operations
• Proximity firefighting operations
• Personal alert safety system (PASS) devices
• Life safety ropes, body harnesses and hardware
 General requirements
• Employer must:
– At no cost, supply all fire
response employees
appropriate personal protective
clothing and equipment they
need to perform expected duties
– Ensure employees wear the
appropriate PPE and use the
equipment, when necessary, to
protect them from hazardous
exposures
 Thermal stability and flame
resistance
• Ensure each fire response employee exposed to
flame hazards do not wear clothing that could
increase the extent of injury
• Prohibit wearing clothing made from acetate,
nylon, or polyester, either alone or in blends,
unless it can be shown that:
– The fabric will withstand the flammability hazard that
may be encountered; or
– The clothing will be worn in such a way to eliminate
the flammability hazard that may be encountered
 Personal Alert Safety System
(PASS) devices
• Provide each fire response
employee involved in
firefighting operations with a
PASS device; and
• Ensure that each PASS
device meets the
recommendations in NFPA
1982-1998 Standard on
Personal Alert Safety
Systems (PASS)
 Life safety ropes, body
harnesses and hardware
• The employer must ensure that:
– All life safety ropes, body harnesses, and
hardware used by fire response
employees for emergency operations
meet the applicable recommendations in
NFPA 1983-2001
– Fire response employees use only Class I
body harnesses to attach to ladders and
aerial devices; and
– Fire response employees use only Class
II and Class III body harnesses for fall
arrest and rappelling operations
 Equipment maintenance
• Personal protective equipment
– Employer must inspect and maintain PPE used to
protect fire response employees to ensure that it
provides the intended protection
• Fire response equipment.
– Keep fire response equipment in a state of readiness
– Standardize all fire hose coupling and connection
threads throughout the facility
– Ensure all fire hoses and coupling connection
threads are the same throughout the facility as those
used by the outside fire response organization, or
– Supply suitable adapter couplings if such an
organization is expected to use the fire response
equipment within a facility or vessel or vessel section
 Hazards of fixed extinguishing
systems on board vessels and
vessel sections – 29 CFR 1915 - 506
• Employer responsibilities
• Requirements for automatic and manual
systems
• Sea and dock trials
• Doors and hatches
• Testing the system
• Conducting system maintenance
• Using fixed manual extinguishing
systems for protection
 Employer’s responsibilities
• The employer must comply with the
provisions of this section whenever
employees are exposed to fixed
extinguishing systems that could create a
dangerous atmosphere when activated in
vessels and vessel sections, regardless of
geographic location
 Requirements for automatic and
manual systems
• Before working in a a space with a fixed system, either:

– Physically isolate the systems or use other positive

means to prevent the systems' discharge;
or
– Ensure employees are trained to recognize:
• Systems' discharge and evacuation alarms and the
appropriate escape routes; and
• Hazards associated with the extinguishing systems
and agents including the dangers of disturbing
system components and equipment
 Sea and dock trials and
door hatches
• During trials, the employer
must ensure that all
systems remain operational

• Take protective measures to

ensure all doors, hatches,
scuttles, and other exit
openings remain working
and accessible for escape
in the event the systems are
activated; and
 Sea and dock trials and
door hatches (cont’d)
• Ensure that all inward opening
doors, hatches, scuttles, and other
potential barriers to safe exit are
removed or blocked open, if
systems' activation could result in a
positive pressure in the protected
spaces sufficient to impede escape
 Testing the system
• When testing a fixed extinguishing system
involves a total discharge of extinguishing
medium into a space, employer must:
– Evacuate all employees from space and assure no
employees remain in the space during the discharge
– Retest the atmosphere to ensure that the oxygen
levels are safe for employees to enter
• When testing a fixed extinguishing system does
not involve a total discharge of the systems
extinguishing medium, employer must:
– Ensure system's extinguishing medium is isolated
– All employees not directly involved in the testing are
evacuated from the protected space
Conducting system maintenance
• Before conducting maintenance
on a fixed extinguishing system,
the employer must ensure that
the system is physically isolated
 Using fixed manual extinguishing
systems for fire protection
• If fixed manual extinguishing systems are used
to provide fire protection for spaces in which the
employees are working, the employer must
ensure that:
– Only authorized employees are allowed to activate
the system
– Authorized employees are trained to operate and
activate the systems; and
– All employees are evacuated from the protected
spaces, and accounted for, before the fixed manual
extinguishing system is activated
 Land-side fire protection systems
29 CFR 1915 - 507

• Employer responsibilities

• Portable fire extinguishers and hose

systems

• Fixed extinguishing systems

 Employer responsibilities
• Ensure all fixed and portable fire
protection systems needed to
meet OSHA standard for
employee safety or employee
protection from fire hazards in
land- side facilities meet the
requirements, including, but not
limited to:
– Buildings
– Structures
– Equipment
 Portable fire extinguishers and
hose systems
• Employer must select, install,
inspect, maintain, and test all
portable fire extinguishers
according to NFPA 10-1998
Standard for Portable Fire
Extinguishers
• Class II or Class III hose systems
permitted as fire extinguishers if
the employer selects, installs,
inspects, maintains, and tests
those systems according to the
specific recommendations in NFPA
14-2000 Standard for the
Installation of Standpipe, Private
Hydrant, and Hose Systems
 General requirements for fixed
extinguishing systems
• Ensure any fixed extinguishing system
component or extinguishing agent is
approved by an OSHA Nationally
Recognized Testing Laboratory
• Notify employees and take necessary
precautions to ensure employees are
safe from fire if for any reason a fire
extinguishing system stops working,
until the system is working again
• Ensure repairs to fire extinguishing
systems and equipment are done by a
qualified technician
• Provide and ensure employees use
PPE when entering discharge areas in
which the atmosphere remains
hazardous to employee safety or health
 General requirements for fixed
extinguishing systems (cont’d)
• Post hazard warning or caution
signs at entrance to and inside of
areas protected by fixed
extinguishing systems that use
extinguishing agents in
concentrations known to be
hazardous to employee safety or
health
• Select, install, inspect, maintain,
and test all automatic fire detection
systems and emergency alarms
according to NFPA 72-1999
 Fixed extinguishing systems
• Standpipe and hose systems IAW NFPA 14 -
2000
• Automatic sprinkler systems IAW NFPA 25-
2002, and either NFPA 13 – 1999, or NFPA
750 – 2000
• Fixed extinguishing systems that use water or
foam agent IAW NFPA 15-2001
• Fixed extinguishing systems using dry
chemical IAW NFPA 17-2002
• Fixed extinguishing systems using gas IAW
NFPA 12-2000
 Training
29 CFR 1915 - 508

• Training
• All - employee training
• Additional training requirements for
employees expected to fight
incipient stage fires
• Additional training requirements for
shipyard employees designated for
fire response
• Additional training requirements for
fire watch duty
• Records
 Training
• Current employees by
03/15/2005
• New employees upon
initial assignment
• When necessary to
maintain proficiency
for employee
previously trained
 Employee training (cont’d)
• Employer must train all
employees on
– Emergency alarm signals,
including system
discharge alarms and
employee evacuation
alarms
– The primary and
secondary evacuation
routes that employees
must use in the event of a
fire in the workplace
 Training for employees expected to
fight incipient stage fires
• Principles of using fire extinguishers
or hose lines
• Hazards involved with incipient
firefighting, and the procedures used
to reduce these hazards
• Hazards associated with fixed and
portable fire protection systems
• Activation and operation of fixed and
portable fire protection systems that
the employer expects employees to
use in the workplace
Requirements for shipyard employees
designated for fire response
• Have a written plan stating fire response
employees are trained and capable of
carrying out their duties
• Update plan to address anticipated
emergencies
• Review training programs and hands-on
sessions before their use in training and
ensure employees are protected from
hazards associated with response training
• Provide training that ensures employees are
capable of carrying out their duties
• Train new employees before they engage in
emergency operations
Requirements for shipyard employees
designated for fire response (cont’d)
• At least quarterly, provide training on
written operating procedures
• Use qualified instructors to conduct the
training
• Conduct training that involves live fire
response exercises IAW NFPA 1403-2002
• Conduct semi-annual drills according to
employer’s written procedures
• Prohibit use of smoke generating devices
in training exercises
 Additional training for fire
watch duty
• The employer must ensure that
each fire watch is trained by an
instructor with adequate fire
watch knowledge and
experience:
– Before being assigned as a
fire watch
– Whenever there is a
change in operations that
presents a new or different
hazard
– Whenever employer
believes fire watch’s skills
are inadequate
– Annually
 Additional training for fire
watch duty (cont’d)
• Basics of fire behavior
• Different classes of extinguishing agents
• Stages of a fire
• Methods for extinguishing fires
• Adverse health effects caused by fire
• Physical characteristics of hot work area
• Extinguishing live fire scenarios
– Unless prohibited by local and federal law
– Extension to July 1, 2005
 Additional training for fire
watch duty (cont’d)
• Hazards associated with fire watch duties
• PPE and its use
• Selection and use of extinguishers and hoses
• Location and use of barriers
• Means of communication
• When and how to start fire alarm procedures
• Employer’s evacuation plan
– Vessel sections
– Land-side
 Additional training for fire
watch duty (cont’d)
• Alert others to exit the space when
– The fire watch perceives an unsafe
condition
– Fire watch perceives a worker is in danger
– Employer or employer’s representative
orders an evacuation
– An evacuation signal is activated
 Records
• Training records must include:
– Employee’s name
– Trainer’s name
– Type of training
– Dates training took place
• Records must be maintained for
one year, or until replaced by
new record, whichever is
shorter
 For More Help
• Contact your local OSHA office

• OSHA Web site (www.osha.gov)

– Maritime Page
http://www.osha.gov/dts/maritime/index.html

• 1-800-321-OSHA