Hot Work Policy & Procedure

As stated earlier in the course, employers are responsible for establishing designated areas for cutting and welding based on fire potentials of plant facilities. In other areas, separate procedures must be established for cutting and welding.

These procedures should take into account the risks and hazards associated with each task that may be performed by a hot work operator. In an employer's documentation, the four terms below can be used to rank potential accidents:

• Probable - Likely to occur
• Possible - Could occur (but not probable)
• Unlikely - Unlikely to occur
• Negligible - Occurrence so remote it can be considered zero

Ranking accident probability is helpful for determining areas of a job that may need more training and documentation due to being high risk. It can also help identify parts of the process where methods of risk reduction are most important. Common methods of risk reduction include easy-to-follow instruction manuals, warning labels, guards or barriers, and direct supervision.

Employers must ensure all hot work operators and their supervisors are suitably trained in the safe operation of their equipment and the safe implementation of operating procedures.

To learn more about Hot Work visit our General Hot Work Online Training web page.