September 3, 2019
Hot work is one of the leading causes of construction fires. According to the National Fire Protection Association, an average of 4,440 structure fires each year result from hot work. Cutting, soldering, brazing and welding operations are all forms of hot work and these actions can produce potential safety hazards from fumes, gases, flames, and heat.
Because hot work is often necessary on construction sites, the Construction Fire Safety Coalition seeks to ensure the safety of employees and help prevent these fires with a new hot work safety practices factsheet. This resource provides guidance for hot work safety – specifically, the top five practices that hot work operators and site personnel should always take to safeguard their construction site.
These practices include:
- Preparing for hot work
- Clearing the worksite of hot work hazards
- Securing and controlling a water source
- Using safety procedures during hot work
- Safely concluding hot work
Learn about these best practices and read the factsheet here.
The Construction Fire Safety Coalition encourages best management practices to always be employed on work sites to prevent the ignition and spread of fire. The Coalition offers resources on how to reduce fire loss and increase safety for all personnel involved – such as developers, construction site teams, the building department and fire department.
For more information on fire safety best practices, visit https://constructionfiresafety.org/best-practices