Ever hear about your local fire watch services? You may wonder what a fire watch does. The YouTube channel, Convergence Training by Vector Solutions, explains the importance of a fire watch.
Any worksite that will involve “hot work” such as welding needs to have a fire watch assigned to observe for any risks of fire hazards. A fire watch is also required for building construction if any materials prone to combustion are within 35 feet of the hot work.
A fire watch needs to look out for easily combustible materials, even if they are more than 35 feet away. Another risk is walls or floors that have openings that expose combustible materials. There’s also the risk that materials could ignite even if they were on the opposite sides of walls where hot work is taking place. Some situations require more than one fire watch to make sure no combustible materials will ignite.
Fire watches are required to stay in position for all breaks, during the hot work itself, and even one hour after all the hot work is done. The fire watch may be needed for more than just an hour if potential fire hazards are severe enough.