This question is one that gets a lot of attention and the debate can become heated. OSHA’s minimum standard, written in 1974, requires the fire watch to be maintained for 30-minutes after completion of welding or cutting operations. But in the past decade, many insurers and standards that are more up-to-date are now requiring that fire watches be maintained for 1-hour.
1910.252(a)(2)(iii)(B) Fire watchers shall have fire extinguishing equipment readily available and be trained in its use. They shall be familiar with facilities for sounding an alarm in the event of a fire. They shall watch for fires in all exposed areas, try to extinguish them only when obviously within the capacity of the equipment available, or otherwise sound the alarm. A fire watch shall be maintained for at least a half hour after completion of welding or cutting operations to detect and extinguish possible smoldering fires.
A fair number of people still feel that 30-minutes is adequate, but the data tells us others wise. Case in point, this most recent HW Fire with losses of $16,460,850.
- The HW was reported to have ended at 3:20 pm.
- Fire Watch reported staying on duty till 4:20.
- A security guard walked by the ship @ 9:21 and 9:26 and noticed nothing.
- At 10:32 pm a passing motorist noticed smoke and an orange glow and called 911.
The root cause of the fire…