Hot Work Permit Checklist Template

Start a run as soon as a job needs heat, sparks or flame. The first questions are whether the job needs hot work at all and whether it can be moved to a safe area: avoiding the heat removes the fire risk, and moving the work keeps the sparks away from what can burn.

• Record the job, the start time and the people — what the job is, where it will be done, when the hot work is planned to start, how long it will take, who does it, and the four people this checklist assigns
• Decide whether the hot work can be avoided — whether a cold method would do the job, such as mechanical cutting, bolting, clamping or a part made up elsewhere, so that no heat or sparks are needed in the area
• Decide whether the work can be moved to a safe area — whether the object can be taken to an area set up for hot work (then change the answer above and close this run) or to a temporary safe area free of combustibles; if it cannot be moved, the area around it has to be made safe
• Close the run and record why no permit is needed — the cold method that will be used instead, or the area set up for hot work where the job will be done, who agreed it, and the checklist archived without a permit
• Describe the work, the method and the equipment — the process, the equipment and any gas cylinders it uses, the materials being worked on, and anything on or inside them that could burn or give off fumes when heated

Work out what could catch fire or explode, check the area’s fire protection, and plan the fire watch before the day of the work. A contractor is told about hazards they may not know.

• Check the fire risk assessment and the area’s hazards — what in the area could burn, any explosive atmosphere, flammable vapour or combustible dust, any tank, drum or pipe that has held flammable material, and any area where the site does not allow hot work
• Brief the contractor on the site’s hazards and hot work rules — the flammable materials and hazardous conditions in the area they may not know about, this site’s permit rules, the alarm and the escape routes, and the training and equipment they bring
• Check the sprinklers and fire detection in the area — whether the sprinklers and detection are in service, whether any detector near the work is to be isolated to avoid false alarms, and who must agree an impairment
• Plan the fire watch and the extinguishing equipment — who keeps the fire watch, where they stand, which areas they watch (including any area below or beyond a wall), the extinguishing equipment they will have, and how they raise the alarm
• Agree the timing with the people who run the area — when the work will happen, nothing started nearby during the work that could expose combustibles to ignition, and the people in or next to the area told

Make the area safe on the day, before the authoriser inspects it. Tasks for work done in place, containers, explosive atmospheres and impaired sprinklers appear only when the answers in Phases 1 and 2 call for them.

• Clean, vent and test the container before any heat — the tank, drum, pipe or container emptied and cleaned so no flammable or toxic residue is left, connected pipes disconnected or blanked, the container vented, and the result tested
• Move combustibles away, or cover what cannot be moved — everything that can burn moved the distance your site rule sets, and anything left protected with fire-resistant covers, guards or shields
• Sweep the floor and protect a combustible floor — the floor swept clean of shavings, paper, fibres and dust around the work, and a combustible floor kept wet, covered with damp sand or protected by fire-resistant shields
• Protect the fire hazards that cannot be moved — guards, fire-resistant shields or covers fitted to confine heat, sparks and slag and to protect what stays in place, including combustible walls, partitions, ceilings or roofs near the work
• Seal or cover openings, gaps and cracks — floor openings and cracks, holes in walls, open doorways and windows near the work closed or covered so sparks cannot drop or pass through to combustibles beyond
• Protect or shut down ducts and conveyors — any duct, conveyor or extraction system that could carry sparks to combustibles further away protected or stopped for the work
• Check the other side of walls, floors and ceilings — what is on the far side of any wall, floor, ceiling or roof being worked on or near, combustibles there moved, and a fire watch placed there where they cannot be
• Put the sprinkler or detection impairment under control — what is impaired or isolated and for how long, who agreed it under the site’s impairment procedure, who was told, the extra cover in place while it lasts, and in US general industry the sprinklers back in service before the permit is issued
• Test the atmosphere before the work, and plan repeat tests — a test for flammable gas or vapour at the work and in any space nearby, by a competent person with a calibrated instrument, with the times for repeat tests during the work
• Put the extinguishing equipment and the alarm point in place — the extinguishing equipment planned in Phase 2 at the work and ready for instant use, and the nearest alarm point and escape route known to everyone at the job

The authoriser inspects the prepared area and issues the permit before any hot work starts. The permit task is assigned to the authoriser alone, and nothing after it can be completed until it is done.

• Inspect the area with the person doing the work — every precaution from Phase 3 checked at the work, the equipment and gas supplies looked at, and anything still to put right listed
• Put right what the authoriser found, then ask for the permit again — after ‘Not issued’ only: put right each point the authoriser recorded, then ask them to inspect again, change the decision to Issued and complete the permit task; if the job is called off, record it here and archive the checklist
• Issue the hot work permit — the precautions the permit sets, who may do the work, where, the time it is valid until, the fire watch, and how long the watch continues after the work ends

The fire watch is briefed, the permit is displayed at the job and the person doing the work confirms the conditions before starting. On a job of more than one shift, these tasks cover the first shift; later shifts are recorded in Phase 7.

• Brief the fire watch — the areas to watch, including below and beyond any wall, the extinguishing equipment and its use, how to raise the alarm, and that they tackle a fire only when it is clearly within the capacity of the equipment
• Display the permit at the job — a copy of the permit where the work is being done, so anyone in the area can see what is allowed and the precautions in force
• Confirm the conditions are safe before starting — the person doing the work checks the precautions on the permit are in place and agrees with the person in charge that it is safe to start
• Do the work as the permit allows, and stop if anything changes — only the work, place and method on the permit; stop and tell the person in charge if conditions change, an alarm sounds, a gas test fails or the job grows
• Keep the fire watch during the work — the fire watch in place the whole time the work is under way, watching every exposed area, with nothing else to do
• Make the equipment safe at breaks and at the end of the shift — electrodes out of their holders and the welding machine disconnected, torch valves closed and the gas supply shut off, and in a confined or enclosed space the torch and hoses taken out at the end of the shift

Fires from hot work can start after the work has stopped. The fire watch stays for the period set on the permit, then checks the area before leaving.

• Keep the fire watch for the set period after the work ends — the watch kept for at least the minutes set on the permit, over every exposed area including below and beyond walls, with a check for smouldering before the watch ends
• Deal with the fire or damage, and report it — after a fire, smouldering or heat damage only: the alarm raised if it was needed, the area made safe, the damage recorded, the incident reported as your site requires, and the permit not reused until the cause is understood

Applies only when the job runs over more than one shift. Before work restarts each day, the authoriser re-inspects the area and revalidates the permit; at each shift change the permit is handed over; and each day’s fire watch after the work is recorded. These tasks fall due at the planned end of the hot work on the first task: complete them after the last day’s entry.

• Re-inspect the area and revalidate the permit before work restarts each day — each day, the precautions checked again, anything brought into the area since the last shift moved or covered, any gas test repeated, and the permit revalidated with a new time limit
• Hand over the permit at each shift change — the incoming person in charge, person doing the work and fire watch told the hazards, the precautions and the state of the job, with the handover recorded
• Record each day’s fire watch after the work — for each day after the first, the time the work ended, the time the watch ended and anything found

After the last shift’s work and fire watch, check the area once more, return any impaired protection to service and close the permit. The due dates count from the planned end of the hot work on the first task, so on a one-shift job they fall the same day.

• Make the final check of the area — the work area, the floor below and the other side of any wall checked for heat, smoke or smouldering, and any later check your site rule or insurer requires done and recorded
• Return the sprinklers and fire detection to service — every impaired or isolated system returned to service after the last shift, tested where your procedure says so, and everyone told under the impairment procedure
• Close the permit and hand back the area — the person in charge confirms the work is finished and the area is safe, the authoriser closes the permit, and the covers, guards and equipment are taken away
• File the permit and record any lessons — the permit, the checks and the fire watch records kept with the job, and anything to change in the site’s hot work rules noted