Hot work permit system purpose and Hazards in Detail

Hot work is one of the dangerous work which had claimed a number of lives over the past years and even continues due to various hazards associated with it and lack of awareness and proper information of control measures. In this detailed article, we are going to discuss Hot work permit system purposes and Hazards.

Permit to work system is very crucial for the industry as it is an administrative part that helps to create a safe working environment and we had discussed the importance of work to permit in detail along with types of work permit at the workplace of which Hot work permit is one of them. We had also discussed confined space entry in detail including examples and precautions.

Metals are widely used in any chemical industry as equipment used in the manufacturing process is made up of metals like stainless steel, mild steel, nickel, and many more. These metal equipment and especially pipeline damages over time because of various reasons and causes punctures from joints and leakage, line broker and damage. Apart from those, the fabrication of new lines, providing tapping in the existing line, and removal of lines are some of the job in which welding work is required.

As hot work is very risky and has high potential to cause human and property damage, proper safety measure are needed to be taken and the best approach to avoid hazards are permitted to work. Permit to hot work can help to minimize the risk and help to prepare in case of emergency.

The safety officer must have proper knowledge of hot work as any mishap can result in huge human and property loss. Safety is everyone’s responsibility, hence If you are a process engineer, production engineer, and maintenance engineer you should be aware of the hazard of hot work and precautions that are needed to be considered while planning for hot work. So without wasting more time, let us dive into the detailed guide on What is hot work, examples, hazards, and hot work permit procedures.

What is Hot Work

Job or activity refers to a hot work job if in which the source of ignition is generated through heat, spark, or open flame. In other words, if a job in which spark or heat is generated that can cause fire is known as hot work. Hot work can be classified as Direct hot work and Indirect hot work. When the work is being conducted and it involves equipment producing or liberating open flames fall under direct hot work and if using equipment like a grinder and because of that sparks are generated are indirect hot work.

 Examples of hot work in industries

• Welding, of pipe, brazing, and soldering.
• Gas cutting
• Metal Grinding and cutting.
• Use of flame to heat
• Use of hot air blowers and heaters

Purpose of Hot work permit form

The primary purpose of the hot work permit system is to reduce and hazards related to hot work. Hot work claims to take life in numbers every year and most of them are due to a lack of proper knowledge and failure to identify the potential hazard.

A hot work permit is an administrative tool and a checklist that helps the working personnel to check and identify all the associated hazards and takes proper controlling measures and thereby reduce the risk of an accident while performing hot work tasks. Hence the purpose of the hot work permit is to reduce the risk involved in hot work and prepare in case of emergency.

What are the hazards of hot work?

Hot work generated a source of ignition which has the potential to complete fire triangle if the flammable/ explosive material present in the area and atmosphere contains sufficient volume of oxygen. Hot work can be very dangerous and because of that there is a number of hazards associated with hot work.

• Hazards like, fire to equipment or in an area, explosions, and skin burns to humans are associated with hot work.
• Confined space has a danger of accumulation of dangerous gases.
• A metal spark from the grind in eye.
• Exposure to Harmful UV or Infrared Light.
• Hot work also includes electrical equipment hence electrical hazards like shocks due to faulty wiring, short circuits and fatal electrocution.

What is hot work safety precautions?

Every work that in needed to be done should be performed by the person wearing personal protective equipment. Suitable eye and face protection should be ensured

• The area must be checked and should be free from the presence of any flammable substance or material. There are flammable gas detectors available that can detect the presence of flammable gases in the area.
• LEL% limit for hot work is 0% and no hot work permit should be approved if LEL is 10% or above.
• Proper equipment like welding helmets and other equipment required for the job must be standardized and checked its integrity.
• The area in which hot work needs to be preform must have proper ventilation.
• A fire extinguisher must be available in the area where hot work in progress.
• A standby trained fire person (Fire watch person) should be deployed where the work needs to be performed.
• The area should be barricaded and no unauthorized person should be allowed to enter the premises.

Now, we had learned all about hot work, hazards, and safety precautions, but there can be a possibility that human error can miss out on some important points while inspecting and make it dangerous to work. In order to eliminate those risks, a hot work permit is prepared which will help to reduce any human error while identifying hazards and cause accidents.

Hot work permit procedure

• Firstly the production department authorized person will inspect the job which is needed to be done and involves the generation of heat or falls under Hot work.
• Now they discuss the work with the maintenance department regarding it and they identify the hazard associated with the work. The maintenance department will arrange all the equipment and manpower required for the work and check the integrity of the equipment which is going to be used in the task.
• After inspecting, the production department prepares a hot work permit for the task after inspect according to the checklist and options present in the hot work permit form.
• After the production department supervisor prepares the permit, it is then sent to the production manager or area manager for approval where he verifies all the checkpoints.
• After approval, the permit is sent to the maintenance department engineer for verification, and the person who is going to perform that job is being. After that, the permit is being to the head of the maintenance department for approval.
• After approval from the production and maintenance department, the safety office is informed by the mean of the permit and he then verifies all the points on the permit with arrangements.
• If required, he does the arrangement i.e. assign a fireman for supervision, provides PPEs or fire fighting equipment to make the work safer, and then ask the maintenance department to proceed with the job.

This is the proper hot work permit flow where apart from the hot work permit checklist, senior persons are being taken for approval to avoid any mistakes.

Hot work permit checklist

Here are the points that are present as the checklist in the permit and special emphasis should be given to these hot work checklists.

• Area barricading.
• LEL should be checked and should be noted in the work permit
• Air samples should be sent and area should be free from flammable gases.
• The drain should be covered.
• If cutting is involved in the pipe, then the pipe should be free from flammable gases or chemicals.
• Certified electrical tools and equipment to be use.
• Fire blanket and fire booth.
• All the PPEs should be provided to the laborers working on the job.
• Presence of a Fire extinguisher and fire water hose near the job.

FAQ (Hot work permit)

Wrapping Up

This was a detailed guide on Hot work permits in the chemical industry. If you have any doubts regarding the hot work permit or have any suggestions, you can use the comment section to talk to us. We had covered other work permits as well in detail which a production and maintenance person should be aware of. Another work that comes next to this is a confined space work permit which is also covered by us in detail, so read that also. You can follow us on LinkedIn – Chemical Tweak to stay updated with our article and also download our android app.