A Fire Watcher monitors hot work to identify hazards and fires. They inspect work areas for fuel sources and ensure sufficient fire extinguishers. As hot work occurs in confined spaces or at height, the Fire Watcher is necessary to observe for fire risks. Their duties include monitoring precautions and responding to fires. They must remain alert for 30 minutes after work to check for hazards and activate alarms if fires begin. Proper training and protection equipment is required for Fire Watchers to safely perform their important role in hot work safety.

1. Fire watcher
A Fire Watcher is a person assigned to observe ongoing hot work to identify and react to
hazards, fire ignition sources and fires. A Fire Watcher is necessary at any time where hot
work is performed in locations where a fire could develop.
Locations could include confined spaces, vessels, work at height, and the Fire Watcher
duties will be specified by the Hot work at height Supervisor. Personnel appointed as Fire
Watchers; shall monitor the work areas and the precautionary measures taken in those
areas, and shall undertake response activities as required.
This includes Inspecting the work area for any sources of fuel, such as trash, rags and
flammable materials and liquids. This applies to lower decks or levels where sparks or slag
could fall and ensuring sufficient Fire Extinguishers at the specific location and general area.
Safety campaign
Fire watcher
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Rev. 00 Date 27/02/2022

2. Hot work
Hazardous work involving or giving rise to a source of ignition, including, but not limited to,
burning, welding, grinding or grit blasting, also electrical work unless the equipment is fully
isolated.
Examples include:
• Welding and flame cutting utilizing electric machines or fuel gas in confined spaces
(in confined spaces or on board vessels)
• Opening live junction boxes
• Work to be performed on any "live" electrical system or a system/equipment that has
previously been live and is isolated.

3. Fire Watcher
Qualified and trained Fire Watcher personnel are expected to attempt to immediately extinguish
all controllable fires discovered insofar as safety permits. However it is important that personnel
do not put themselves in danger. When fighting a fire a clear safe route of escape must be
available at all times and never be put in the position where there is a risk of being trapped by a
fire.
Fire watchers must be extra vigilant working on site. Windy conditions can blow hot sparks or
molten metal from Welding, Gas cutting or Gouging further distances than normal and set fire to
surrounding material such as Waste skips or stored material not originally thought to be at risk.

4. Fire Watcher roles and responsibilities
 After all hot work has been concluded the watch shall remain in the area for an
additional 30minutes to ensure that there are no residual fire hazards.
 They have to be physically capable of conducting the duties of the fire watcher.
 If a fire is beyond the beginning stage, the alarm must be activated to alert the
workers of a fire danger.
 Appropriate Personnel Protection Equipment needs to be issued for conditions
of the operations.
 Fire watches are an important stage of HOT WORK operations.
 Generally the welders or gas cutters are focused on task and may not be observing their
surroundings.
 The fire Watcher monitors the area for fires that are in the incipient stage. Stopping fires in
the beginning reduces large scale fires.
 Watchers protect, shield and alert the workers of impending fires or hazards.
 The fire Watcher should be only assigned one duty to prevent being distracted from his role.
 The fire watch team needs to be briefed on the operations by the supervisor prior to starting
any hot work.
 All fire watch personnel shall be in direct communication with each other in
adjacent spaces.
 They must have clear view of the space and access to all the other areas.
 Combustible materials need to be removed prior to hot work or shielded from the
radiation to prevent ignition.
 Heat radiation can be conducted through piping, wiring, decks and ventilation
ducks.
 The authority must rest with the fire watch to stop any conditions deemed
hazardous or at risk for the safety of all workers.

5. Offshore safety hazards
Working offshore presents a set of safety hazards that clearly differ from the standards of the
normal land-based workplace. This difference becomes obvious when arriving on the
offshore facility for the first time.
A mandatory safety orientation is given to all personnel before being allowed beyond the
sign-in location, regardless of whether it is a one-time, brief visit or an extended stay. The
facility’s regular working crew members are trained ahead of time, onshore, as a qualification
for the offshore position, and receive a safety card indicating that the training was completed
successfully. Crew members must renew their training periodically.
Because of the nature of the offshore safety hazards and the potential for serious injury,
proper training for all crew members is important. Crew members are often required to
attend training sessions and to participate in safety drills to prepare for offshore safety
hazards.
Two common factors of the offshore work site are height above sea level
and the presence of oil and gas. Crew members’ living quarters and work
areas are significantly above sea level, and they are regularly dealing
with hydrocarbons production involving hazardous materials that pose
fire, explosion, and toxic gas dangers. These hazards require basic
training that includes recognition of the hazard called “alarm training” and
escape training if necessary. The crux of the training is to recognize an
eminent danger that requires immediate action and to master the ability
to expeditiously get off of and away from the offshore facility.

6. The Fire Watcher cannot have any other duties while
monitoring the hot work.
Fire Watcher