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Washington Administrative Code (Last Updated: November 23, 2016) |
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Title 296. Labor and Industries, Department of |
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Chapter 296-155. Safety standards for construction work. |
Section 296-155-410. Fire prevention.
Latest version.
- (1) When practical, you must move objects to be welded, cut, or heated to a designated safe location or, if the objects to be welded, cut, or heated cannot be readily moved, you must take all movable fire hazards in the vicinity to a safe place, or otherwise protected.(2) If the object to be welded, cut, or heated cannot be moved and if all the fire hazards cannot be removed, you must take positive means to confine the heat, sparks, and slag, and to protect the immovable fire hazards from them.(3) You must not perform any welding, cutting, or heating where the application of flammable paints, or the presence of other flammable compounds, or heavy dust concentrations creates a hazard.(4) You must ensure that suitable fire extinguishing equipment is immediately available in the work area and you must maintain it in a state of readiness for instant use.(5) When the welding, cutting, or heating operation is such that normal fire prevention precautions are not sufficient, you must assign additional personnel to guard against fire while the actual welding, cutting, or heating operation is being performed, and for a sufficient period of time after completion of the work to ensure that no possibility of fire exists. You must instruct such personnel as to the specific anticipated fire hazards and how the firefighting equipment provided is to be used.(6) When welding, cutting, or heating is performed on walls, floors, and ceilings, since direct penetration of sparks or heat transfer may introduce a fire hazard to an adjacent area, you must take the same precautions on the opposite side as are taken on the side on which the welding is being performed.(7) For the elimination of possible fire in enclosed spaces as a result of gas escaping through leaking or improperly closed torch valves, you must positively shut off the gas supply to the torch at some point outside the enclosed space whenever the torch is not to be used or whenever the torch is left unattended for a substantial period of time, such as during the lunch period. Overnight and at the change of shifts, you must remove the torch and hose from the confined space. You must immediately remove open end fuel gas and oxygen hoses from enclosed spaces when they are disconnected from the torch or other gas-consuming device.(8) Except when the contents are being removed or transferred, you must keep drums, pails, and other containers, which contain or have contained flammable liquids, closed. You must remove empty containers to a safe area apart from hot work operations or open flames.(9) Drums, containers, or hollow structures which have contained toxic or flammable substances must, before welding, cutting, or heating is undertaken on them, either be filled with water or thoroughly cleaned of such substances and ventilated and tested. For welding, cutting and heating on steel pipelines containing natural gas, the pertinent portions of regulations issued by the Department of Transportation, Office of Pipeline Safety, Minimum Federal Safety Standards for Gas Pipelines apply. (49 C.F.R. Part 192, Subpart C.)(10) Before heat is applied to a drum, container, or hollow structure, you must provide a vent or opening for the release of any built-up pressure during the application of heat.