What do fire watch duties and responsibilities entail for safety compliance? Discover and learn how to protect lives and property effectively.

Fire watch personnel play a crucial role in ensuring fire safety and preventing fires in various settings, including construction sites and buildings with impaired fire protection systems.

When it comes to the duties and responsibilities of a fire watcher, it is not over look.

That is when The Fast Fire Watch Company comes into place.

We have been inception since 2019, and your businesses can rely on us to protect their premises and people.

We provide NFPA and OSHA-compliant fire watch services to protect vessels, ports, and offshore facilities by implementing safety precautions.

Our fire watch ensures compliance and safety measures on your part and also on our part concerning fire hazards.

Let’s talk about what does fire watch duties and responsibilities entails.

Fire Watch Duties and Responsibilities.

• Fire watch security guards identify, monitor, prevent, and report fire hazards and raise emergency alarms.
• Among the duties and responsibilities of a guard fire watch include:
• Conduct periodic patrols of the protected area(s) or the entire facility.
• Continuously patrolling affected areas, including hot work and unoccupied areas (e.g. storage rooms, attics, crawl spaces)
• Identify any life, fire, or property hazards such as damaged or frayed wires and improperly stored flammable or combustible materials.
• Documenting fire watch rounds, emergencies, and other fire watch activities.
• Ensure all required means of egress remain free of impediments. Check for blocked exit doors and obstructions to exit passageways or stairwells.
• Examine all exit signage and emergency lighting to ensure they are functioning properly.
• Examine self-closing doors to ensure there are no door wedges or other obstructions preventing the proper operation.
• Be knowledgeable of the location and use of fire protection equipment, including portable fire extinguishers. If a sprinkler system is active, examine for any sprinkler head obstructions.
• If a fire is suspected or discovered, call 911. Establish and maintain at least one means of direct communication with 911.
• Provide the emergency operator with the exact address, type of emergency, and if applicable, advise that the fire protection system is impaired.
• Notify building occupants of the need to evacuate; if a building alarm system is functional, ensure it is activated to assist with the evacuation.
• Maintain a log of the fire watch tours and activities.
• Remaining at the site until the fire watch was ended.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Employer

Employers must protect fire watch duties and workers from fire hazards by:

• Developing and implementing a written Fire Safety Plan.
• Reviewing the Fire Safety Plan with employees.
• Providing a copy of the Fire Safety Plan to outside organizations expected to respond to fires.
• Informing all employers on the worksite about fire-related hazards and emergency procedures.
• Assigning safety and health responsibilities for fire protection.
• Establishing designated and non-designated areas for hot work.
• Maintaining safe conditions free from fire hazards.

Hot Work Operations

What is Hot Work?

Hot work involves flame spark or heat production, including welding, burning, cutting, grinding, heat treating, dulling or tapping and torch-applied roofing or other operations that could create heat, sparks, open flames, heat or explosions outside of predesignated and approved locations.

Hot work activities performed by construction contractors, welders, plumbers, utility or electrical workers can be a significant fire risk to your business’s property.

Control Hot Work Hazards

After reviewing safety regulations and before beginning hot work, remove the potential fire hazards.

Control hot work dangers to your business by doing:

• Consider alternatives to hot work when possible
• Ensure that the tools are working and in place (sprinkler systems, hoses and fire extinguishers)
• Have a way to call the fire department immediately
• Consider the need for wetting the area, approved fire-resistant traps, and protecting openings or conveyors that may migrate sparks
• Avoid performing hot work in open buildings or doing outdoor hot work on windy days
• Use fire watch attendant(s) to monitor the area for fire
• Continue monitoring the worksite for at least two hours after hot work is completed
• Have a working fire extinguisher on hand
• Hire qualified and competent contractors to evaluate hot work in confined spaces
• Use a written Hot Work Permit for work outside of designated hot work areas

Components Of Effective Fire Watch Record-Keeping

Fire watch personnel must maintain a detailed log of fire watch activities, including patrol times, personnel names, and incidents.

So, here’s a list of all the details that the daily log diary of fire watch guards on your premises must contain.

Take a note and ensure the basic format is always followed.

• Name of the fire watch guard on duty.
• The address of the location that the fire watch guard is patrolling.
• Date and time of every entry.
• Time of every patrol conducted on-site.
• Record of every communication, from or to whom, and nature of business.
• Arrival and departure of visitors, names and addresses, license numbers, auto make, etc.
• Important events, such as unusual weather, lightning storms, and all fires spotted.
• A detailed account of daily activities, time spent on work projects, observations, and absences from the station.

Besides the above information, there is a wide variety of records that are required throughout the lookout.

From a fire watch guard, that would be useful for both you and the security guard company you’ve hired, but then it would be impossible to include them all here.

Conclusion

Fire watch responsibilities and duties are crucial for maintaining safety during hot work operations.

It’s also the employer’s job to make sure the fire watchers know what to do, have the right tools, and follow all safety rules.

At The Fast Fire Watch Company, we ensure your property or event is protected against the threat of fire.

At The Fast Fire Watch Company, your safety gives us the utmost satisfaction.