Access Permit Template

A building is at its most flammable while you are still building it

The compartment walls are not built out, the fire doors are not hung, the service penetrations are not stopped and the sprinklers are not live. Everything that would normally slow a fire down arrives last. Meanwhile the building is full of packaging, timber, insulation, fuel and gas.

HSE estimates there are hundreds of construction fires in the UK every year, and almost none of them start in an interesting way. Hot work, waste, a heater left running, a cigarette. The causes are ordinary, which is exactly why they are preventable.

The dangerous hours are the ones after you leave

A fire that starts at four in the afternoon gets spotted, and someone puts it out with an extinguisher. The same fire at six, in an empty building with no alarm, no sprinklers and no one on site, is a total loss and a story in the local paper. That is the reason hot work stops early, the fire watch runs on after the tools go down, and someone walks the building before locking up.

What the law requires

Two regimes run side by side on a live construction site. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 cover the construction work itself. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 covers general fire safety, and the responsible person under it is normally the principal contractor in control of the site. Scotland has the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 in its place.

• Prevent the risk. Take suitable and sufficient steps to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, the risk of injury from fire, explosion, flooding or asphyxiation. CDM 2015, reg. 29.
• Plan for the emergency. Have arrangements for foreseeable emergencies, including evacuation, and test them so people know what to do. CDM 2015, reg. 30.
• Routes, exits and equipment. Provide enough suitable emergency routes and exits, kept clear, signed and lit. Provide and maintain fire detection and firefighting equipment, and instruct everyone in its use. CDM 2015, regs. 31 and 32.
• Assess and arrange. Make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, keep it current as the building changes, and put the general fire precautions and arrangements in place. RRFSO 2005, arts. 8, 9 and 11.

The hot work timings HSE actually gives

These are the numbers worth knowing, because most sites get them wrong by an hour or by a whole shift:

• A continuous fire watch of at least one hour after the hot work finishes
• A further check two hours after the hot work finished
• Hot work should stop two hours before the end of the day, so both of those can actually happen before the site empties
• LPG cylinders at least three metres from the burner or boiler they are feeding

Source: HSE, Fire safety in construction (HSG168); CDM 2015; Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

How fires actually start on site

• Hot work. Welding, grinding, disc cutting and hot air guns. Sparks travel further than people expect, drop through gaps and smoulder in insulation for hours before anything shows.
• Waste and packaging. Cardboard, shrink wrap, offcuts and empty drums. On most sites this is both the biggest fuel load and the easiest thing to fix.
• LPG and gas cylinders. LPG is heavier than air, so a leak pools in basements, lift pits and trenches, and has caused many serious site explosions.
• Flammable liquids and aerosols. Thinners, adhesives, fuel and spray cans left in the room they are being used in rather than in a proper store.
• Temporary heating. Halogen and gas heaters left running, pushed against a wall, or used to dry a room out overnight.
• Temporary electrics. Damaged leads, daisy-chained extensions, overloaded boards and site lighting resting on combustibles.
• Smoking. Not in the designated area, and stubbed out into a bin rather than a sand-filled metal ashtray.
• Fire protection that is not finished. Compartment walls not built out, doors not hung, penetrations not stopped, so fire and smoke travel unimpeded.
• Escape routes that only exist on the drawing. Blocked with materials, unlit, still a scaffold ladder, or locked out of hours with people still inside.
• Timber frame and insulation. A very high fuel load during erection, when there is nothing to slow a fire down and neighbouring buildings are at risk too.
• Out of hours. No people, no alarm, no discovery. Arson and unsecured perimeters account for a real share of the worst site fires.

Controls to brief your crew on

• Work to the fire plan, not from memory. The fire risk assessment and the site fire plan sit in the construction phase plan, and get reviewed as the building changes.
• Hot work on a permit. Times, method, who is in control and who closes it out. Combustibles moved or covered within the spark zone first, including through gaps in the floor, and the right extinguisher to hand.
• Fire watch after hot work. Continuous for at least an hour, then a further check two hours after. Finish hot work two hours before the site closes so both can happen.
• Clear waste daily. Skips away from the building, no burning of waste on site, and nothing stacked in a corridor or a stairwell.
• Store LPG and flammables outside the building wherever possible, secure and ventilated, away from ignition sources. Cylinders upright and at least three metres from the burner they feed.
• Fire points that work. Signed, unobstructed and serviced, with the right extinguisher for the risk: water for combustibles, foam or powder for liquids, CO2 for electrical.
• An alarm that gets heard. Mains, wireless, klaxon or air horn, it must be distinctive and audible over site noise, and it gets tested every week.
• Escape routes stay routes. Clear, signed, lit where enclosed, with an alternative where reasonably practicable, leading to a known assembly point.
• Bring the fire protection forward in the programme where you can. Compartmentation, stopping and fire doors installed early, and flame retardant sheeting on the scaffold.
• Lock up properly. Perimeter secure, heaters and equipment off, cylinders isolated and stored, and a last walk round by someone who knows what they are looking for.
• Everyone knows the drill. Alarm, route and assembly point at induction, refreshed when routes change, and tested with a real evacuation.

Source: HSE, Fire safety in construction (HSG168); HSE, General fire safety; HSE, Process fire risks; CDM 2015, regs. 29 to 32.

Who is competent to do this work

• Anyone doing hot work needs to understand the permit, the precautions and the fire watch, and be able to use the extinguisher that is sitting next to them.
• Fire marshals and wardens should be trained and named, with enough of them to cover every shift, every level and the times when the site is thin.
• Whoever writes the fire risk assessment must be competent to do it, and must revisit it as the building, the trades and the escape routes change.
• Alarms, extinguishers and emergency lighting are installed, tested and serviced by a competent contractor, and the certificates are kept.

Paperwork that should be in place

• The fire risk assessment, current for the phase the site is actually in, with the significant findings recorded.
• The site fire plan within the construction phase plan, covering routes, assembly points, alarm and firefighting arrangements.
• Hot work permits, issued, signed and closed out, with the fire watch recorded against each one.
• Weekly alarm test and evacuation drill records, including how long the evacuation took.
• Servicing records for extinguishers, alarms and emergency lighting.
• Induction and training records, including who the trained fire marshals are.

Five questions to get the crew talking

1. If the alarm went off right now, where would you go, and can you get there without moving anything?
2. What hot work is planned this week, and who is doing the fire watch after it?
3. Where are the nearest extinguishers, and do you know which one to grab for a fuel fire?
4. Where is the LPG stored at the end of the shift, and who checks it?
5. What gets left running overnight, and who does the last walk round?

How to run this toolbox talk

1. Read it first and add your site-specific detail: this building, these routes, this assembly point.
2. Pick the moment. Start of shift, at the workface, ten minutes maximum.
3. Walk the route. Point at the nearest exit and the nearest fire point rather than describing them.
4. Write down what came up. Notes and actions are on page 3 of the PDF.
5. Record who attended on the free toolbox talk sign-in sheet.
6. Close the actions out, especially anything about a blocked route or a missing extinguisher.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a fire watch last after hot work?

HSE guidance in HSG168 is a continuous fire watch of the hot work area for at least an hour after the work finishes, followed by at least one more check two hours after it finished. Hot work should be completed two hours before the end of the working day so that both checks can be carried out while people are still on site.

Who is the responsible person for fire safety on a construction site?

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 it is usually the main or principal contractor in control of the site. They must carry out and keep up to date a fire risk assessment and put the general fire precautions in place. That sits alongside the duties every dutyholder has under CDM 2015.

Do you need a permit for hot work?

A permit to work system is the recognised way of controlling hot work, and HSE expects one on larger projects. The permit should record the location and nature of the work, the times it is valid for, the precautions before, during and after, how to raise the alarm, and who is in direct control and who closes it out.

Where should LPG cylinders be stored on site?

Outside the building wherever possible, in a secure, well ventilated place away from ignition sources, excavations and drains, with cylinders upright. In use, keep the cylinder at least three metres from the burner or boiler it is feeding. LPG is heavier than air, so a leak collects in basements, lift pits and trenches rather than dispersing.

How often should the site fire alarm be tested?

Weekly is the normal standard, and the test should be recorded. The alarm must be distinctive and audible above site noise everywhere people work, which on a large or noisy site usually means more than one sounder or a wireless system that can move as the building grows.