Former Fire Battalion Chief Michael Karl McNeil, a firefighter for 25 years, urges employers to treat welding, cutting and grinding as fire prevention work under Cal/OSHA Title 8 Section 4848 and NFPA 51B.
SAN GABRIEL, Calif., Oct. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Michael Karl McNeil, a former firefighter who rose to Fire Battalion Chief over 25 years in the fire service, is urging employers, general contractors and facility managers to treat welding, torch cutting, brazing and grinding as fire prevention work first and production work second. Hot work brings an ignition source into places that were never designed to have one, and the protections that keep it from becoming a fire are written into California law.
McNeil spent most of his fire service career in fire prevention, advancing from Fire Prevention Captain to Fire Battalion Chief with a federal fire agency. He now leads McNeil Safety Consulting, an independent environmental health and safety, industrial hygiene and forensic and expert consulting practice, where hot work programs, fire prevention plans and Cal/OSHA compliance are part of his everyday work.
"Hot work fires are prevention failures, not bad luck," McNeil said. "The spark that starts one is predictable. What decides the outcome is whether somebody cleared the area, covered the openings, posted a fire watch and kept that watch in place after the torch went out."
What California requires
Under Title 8, California Code of Regulations, Section 4848(a), an employer must establish a fire prevention and suppression procedure whenever gas or arc welding and cutting operations covered by Sections 4794(a) and 4850(a) take place on its property. The employer must also issue and enforce instructions based on ANSI/ASC Z49.1-94, Chapters 3 and 6, and NFPA 51B-2009, Chapters 3 through 7, both of which the section incorporates by reference. Section 4848(b) adds that welding blankets, curtains and pads must be approved for their intended use under Section 3206.
By bringing NFPA 51B into the regulation, California makes that standard's core controls part of the employer's procedure: a designated person who authorizes hot work before it begins, a 35-foot zone around the work in which combustibles are moved or protected, openings and floor gaps covered so sparks cannot drop into hidden spaces, and a trained fire watch with suppression equipment on hand during the work and for at least half an hour after it ends. On construction sites and in occupied buildings, the hot work chapter of the California Fire Code can also require a permit from the local fire code official.
"The half hour after the work stops is where firefighters earn their pay," McNeil said. "Sparks settle into insulation, wall cavities and roofing, and they smolder long after the crew has packed up. A fire watch that leaves with the welder is not a fire watch."
Where programs break down
McNeil points to the same gaps across construction, manufacturing, warehousing, health care and film and television production: hot work authorized by the person doing the work rather than a separate designated person, permits signed before the area was inspected, extinguishers that are not at the work location, fire watches pulled to other tasks, and no written procedure tying the work back to Section 4848. He advises employers to put the procedure in writing, name who may authorize hot work, train fire watches on what to look for and how to raise an alarm, and keep completed permits as records of the inspection.
About Michael Karl McNeil
Michael Karl McNeil, REP, RIH, EPP, QSD, is a former Fire Battalion Chief with 25 years in the fire service, much of it in fire prevention, holding California State Fire Marshal and National Wildfire Coordinating Group qualifications and federal law enforcement training through FLETC. He is a Hazardous Materials Manager, HAZMAT Specialist and Incident Commander, an EMT-II (California) and a Certified Tactical Medic. He holds the Registered Environmental Professional, Registered Industrial Hygienist and Emergency Planning Professional designations and is a Qualified SWPPP Developer. He is a contributor to the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and a reviewer for ACOEM. His fire service record is published at michaelkarlmcneilfirefighter.blog and firefightermichaelkarlmcneil.blog.
About McNeil Safety Consulting
McNeil Safety Consulting provides environmental health and safety, industrial hygiene, Cal/OSHA citation defense, and forensic and expert consulting to employers and attorneys. Contact us at (626) 546-9384, [email protected], or visit www.mcneilsafetyconsulting.com to request a consultation.
Media Contact
Michael Karl McNeil, McNeil Safety Consulting, 1 6265469384, [email protected], McNeil Safety Consulting
SOURCE McNeil Safety Consulting
Share this article