Oilfield Professional Tools

The Fire Watch Ended Early. The Permit Says It Didn’t.

Thirty minutes after the torch goes off is the rule, and it is the easiest line on a paper permit to sign before it has actually run. This holds the permit open until the clock has genuinely finished and the watch keeper has confirmed the area is cold — on your phone, in the field, with no signal.

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One-time purchase. No subscription. No account. Works offline.

The permit book records that a fire watch happened.
It has no idea whether it lasted thirty minutes.

A watch that actually runs

Mark the work complete and a live countdown starts against the OSHA 1910.252(a) thirty-minute minimum. The permit will not move to Closed until that clock has fully elapsed, so an early sign-off is not something the form will quietly accept.

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Readings judged, not just written down

Type in LEL, oxygen, hydrogen sulphide and carbon monoxide and each is checked against your thresholds. A gas left blank is reported as not recorded rather than counted as a pass, and a failing reading blocks the permit from being issued at all.

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The calibration date auditors ask for

Every test carries the detector serial and its last calibration date. Past thirty days and it is flagged on the permit and on the status screen — the exact cross-check a 2026 hot work audit runs against your gas-free certification.

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A permit you can hand over

Print any record as the full permit form — the work, the eight pre-work checks, every gas test, the fire watch times and both signature blocks — for the file, the client pack or the fire marshal. CSV export for the spreadsheet.

The fields a hot work permit actually needs

The work

Welding, cutting, grinding, brazing or soldering, with the site, the exact location, the equipment and a description of the job.

The people

Performing technician, contractor company, the authorising person who issued it, and the named fire watch.

The pre-work checks

Eight checks from 1910.252(a): the 35 ft clearance, shielding, openings covered, sprinklers in service, extinguishers staged, area swept, neighbours told, equipment purged.

The atmosphere

Initial test and every retest, each with the four gases, the tester, the detector serial and its calibration date.

The window

Valid-from and valid-to times, so a permit still open past its expiry is visible instead of buried.

The fire watch

When the work stopped, when the watch started and ended, who stood it, and their confirmation that nothing is smouldering.

Every pre-work check takes an explicit Yes, No or N/A. A blank is never read as a yes, an unanswered check blocks the permit from being issued, and answering No forces you to write down what is in place instead.

Five states, one rule each

A permit sits in exactly one state, worked out from what you have recorded. Nothing advances on the strength of a blank field.

  • Draft — written but not issued. Not valid for work.
  • Active — issued, every check answered, the gas test passed. Work is authorised.
  • Expired and open — past its valid-to time and never closed. Counted on its own, because this is what an auditor finds first.
  • Fire watch — work is done and the countdown is running. Closing is refused until it finishes.
  • Closed — the full watch ran and the watch keeper confirmed the area is cold.

Field-ready. Built for the truck, not the office.

🔥 Hot Work Permit & Fire Watch Log
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StatusPermitRegisterPrint permitSettings
2
Draft
3
Active
1
Fire watch
1
Expired
9
Closed
Fire watch running
00:11:24
HW-2026-0142 · Fairway Tank Battery 14 · watch by D. Neal
Open permits
HW-2026-0139 · Kestrel Compressor Station
Welding · Skid 2 discharge header · T. Rowan
Expired & open
expired 12 Aug 18:00
HW-2026-0141 · Fairway Tank Battery 14
Cutting · North separator skid · R. Alvarez
LEL
0
O2
20.9
H2S
18
CO
10
Active
H2S above 10 ppm
HW-2026-0143 · Ridgeline SWD
Grinding · Pump house handrail · J. Kettle
LEL
0
O2
20.8
H2S
0
CO
3
Active
valid to 14 Aug 17:00
Closed today
HW-2026-0138 · Fairway Tank Battery 14
Brazing · Instrument tubing · signed off D. Neal
Closed
watch ran 32 min
Built by people who have stood the fire watch

Oil Rigs Now has served oilfield professionals since 2011. This is a recordkeeping tool, not a permit authority — it does not measure any atmosphere, does not authorise hot work, and does not replace your employer’s hot work programme, the authorising person’s inspection of the area or a calibrated gas detector. It keeps the checks, the readings and the clock honest so the paperwork stops being the weak link.

One payment. Yours to keep.

$19
one-time · no subscription · no account
  • Unlimited hot work permits
  • Live fire watch countdown that blocks an early close
  • Eight pre-work checks with explicit Yes / No / N/A
  • Unlimited gas tests with PASS / FAIL against your limits
  • Detector calibration flagged past thirty days
  • Register with search, filters and expired-permit count
  • Printable permit form, CSV export, backup and restore
  • Installs to your phone, works with no signal
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Everything stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded, no account is created, and the app keeps working when the truck has no bars.