Page 6 - Hot Tapping - CCPS Safe Work Practice

Need/Call To Action

The US Chemical Safety Board site has documented several incidents involving hot work activities.
However, none of these appear to be from “hot tapping”. The incidents in the US CSB site are all
related to hot work (welding and line opening) in or around tanks that contained flammable vapors.
The hot work ignited the vapors causing a fire and/or explosion in these cases. While these incidents
are not 100% analogous to “hot tapping”, they are included here as they clearly illustrate the inherent
dangers and potential consequences of “Hot Tapping”.
g Incidents during hot tapping are sparsely reported and are therefore not readily available.
g The worst-case scenario during hot tapping is a burn-through during welding of the nozzle on a
live piece of pipeline or equipment. If the leaking fluid is flammable, it could immediately ignite,
leading to fire and/or explosion with potentially catastrophic consequences.

g Other fluids like steam and/or condensate, which are at elevated temperature can cause serious
injuries to personnel close to the hot tap location.

3 SAFE WORK PRACTICE, HOT TAPPING