Fatal fire prompts Senate study of 'hot works'
Less than two months after lawmakers filed a bill spurred by a deadly fire in Boston, the state Senate on Monday approved legislation to investigate the welding and "hot works" industry.
The wind-swept fire, which led to the deaths of Boston firefighters Edward Walsh and Michael Kennedy, was reportedly caused by welders working on a building next door to the Back Bay brownstone that caught fire.
After the March 26 blaze, Sen. Kenneth Donnelly, D-Arlington, spoke with State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan to identify gaps in industry regulation and, with Sen. William Brownsberger, D-Belmont, filed a bill.
"What we found is that there were some real concerns about the permitting process for welders and the use of torches," Donnelly, a former firefighter, said in July. "And also, we found the penalties were really insufficient, they hadn't been changed in many, many years."
Under the bill approved Monday, a commission will determine whether the state fire code adequately protects the safety of the public and first responders in connection with hot works trades, including any operations that may spark fires or explosions.
The bill requires the commission to study and report by next June 1 on current licensing and permitting conditions, the use of supervised details, the adequacy of fees to cover inspections, the deterrent effect of penalties for rules violations, and cost recovery in cases involving damages stemming from failure to comply with regulations.
In July, Donnelly said that someone who is caught welding without a permit would be hit with a $100 fine. "In some ways what we've done is, because we haven't addressed the penalties for so long, we've set up a disincentive," he said.
The bill moves to the House, where it could advance during informal sessions as long as there are not objections. Reps. Nick Collins, D-South Boston, and Jay Livingstone, D-Beacon Hill, co-sponsored Donnelly's bill when he filed it.
The legislation specifies commission membership, allotting one member of the Fire Chiefs' Association of Massachusetts; one member with experience in cutting, welding and hot works trades named by the governor; the House and Senate chairs of the Public Safety Committee or their designees; single members appointed by the House and Senate minority leaders; the state fire marshal or a designee; the chairman of the Board of Fire Prevention Regulations or a designees; the associate commissioner of the vocational workforce and college readiness programs or a designee; and a labor organization official representing pipefitters and chosen by the Mass. AFL-CIO president.
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