Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) All boilers subject to these orders shall be under the direct supervision of a responsible person. Such person shall be responsible for:
(1) Safe operation of the boiler by a competent attendant.
(2) Proper maintenance of the boiler and its appurtenances.
(b) While in operation, no fired boiler subject to these orders [except those boilers exempted from annual inspection by Order 771 that are automatically controlled and oil field recovery heaters complying with subsection (d)] shall be left unattended for a period of time longer than it will take the water level to drop from the normal operating level to the lowest permissible water level in the water gage glass--or indicated by indicating devices or recorders--when the feedwater is shut off and the boilers are forced to their maximum capacity unless all of the following are complied with:
(1) The boiler is equipped with an audible alarm that will operate when the water reaches the highest and lowest permissible operating level, or, for boilers having no fixed steam or water line, when the highest permissible operating temperature is reached.
(2) The audible alarm shall be sufficiently loud that it can be plainly heard by the attendant, without the use of an auxiliary paging system, at any point in any area that the attendant is required to work. He must be close enough to the boiler room so that he can safely respond to the alarm. The response time is that period of time that it takes the water level to go from the level at which the low level alarm sounds down to the lowest permissible water level of the boiler. The high water level alarm must be set so that the attendant will have time to respond before there will be carryover from the boiler.
(3) The boiler is equipped with a low water safety device that will shut off the fuel to the burner or burners when the water reaches the lowest permissible operating level, or, for boilers having no fixed steam or water line, when the highest permissible operating temperature is reached. This device shall require manual resetting unless the pilot is equipped with a full safety pilot control.
(4) The attendant shall personally check the operation of the boiler, the necessary auxiliaries and the water level in the boiler at such intervals as are necessary to insure the safe operation of the boiler; provided, however, that the maximum interval the boiler and its auxiliaries can be left without checking shall not exceed 60 minutes. The operation of the automatic controls shall be checked at the beginning of each shift. It is the intent of this Section to prohibit the use of time clocks to control the operation of fired boilers covered under this subsection 781(b).
(5) All float chambers of automatic controls shall be dismantled for inspection at the annual boiler inspection.
(c) The competent attendant shall be a person who is familiar with the boiler and who has been properly instructed in its safe operation.
The recommended minimum standards to be used by the employer to determine the competency of an attendant are:
(1) He shall be able to explain the function and operation of all controls on the boiler or boilers.
(2) He shall be able to light off the boiler or boilers in a safe manner.
(3) He shall know all possible methods of feeding water to the boiler or boilers.
(4) He shall know how to blow down the boiler or boilers in a safe manner.
(5) He shall know what would happen if the water was permitted to drop below the lowest permissible operating level.
(6) He shall know what would happen if the water in the boiler was carried too high.
(7) He shall know how to shut down the boiler or boilers.
(d) An oil field recovery heater designed for automatic operation shall be checked by a competent attendant at least once every 24 hours while in operation to determine that the heater is operating safely within the set operating conditions and provided that each of the following are complied with:
(1) The heater is equipped with automatic safety shutdown devices for each of the following conditions:
(A) Excessive tube skin or steam temperature
(B) Excessive steam pressure
(C) Flame failure
(D) Inadequate combustion air
(2) Within intervals not to exceed every 60 days of operation of the heater, the following inspection checks shall be performed by a person familiar with the equipment and who has been properly instructed in making such checks:
(A) Each safety shutdown device shall be tested for proper operation.
(B) All external piping and wiring shall be visually checked for obvious defects.
(C) All indicating gages shall be checked for proper calibration. Equipment defects found in (A), (B), or (C) above shall be corrected before continuing the boiler in service.
(3) At the time of the annual inspection of the heater and its accessory equipment, all automatic operating controls and automatic safety shutdown devices which are not failsafe shall be serviced as necessary to assure their continued reliability to include:
(A) Replace vacuum tubes and check sensing devices in the flame-failure system and replace if not operating properly.
(B) Test all coils, diaphragms, and other operating parts of all safety shutdown and operating control valves. Such servicing shall be done by a person familiar with such controls and devices and who has been properly instructed in their servicing.
(4) A record shall be kept of the inspection and maintenance operations required by (2) and (3) above and this record shall be available to the certified inspector at the time of the annual inspection.
1. Amendment filed 12-17-65; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 65, No. 24).
2. Amendment filed 11-2-66; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 66, No. 38). Approved by State Building Standards Commission.
3. Amendment of subsection (b)(2) filed 12-31-74; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 75, No. 1).
Note: Authority cited: Sections 6312, 6500 and 6502, Labor Code.
