Hot Work fires fell 9% across England, CE Safety analysis finds

Hot Work fire incidents across England

CE Safety has analysed Office for National Statistics (ONS) records and identified 199 hot work-related fires in non-dwelling buildings across England in 2023/24 and 182 in 2024/25.

The company said the data covers more than 26,000 non-dwelling fire incidents recorded by the ONS across England’s fire and rescue areas over the two financial years.

It reported that hot work fires fell by 9% year on year, and that they accounted for 1.3% of all non-dwelling fires in 2024/25.

Welding and cutting remain dominant

CE Safety said welding or cutting was the source of ignition in 85% of hot work-related fires in 2023/24.

It added that the proportion linked to welding or cutting remained at 85% in 2024/25.

The company said this indicates welding and cutting continued to be the dominant ignition source within the hot work incidents it identified.

Construction settings and casualty counts

CE Safety said 12 hot work fires in 2023/24 occurred in buildings under construction.

It reported that eight incidents in 2024/25 occurred in buildings under construction.

Across both financial years, CE Safety said 32 hot work fires had at least one casualty or fatality at the scene.

It reported that 19 of those incidents were recorded in 2023/24 and 13 were recorded in 2024/25.

Regional proportions and incident totals

CE Safety said Cumbria recorded the highest proportion of hot work fires in 2024/25, accounting for 4.55% of all non-dwelling fires attended in the region.

It said Derbyshire recorded 4.06%, Cornwall & Isles of Scilly recorded 3.85%, North Yorkshire recorded 3.57%, and Hereford and Worcester recorded 3.5%.

CE Safety said London Fire Brigade recorded the highest number of hot work fires in 2024/25, with 14 incidents.

It added that the 14 incidents accounted for 0.81% of all non-dwelling fires in the region.

For 2023/24, CE Safety said the five regions with the highest percentage of hot work fires were Northumberland (4.6%), Hertfordshire (3.98%), Devon & Somerset (3.91%), West Yorkshire (3%) and North Yorkshire (2.93%).

CE Safety comments on oversight and permits

Gary Ellis, Managing Director of CE Safety, comments: “While the number of fires related to hot works don’t contribute to a huge percentage of the total number of fires in England every year, our analysis of data from the ONS still shows that these highly dangerous incidents do still happen consistently every year.

“Although there was a drop in the number of hot work-related fires in 24/25, this drop was only small and there’s still a significant number of them being attended.

“However, these fires should be near enough avoidable.

“There is often a lack of managerial oversight of hot work activities.

“The requirements for a fire risk assessment and hot work permit (HWP) are well known, but in many cases they are generic and treated more like a paper exercise by both the client and the contractor.

“The data we’ve presented here shows that proper practices should always be put in place when conducting hot works, ensuring everyone has had comprehensive fire training to ensure they stay safe.”

What the Hot Work figures mean for controls

The CE Safety analysis identifies welding and cutting as the ignition source in 85% of recorded hot work fires across both 2023/24 and 2024/25.

This points training officers and instructors towards welding and cutting controls, including how hot work permits are applied in practice and who is responsible for oversight.

Risk assessors, facility managers and fire-protection contractors can use the regional percentages to prioritise scrutiny where hot work incidents form a higher share of non-dwelling fires.

The casualty and fatality count attached to 32 incidents across the two years provides a prompt to review whether permit processes, supervision and fire training are being treated as task-specific controls.

The construction figures, covering 12 incidents in buildings under construction in 2023/24 and eight in 2024/25, provide a reference point for site managers planning hot work activity and monitoring.