Has it been a while since you had your oven inspected for fire hazards? Do you perform regular maintenance checks to ensure your oven is in safe working condition?
Regular inspection, testing, and maintenance is required by National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 86: Standard for Ovens and Furnaces. NFPA standards aren’t laws in and of themselves, but many OSHA standards reference NFPA standards. In addition, OSHA can and does use the General Duty Clause to issue citations for failing to meet NFPA requirements.
NFPA 86 Section 7.4 outlines the requirements for oven inspections, testing, and maintenance. In general, the oven manufacturer is responsible for providing instructions for inspection, testing, and maintenance, while the user is responsible for establishing, scheduling, and enforcing the inspection, testing, and maintenance program, as well as any corrective actions.
These are the tests and inspections that must be performed at least annually:
- Testing safety interlocks for function
- Inspecting impulse lines, if applicable
- Verifying set point of temperature, pressure, or flow devices used as safety interlocks
- Testing safety devices
- Calibrating continuous vapor concentration high limit controllers
- Visually inspecting pressure and explosion relief devices to ensure that they are unobstructed and properly labeled
- Valve seat leakage testing of safety shutoff valves and valve proving systems
- Verifying the set point of pressure relief valves
The best way to ensure that your oven passes its annual inspections is through a preventive maintenance program, which involves regular self-inspections by your maintenance staff. The following example maintenance and inspection checklist is a summary based on the one provided in NFPA 86 Annex C.
Note: Different types of equipment require different maintenance programs, so be sure to follow the oven manufacturer’s recommendations when designing and implementing yours.
Example of an oven operational and maintenance checklist
Visual operations checklist
- Check burners, pilots or igniters, air-fuel ratios, and operating temperatures
- Check sight drains or gauges
- Check that burners or pilots, or both, have adequate combustion air
- Check the operation of ventilating equipment
- Check exhaust stacks and chimney caps for obstructions
- Check air filters for combustion or makeup air
Regular shift checklist
To be performed at the start of every shift:
- Check the set point of control instrumentation
- Check positions of hand valves, manual dampers, secondary air openings, and adjustable bypasses
- Check blowers, fans, compressors, and pumps; if V-belt driven, check belt tension and belt fatigue
- Perform lubrication
Periodic checklist
To be performed based on the manufacturer’s recommendations and the requirements of the process:
- Inspect
-
- Flame-sensing devices
- Thermocouples and lead wire
- Burners and pilots
- Air, water, fuel, and impulse line
- Radiant tubes and heat exchanger tubes
- Electrical switches, contacts, or controls
- Check
- Setting and operation of low and high temperature limit devices
- Igniters to verify proper gap
- Pressure switches
- Control valves, dampers, and actuators
- Orifice plates, air-gas mixers, flow indicators, meters, gauges, and pressure indicators
- Ignition cables and transformers
- Operation of modulating controls
- Integrity of and the interior of the equipment, ductwork, and ventilation systems
- Electric heating elements
- Test
- Visual or audible alarm systems
- Interlock sequence of all safety equipment
- Safety shutoff valves and main field manual valves
- Pressure switches
- Instruments for proper response to thermocouple failure
- Pressure relief valves
- Instrumentation
- Flame safeguard units
- Clean
- Air blower filters
- Water, fuel, gas compressors, and pump strainers
- Fire-check screens and valve seats
- Lubricate
- Instrumentation, valve motors, valves, blowers, compressors, pumps, and other components
If you need a professional inspection or replacement parts for your oven, we can help. Contact us to learn more.