(1) You must ensure that before welding, cutting, or heating is commenced on any surface covered by a preservative coating whose flammability is not known, a test is made by a competent person to determine its flammability. You must consider preservative coatings to be highly flammable when scrapings burn with extreme rapidity.

(2) You must ensure that precautions are taken to prevent ignition of highly flammable hardened preservative coatings. When coatings are determined to be highly flammable, you must strip them from the area to be heated to prevent ignition.

(3) Protection against toxic preservative coatings:

(a) In enclosed spaces, you must strip all surfaces covered with toxic preservatives of all toxic coatings for a distance of at least 4 inches from the area of heat application, or you must protect the employees by air line respirators, meeting the requirements specified in these rules for this type of work.

(b) In the open air, you must protect employees by a respirator, suitable for the type of work being done.

(4) You must ensure that the preservative coatings are removed a sufficient distance from the area to be heated to ensure that the temperature of the unstripped metal will not be appreciably raised. Artificial cooling of the metal surrounding the heating area may be used to limit the size of the area required to be cleaned.