Tuesday, September 5, 2017

By Helen Watson


Job safety analysis is often referred to as JSA. Job safety analysis procedures are sometimes called JHA or Job Handling Analysis, JSEA or Job Safety Environment Analysis, Job Hazard Breakdown, Task or Job Risk Assessment, etc. Depending on your area of work.

Whatever your company calls it, JSA is an important part of a safety program for preventing workplace accidents. It is about critically looking at every step of the specific job to identify, assess, and document hazards and safe work practices. It is to help make sure the appropriate controls are in place so that the job is done safely.

The effectiveness of a JSA can vary greatly depending on the knowledge of the people completing it and the quality of the JSA procedures. It is possible to get trained in order to improve the quality and consistency of JSA at your work place.

It is important to understand that it is not the JSA form that will keep people safe on the job, but the procedures you go through to develop the JSA. It is of less value to be able to see hazards and device controls if important hazards are missed. Always ensure controls are appropriate, requirements are communicated, and controls are put in place and maintained.

The JSA is not just a piece of paper with written instructions on how a task is to be completed. If it is created well and used as it is supposed to, it is a wonderful tool. However, if a JSA is created poorly, it would not be able to prevent any injury, but may become a hazard.

A poor JSA paints the picture that all the needed controls are in place and for that matter the job would be carried out safely. For this reason, members in the team may relax, not be too cautious, and would be caught in the trap of uncontrolled and unidentified hazards that are lurking around.

JSA must be conducted by a group that is familiar with the job. The group must include those who are familiar with the task, crew members who are going to carry out that task and possibly the supervisor or any other specialist. There should be a team leader who would be charged with the responsibility of ensuring the appropriate JSA process is followed.

The team leader should be competent in developing, facilitating and writing JSAs. The team leader does not necessarily have to be familiar with the task under analysis if the selected team members are. The team should involve those who are doing the job and not those who happen to be available at the time.

By involving a team of people who are competent in the job and involved in the job, the likelihood of missing a step or hazard is decreased and the likelihood of efficient and effective controls increased. Workers who do the job regularly will have valuable job insight such as unsafe shortcuts, or ways to get around protective devices.

If possible, all employees who will be involved in the job should contribute to the development of the JSA. This is an effective way of encouraging employees to participate in hazard identification and risk control. It also builds a culture of understanding and compliance with the rules.




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