How to Protect Your Team Through Effective Job Safety Analysis
Since the pandemic hit our communities and workplaces more than a year ago, the online – and offline – discussion around workplace safety has increased to a steady hum, a constant flow and exchange of old and new information and strategies to keep employees safe. In some of those discussions, you’ve probably heard the acronym Job Safety Analysis (JSA ) pop up in conversation or in work safety articles.
What is a Job Safety Analysis?
As hinted in the article headline, JSA stands for job safety analysis. JSA is a procedure that integrates safety practices and behaviors into a specific work task or project, breaking the work into specific potential safety hazards, and showing the safest way to perform the job by mitigating the identified risks. (Additionally, the analysis can expand to all areas of the job, which is called total job analysis.) What is key in a JSA is that the targeted tasks and jobs are specific and not too broad, making it more likely to be successful in alleviating the safety hazards.
What are the benefits of conducting a Job Safety Analysis?
So why spend the time performing JSAs within your team or at the worksite? Well, the benefits are many including the crucial, top-priority objective of keeping your employees safe and well. JSAs identify previously unknown safety hazards, allowing you to take preemptive action before an accident occurs. Even early on in the JSA process, other benefits will come including increased general awareness and acceptance of health and safety protocols and procedures as well as improved communication between leadership and team members. Additionally, JSA help increases the working knowledge of those participating as well as a model for others in the company.
But even down the road, your JSAs will pay off and continue to benefit the company because it requires steps and documentation that can be used in future work scenarios. This includes training resources for onboarding new staff, or insightful documents that can be referenced when performing future safety inspections or if required, accident reports.
How do you perform a Job Safety Analysis?
How one performs a JSA may vary from team to team, and organization to organization. However, when performing a JSA it is important to observe the worker actually performing the job or tasks. During this process, it will be easier to recognize any hazards, especially has an objective bystander who is not immersed in the work.
Another approach is to create a group of experienced workers and managers who can complete the JSA through focused discussion. The advantages of this method are that the JSA benefits from a wide range and base of experience that can more properly inform how the job can be performed more safely. Another advantage is that any new procedures or changes that result from the JSA will be more readily accepted and understood by the impacted team and the wider organization. This group-oriented, collaborative approach is also a great opportunity to involve members of human resources as well as the health and safety committee if you have one.
How does Job Safety Analysis affect/impact your workers?
Well, it depends on which safety hazards your team is facing. Once you’ve completed the hazard assessment portion of the JSA, a number of work areas such as safety protocols, safety training, PPE, and normal, the daily tasks may be modified if not changed entirely.
While, a thorough JSA can impact the workplace, operations, and the work itself in many ways, it is 100% worth the effort, protecting your team from injury and even death. Additionally, you may find increases in productivity as well as an improved work safety culture.
The 4 important steps of a Job Safety Analysis
According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety [CCOHS], a JSA should include four steps that provide valuable information for your safety program. These steps include:
Selecting the job to be analyzed
Breaking the job down into a sequence of steps
Identifying potential hazards
Determining preventive measures to overcome these hazards
Make sure, you don’t rush through each step and discuss these steps with any team members and managers who can provide insight based on their valuable personal experience.
How do you identify potential hazards?
So how do you identify any potential hazards the team may be facing? It’s a big question that each industry and company may have a different answer for. However, approach this step based on three areas: observations of the job, awareness, and knowledge of potential causes of injuries and accidents, as well as personal experiences which can be particularly valuable.
CCOHS recommends that asking the following questions can help identify potential hazards - this is not an exhaustive list:
Can anybody part get caught in or between objects?
Do tools, machines, or equipment present any hazards?
Can the worker make harmful contact with moving objects?
Can the worker slip, trip, or fall?
Can the worker suffer strain from lifting, pushing, or pulling?
Is the worker exposed to extreme heat or cold?
Is excessive noise or vibration a problem?
Is there a danger from falling objects?
Is lighting a problem?
Can weather conditions affect safety?
Is harmful radiation a possibility?
Can contact be made with hot, toxic, or caustic products?
Are there dust, fumes, mists, or vapors in the air?
How to prioritize jobs/tasks for a Job Safety Analysis
Depending on the size of your company or the complexity of your work, it can be challenging to prioritize which jobs should be analyzed. Harvard University’s Department of Environmental Health, Safety, and Emergency Management recommend looking at five factors to be considered when looking at which work needs a JSA:
Accident frequency and severity: jobs where accidents occur frequently or where they occur infrequently but result in disabling injuries.
Potential for severe injuries or illnesses: the consequences of an accident, hazardous condition, or exposure to harmful substances are potentially severe.
Newly established jobs: due to lack of experience in these jobs, hazards may not be evident or anticipated.
Modified jobs: new hazards may be associated with changes in job procedures.
Infrequently performed jobs: workers may be at greater risk when undertaking non-routine jobs, and a JSA provides a means of reviewing hazards.
If still have any questions about JSAs and how they can help protect your team, please don’t hesitate to contact us. A simpler but just as effective alternative to JSA is a hazard assessment of the workplace and area. The bottom line is that management must be aware of what safety hazards their employees are facing while at work and what can be done to eliminate them.
n summary, effectively analyzing job safety is key to safeguarding your team, especially those working alone. Embrace the power of lone worker safety devices and specialized apps to enhance protection protocols. For more insights, explore our range of solutions, from understanding different work-alone scenarios to the advanced safety monitoring devices we offer. Check out our benefits and flexible pricing plans to tailor our solutions to your needs.
Discover more:
Prioritize your team's safety with our comprehensive safety solutions designed for lone workers.