Do you feel safe at work? If the answer is no, you’re not alone. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), about 2.9 million workers are injured on the job every year. That’s more than 7,500 injuries per day! Job safety analysis is the perfect solution to help you and your employees feel safer at work. At the same time, creating job safety analysis templates help streamline the process and ensure that nothing is missed.
This article will discuss what job safety analysis is and why you should implement one for your work!
What is Job Safety Analysis?
Job Safety Analysis (JSA)—also known as job hazard analysis (JHA) or a task hazard analysis (THA)—is a process that identifies job tasks, analyzes them for hazards, and then develops solutions that will help mitigate the risks associated with those hazards. It usually involves breaking the job down into smaller tasks and observing the worker performing the job.
Why is Job Safety Analysis Important?
A Job Safety Analysis is essential because it allows you to identify potential hazards in the workplace and determine what control measures are necessary to eliminate or reduce those hazards. By conducting a JSA, you can improve safety in the workplace by implementing specific safety protocols for each job.
Dangerous jobs benefit the most from a Job Safety Analysis because it helps identify potential hazards and determines what control measures are necessary.
Most Dangerous Jobs in the US
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics conducts a workplace fatality census. The most recent census, from 2020, identified the following as the top ten most dangerous jobs in America:
- Logging workers
- Fishers and related fishing workers
- Pilots and flight engineers
- Roofers
- Refuse and recyclable material collectors
- Structural iron and steelworkers
- Driver/sales workers and truck drivers
- Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
- Construction laborers
- Supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping
How to Conduct a Job Safety Analysis
A proper JSA template is used when conducting a Job Safety Analysis procedure to create a job safety and recommendations report. To get started with Job Safety Analysis, follow the four steps outlined below:
Step 1: Choose the Right Job
The job you select for your JSA should be hazardous or has the potential to be hazardous. You should also select a job representative of other jobs in the same workgroup or department.
Choose the following Jobs:
- Jobs that have high accident frequency and one that results in serious injuries.
- Jobs that have exposure to harmful and hazardous products.
- Newly established jobs feature workers with a lack of experience and where hazards may not be anticipated.
- Rarely performed jobs or non-routine jobs that put workers at great risks.
- Modified jobs because of changes in procedures.
Step 2: Break Down a Job Into Smaller Steps
The next step is to break the job down into smaller steps. List all of the steps necessary to complete the job, no matter how small. This will help you to identify potential hazards more easily.
Here are some tips to follow:
- Don’t be too general or too detailed.
- Include all steps necessary to complete the job, no matter how small.
- Only use regular equipment and tools
- Identify any tasks that more than one worker performs.
Step 3: Identify Potential Hazards
Once you have broken the job down into smaller steps, you can start to identify potential hazards. First, ask yourself what could go wrong and then what could cause an injury for each step. When identifying hazards, always ask the right questions:
- Firstly, Is the worker at risk of being struck by something?
- Secondly, Is the worker at risk of being caught in between two objects?
- Thirdly, Is the worker at risk of being exposed to harmful chemicals or substances?
- Fourthly, Is the worker at risk of being exposed to excessive noise levels?
- Fifthly, Is the worker at risk of slipping, tripping, or falling?
- Lastly, Is the worker at risk of being electrocuted?
Step 4: Set Preventive Measures
Now that you have identified the potential hazards of the job, you can set preventive measures to eliminate or reduce those hazards. First, ask yourself what can be done to prevent it from happening for each hazard. When setting preventive measures, always consider the following:
- Elimination: Is there a way to eliminate the hazard completely?
- Substitution: Is there a way to substitute the hazard for something less dangerous?
- Engineering Controls: Is there a way to control the hazard using engineering means?
- Administrative Controls: Is there a way to control the hazard using administrative means?
- Personal Protective Equipment: Is there a way to protect the worker from the hazard using personal protective equipment?
What to Include in Your JSA Template
A JSA template consists of the following section:
- Job task being assessed: the safety officer or supervisor will describe the job and task being assessed.
- Potential hazards: In this section, the safety officer or supervisor will identify and list all potential hazards associated with assessing the job task.
- Control measures: once potential hazards have been identified, the safety officer or supervisor will list all control measures necessary to eliminate or mitigate those hazards.
- Recommendations: finally, the safety officer or supervisor will make any recommendations for improving the safety of the job task being assessed.
Why Use DATAMYTE?
If you’re looking to execute Job Safety Analysis in your workplace, you may consider using DATAMYTE. DATAMYTE is a quality management platform that offers software and tools that will help you create a job safety analysis template and streamline JSAs in your workplace.
With DATAMYTE, you get access to the following tools and software:
- Digital Clipboard: turn data into actionable results with this intuitive software that makes job safety analysis faster, easier, and more convenient.
- Escalate: address defects in your jobs safety analysis procedure and improve job safety in your workplace with this escalation management tool.
- DataMetrics: Accelerate performance and productivity with this data analytics tool that helps you track progress and identify areas for improvement.
- QPS: the DataMyte Quality Planning Studio helps plan, monitor, and implement job safety analysis in your workplace with ease.
- And much more!
DATAMYTE offers a comprehensive solution for job safety analysis that will help you streamline the process and improve job safety in your workplace. To learn more about how DATAMYTE can help, visit our website or contact us today.
Conclusion
By following these steps and including all of this information in your JSA template, you can be sure that you are conducting an effective job safety analysis. Then by conducting an effective job safety analysis, you can help keep your workplace safe. So what are you waiting for? Start implementing job safety analysis in your workplace today!
