A job that seems straightforward can look very different once you watch it being done. For businesses focused on occupational safety in Wichita, KS, a step-by-step job safety analysis (JSA) can turn a routine task into a much clearer safety plan.
A JSA is most useful when it reflects how a job is actually performed. Watch the work to identify potential hazards, and decide how to control them before they cause trouble. That gives you a chance to address problems before someone gets hurt.
Choosing Which Jobs To Analyze
A JSA can be useful for almost any job, but some tasks deserve a closer look than others.
Start with jobs where something has already gone wrong, including near misses. New tasks deserve attention, too, particularly when equipment or procedures have changed. Prioritize tasks that pose a risk of serious injury.
Break the Work Into Steps
Start by breaking the job down into individual steps. Look at what happens from beginning to end rather than treating the entire task as one action.
For example, loading a truck involves more than simply moving a shipment from one place to another. An employee may need to walk through the loading area, handle materials, and operate equipment. Looking at those actions separately makes it easier to spot where something could go wrong.
Understanding the job task breakdown and individual steps is easier when you observe everything in person. Watching an employee perform the task reveals details that may be missed when someone tries to recreate the process from memory. If the written steps don’t match what employees actually do, the JSA won’t be of much help.
Identify Hazards
With the job broken into steps, look closely at each one. What could cause an injury or illness? Some problems will be easy to spot. Others may only become apparent when you consider how the equipment is being used or how employees move through the task.
Employees can be especially helpful here. They may know about a recurring equipment problem or an awkward part of the job that never made it into an incident report. Workers who perform a task regularly often know more about concerns than a casual observer.
Weighing the Risks
Hazard identification is only the first part of the process. Risk assessment asks how likely that hazard is to cause harm and how bad the outcome would be if it did. A minor tripping hazard in a rarely used hallway ranks differently than exposed wiring near a wet floor.
The point isn’t to give every hazard the same priority. Owners need to know which problems deserve attention first.
Choose Control Measures That Make Sense
Now it’s time to decide what will actually reduce the risk.
Start with the control that addresses the hazard most directly. If the hazard can be removed, that’s preferable to asking employees to work around it. When that isn’t practical, other controls, including PPE, may be needed.
Other possible controls include modifying equipment or the workspace through engineering controls and changing procedures, schedules, or training through administrative controls.
PPE still has an important place in workplace protection, but it shouldn’t automatically become the answer to every hazard. Don’t make the safe way of doing a job something employees have to remember on their own. Build the controls into the procedure and document them clearly.
Turn the Analysis Into Safer Work
A single step-by-step job safety analysis is a strong start, but it shouldn’t be completed once and then forgotten. Review it when the job changes or new equipment is introduced. Employees should also have a way to flag concerns and trigger an updated review if they identify a problem with the current procedure.
You can also use the analysis to reinforce relevant safety procedures and make sure employees understand the hazards and controls associated with the task. Worker feedback on occupational health and safety can also reveal when a procedure no longer aligns with what actually happens on the job. Even small changes in a task can introduce a new hazard, so keeping the analysis current helps ensure the recommended controls still fit how the work is actually done.
Build a Stronger Safety Process With Help From WorkSafe
A good step-by-step job safety analysis gives your team a clearer way to spot hazards and address them before an incident. If your Wichita business needs help building or reviewing its safety program, WorkSafe can help. For assistance with safety programs or guidance on workplace safety audits, call us at (316) 262-8800.