Job Safety Analysis

Do you have list of questions about Job Safety Analysis (JSA) as follow:

1. What is Job Safety Analysis (JSA)?
2. What kind of job that needed to perform JSA? 
3. Why we have to perform JSA?
4. What are the benefits of JSA performing?
5. How to perform JSA?
6. How we get an effective JSA?

I hope this article can answers all above questions and give understanding about JSA.

Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is a structured approach for identifying potential hazards in a job and devising corrective steps. JSA usually perform when we will commence a job that has significant potential hazard or job with accident experience. For examples; construction job such as; welding, grinding, lifting; excavation job, working at height, piling, working with energy source, and etc. Perform JSA will help the workers to recognize potential hazards around them and develop the hazards mitigation.

Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is a good way to increase safety awareness and achieve sustainable improvements in safety performance. Completed JSA offer these benefits:

1. Give a common understanding to everyone about what it takes to do the job safely
2. Effective training tool for new employees
3. Key elements can be used to pre-job briefings, safety observations, and as safety meeting topics
4. Assist in writing safety procedures for new or modified jobs
5. Effective tool for planning jobs that are performed infrequently

Performing Job Safety Analysis (JSA) involves five phase.

1. Selecting scope of job
2. Forming the JSA Team
3. Breaking down the job into steps
4. Identifying potential hazards
5. Developing solution

Selecting scope of Job

When performing JSA, a job is a sequence of steps or activities to complete the work. Avoid selecting broad scope of job for a JSA such as; drilling wells or shut down on operation. A huge scope of job will result long steps to complete the work and make the JSA ineffective. And avoid selecting narrow scope of job too such as; turning on switch. JSA is not effective applied in tight scope of job.

Forming JSA Team

Job Safety Analysis (JSA) shall be performed by Team not an individually. Because we need to capture all potential hazards around of us, we need develop mitigation plan, and we need a people who have experiences with the job. People performing JSA should: be experienced and knowledgeable about the job; have credibility with the work group; and understand the JSA process. Other important traits are being supportive, non-judgmental, willing to listen ideas, and persistent in finding solutions to bring about a safe workplace. 

Breaking Down the job

Before searching the potential hazards, the job is broken down into a sequence of steps; each describing what is being down. There is a balance between too much detail, which results too many steps and causes the basic steps of job would not recorded. Generally, 15 steps are the maximum for an effective JSA.

Describe each step on the JSA form. Each step tells what is done, not how. The description for each step should begin with an action word and completed by naming the item to which the action applies. Example, Remove extinguisher, Get out of car, etc. 

Identifying Potential Hazards

This step commences with search all potential and existing hazards in each step of job. Look at physical conditions (chemicals, tools, work space, etc.), environmental factors (heat, cold, noise, lighting, etc.), and actions or behaviors (need to stand on a slippery or unstable surface, extended reach to operate a valve, lifting bulky objects). 

Close observation and knowledge of the particular job are required to get an effective JSA. The job observation should be repeated as often as necessary until all hazards and potential accidents have been identified. 

Developing Solutions

The final step in perform JSA is develop recommendation to eliminate and/or mitigate the potential hazards on each step of job. The principal solutions are:

1. Change the physical condition that create the hazards
2. Change the work procedure
3. Reduce the frequency 
4. Find a completely new way to do the job

The solutions must describe what to do not how. Avoid using specific precaution, such as, “be alert”, “use caution”, or “be careful” are too general.

That is all my knowledge pertaining Job Safety Analysis (JSA). Finally, please submit your comment about this article to share your experiences and knowledge.