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ISHN JUNE 2015 www.ishn.com B y CLARE EPSTEIN A Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is an important tool that EHS professionals can use to iden- tify and mitigate hazards associated with dif- ficult tasks or job sites. During a JSA, EHS professionals will identify any potential hazards that accompany each step of a task and will evaluate these hazards’ risks based on two factors: the probability of the hazard occurring and its severity. After completing this risk assessment, safety professionals can ensure that the appropriate mea- sures are taken to prevent the hazards from occurring. This article discusses how conducting JSAs can help you identify previously undetected risks and promote a culture of safe work procedures. It will also explore the ways in which safety management software can assist safety professionals with their job safety analyses. Why conduct JSAs?
JSAs offer many benefits to both employers and workers. When a JSA is performed correctly, it can be an effective accident prevention tool that increases work- place safety and productivity and reduces workplace injuries, accidents and workers’ compensation claims. Sharing the results of a JSA with employees helps to create a work environment in which employees have the information they need to do their jobs in a safe manner. The JSA process plans out the steps of a job so that all workers involved know when to per- form their assigned tasks, as well as the proper pro- cedures, tools and PPE to use. As a result, JSAs can help reduce the completion time of a project. In addition, sharing and discussing the findings of a JSA as a team can encourage better communication among workers, supervisors and safety professionals. Because JSAs reinforce proper health and safety pro- cedures, they also allow more experienced employees to maintain their safety awareness and help prevent seasoned workers from becoming complacent.
For new employees, a JSA can serve as a helpful teaching resource during the initial job training pro- cess and can be used to brief workers on proper pro- cedures for jobs that will be done infrequently. Overall, job safety analyses are an excellent tool that organizations can leverage to continually improve standard procedures and promote safe and smooth operations. What are the steps of a JSA?
Selecting a job or task to analyze is the first step of the JSA process. Best safety practices recommend you conduct JSAs for high-risk tasks in which acci- dents occur frequently. However, JSAs can also be conducted for jobs that are done infrequently, or for CIRCLE 261 FOR FREE INFO Job Safety Analyses evaluate risk probability & severity software 80 Plan your jobs step-by-step ULTIMATE FIT & COMFORT.
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Once you select a task to analyze, break the task into a series of sequential steps. To do this, safety specialists will often observe an employee completing the task as it is normally carried out, and will check with the employee to ensure that they have recorded the basic steps of the task accurately. After you confirm that the task’s steps have been represented correctly, they will list any haz - ards that could occur during each of the steps. Using a tool called a risk matrix, you can then determine each hazard’s risk by evaluating the likelihood that the hazard will occur, and its severity. Within the risk matrix, each prob - ability and severity level is weighted with a set number of points. Once severity and probabil - ity levels are determined for a potential haz- ard, the two values’ points are then multiplied together to produce the hazard’s risk level. For example, a serious risk level will be cal - culated for a hazard that has been determined to have a likely level of probability and a moderate severity, while a low risk level will be calculated for a hazard that has been determined to have a minor severity and a rare chance of occurring. After the risk assessment process is com - plete, your next step is to set controls to elimi- nate or reduce hazards to acceptable risk levels.
The JSA then moves to the review process, so that workers, supervisors and safety profes - sionals may provide feedback before the results of the JSA are disseminated to all employees who will be performing the task. How can safety management software help?
Safety management software offers features to streamline and enhance the JSA reporting process, allowing safety managers to upload supporting documents (including photographs) to a JSA checklist, export JSA data to other applications, or monitor job safety analysis metrics across several locations or regions.With features such as auto-fill capabilities to ease the data entry process and tools such as customiz - able risk matrices to assist you with your risk assessments, investing in safety management software can help speed up the JSA recording process, saving time and energy. In addition to reducing administrative pro - cesses, safety manage- ment software also allows organizations to push deeper into their JSA data to discover pow - erful analytics in minutes. For example, to con - firm that JSAs are being conducted in a timely manner, you can use safety software’s analytic tools to quickly deter - mine the percentage of JSAs that are overdue for review, and you can easily drill down to view JSA hazards by source, department, area and more. Need to know the most common type of hazard identified during your organization’s JSAs? Safety management software can tell you.
Safety management software also allows for detailed follow-up across an organization. Email noti - fications can be scheduled to alert key team members of JSAs that have recently been created, or JSAs that are ready for review. Work procedures adapt over time, so it’s extremely helpful that safety management technology can facilitate reminders so that safety managers may regularly review JSA and confirm that previously conducted JSAs are still valid today. By reviewing JSAs on a regular basis and taking advantage of the valuable tools offered by safety man - agement software, you can establish an ongoing com- mitment to improving safe business practices. Clare Epstein is a Vice President of TRA, Inc. and oversees IndustrySafe Safety Management Software. Numerous organizations throughout the U.S. utilize IndustrySafe Safety Software to conduct JSAs and analyze their findings. CIRCLE 262 for free info Chart displaying JSAs by Status Source: IndustrySafe, a Product of TRA, Inc. Example of a Risk Matrix Source: IndustrySafe, a Product of TRA, Inc.
Example of a JSA report Source: IndustrySafe, a Product of TRA, Inc. ULTIMATE FIT & COMFORT.
REUSABLE. INDISPENSABLE. Find the one that’s right for you sure re.com/hearingprotection-ISHN THE WORLD’S ULTIMATE HEARING PROTECTION\f Shown: EP3 Sonic Defenders ® & SureFire Minimus ™ headlamp. Sonic Defenders ®—which feature patented, secure-f tting EarLock ® retention rings—are simply the most advanced, comfortable, and longes\ t-lasting earplugs. They are molded from a soft, hypoallergenic polymer that provi\ des all-day comfort. There are f ltered and full-block models to f t your work site needs. And Sonic Defenders last for months, so they’ll actually save \ you money.
Safeguard your hearing with the ultimate protection. Colors: clear, orange, and black. Blue only available for metal-infused EP8 & EP9 ear\ plugs.
EP4 EP5EP7EP\b EP9 EP10NEW NRR 24 to 30 dB(depending on model) ¼ FILTERED or FULL-BLOCKFiltered models (with caps open) allow hearing of conversations. Full-block models maximize protection.
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