According to the U.S. Department Of Labor, more than 99 people were killed weekly on the job in 2016.
Who knew that the workplace could also be a dangerous place? Incorporating safety with into daily work routines is something that will help lower this statistic.
Looking to improve safety in the workplace?
Keep reading to learn how a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) will help your business.
First things first: What exactly is a JSA? This is a process that is used to help identify the dangers of specific tasks or job operations and recommend the best way to do the job.
According to OSHA, a Job Safety Analysis is likely to result in fewer injuries and illnesses. The JSA is a great method to clearly outline now only safe work possesses but also do it efficiently. Every job within a company will benefit from completing a JSA.
Completing the JSA itself is not extremely complicated but understanding the job that is being subjected to the Job Safety Analysis is important. The more the job is understood the clearer the JSA is.
Here are a few benefits that the JSA provides:
1) Prevents Hazardous Conditions
This is also its main purpose; preventing accidents. OSHA gives a good starting place but the regulations they set in place don’t address every single potential hazard for your business.
Preventing accidents is good for both your employees and your business. Whenever there is an accident or an employee gets sick they have to be replaced temporarily by someones to cover their job. This means either extra expenses for your business and/or even cutting into your profits.
2) Meets Safety Standards
It is important to comply with safety regulations in order to protect your company from any legal penalties. With this in mind, a wide range of quality HSE and BS approved first aid products suitable for various workplace environments are linked here. One of the most frequent standard violations OSHA reports is Hazard communication. Completing a Job Safety Analysis ensures that your business is meeting the standards that OSHA has laid out for the workforce.
3) Creates A Visual Aid
Completing a JSA helps creates visual teaching aids. Since humans are so visual this is a great tool to have for new employees when they are going through training. It is also helpful for current employees that need a refresher with an exact breakdown of the steps that are required for a specific job.
4) Identifies Previous Undetected Hazards
When an employee is used to doing their job day in and day out they might not realize the hazards they deal with daily. Doing the JSA brings those undetected hazards to light. Identifying these hazards is not only beneficial to the current employees, and employer but also new employees joining the team.
5) Improves Communication
When completing a Job Safety Analysis there is a lot of communication between different levels within the company. Supervisors have to come together with experienced workers, and members if the health and safety committee to complete an analysis of the job through a group discussion.
6) Improves New Hire Orientation
Having a JSA done for every position within a company makes training a new employee much easier because there is a clear system in place. This in turn also increases a new employees job performance because they are thoroughly trained right from the start when it comes to safety in their new position.
How Can You Make the Job Safety Analysis Process Easier?
Making the JSA process easier and more effective is possible thanks to the JSABuilder. The JSABuilder has lists and questions or existing and potential workplace hazards to make it easier to create a Job Safety Analysis for each job within your company.
It also gives you access to the most common hazards and controls to help your company know what to look for. A huge difference between a desktop based JSA software and the JSABuilder is that it can be accessed from anywhere and from any computer. It also has the ability to add multiple users.
Many companies don’t think about the costs associated with accidents. These costs can add up quickly which is why a JSA like mentioned before is beneficial to the company.
6 Steps to Consider When Conducting a JSA:
1) Select the job that will be analyzed. Prioritize the jobs based on which jobs have a higher hazard level.
2) Break down the job into steps. Taking pictures or a video of the process will make this step easier to complete.
3) Ask the 5 Ws with every step of the JSA process (Who, What, When, Where, and Why) to identify the potential hazards.
4) Discuss the steps with the workers doing the job to make sure every step is covered.
5) Determine the ways to reduce or eliminate the hazards.
6) Review the Job Safety Analysis with the workers performing the job to go over the details and make sure everything is accurate.
Getting into a routine at work is very common for employees and although it’s not necessarily a bad thing this is usually when injury incidents rise. Maintaining a little bit of caution at all times helps employees avoid possible hazards.
If your business has been around for a while and you have not updated your JSA this is a potential hazard. Helping employees stay safe while they are on the job is a huge role in any business.
If you choose to have peace of mind with the JSABuilder they offer a 30-day risk-free trial. This trial is 100% free and you don’t even have to put any credit card information. The end results of your Job Safety Analysis will result in a number of benefits including:
- A high-quality document
- Consistency with the companies worksheets
- It’s standardized with OSHA requirements
Final Stage of the JSA:
The final JSA step is figuring out how to eliminate or control the hazards identified during the analysis of the job. The hazards can be taken care of several different ways:
1) Elimination
The most effective way to deal with the potential hazard is completing eliminating it by either:
- Choosing a different process
- Changing equipment to complete the job
- Substituting with less hazardous equipment
2) Containing
When eliminating the hazard is not an option containing the hazard might be best. Consider different ways to contain the hazard such as using different equipment, or using enclosures. Keep in mind this can vary greatly because it completely depends on the specific job being analyzed.
3) Revision
When the hazardous steps are identified revising the steps is an option. Revision can mean changing the steps already set up, adding more steps or removing old steps that are no longer relevant or working.
4) Reduce Exposure
This is the least effective method when taking care of the hazards that are found. It’s the last resort when dealing with the identified hazards. To reduce exposure the number of times the hazard is encountered can be minimized.
What Are the Best Jobs for the Job Safety Analysis?
Although any job can have one and it’s recommended to have one for each job in your business the following job types should have a higher priority:
- Jobs with higher injury and/or illness rates
- Jobs where one small human error can lead to a severe injury
- Jobs that can cause severe injuries
- Jobs that are new positions within the company
- Jobs that require written step-by-step instructions because of their complexity
Using the findings from the job safety analysis to eliminate and/or prevent potential hazards in the workplace is a morale booster for the entire company. Although many workers are killed or injured every day in the United States establishing proper job procedures will prevent not only injuries but also illnesses.
The JSA has to also be available for workers to easily access to make sure they know the hazards associated with their jobs. They should be able to easily learn the preventative measures needed to complete their jobs safely.
It’s smart for a business to take precaution and archive every job safety analysis created in order to prevent any liabilities in the future.
Trying out the JSABuilder is totally worth it with the 30-day free trial. During that trial, a business can create several job safety analysis to see if the program is a good fit for the company. Consider using the JSABuilder to make the job safety analysis as effective as possible. Don’t forget that having better processes in place via the Job Safety Analysis will make a safer workplace, improve production, and raise morale in the workplace.
Finding Yourself Struggling with Integrating Safety?
It’s impossible to completely eliminate every potential hazard but setting up a JSA for each job in your business will allow you to keep focusing on your companies performance.
