JobSafetyAnalaysis(JSA):

A JOB

s afety analysis(JSA)isaprocedurewhichhelpsintegrateacceptedsafety

andhealthprinciplesandpracticesintoaparticulartaskor JOB operation.InaJSA,

eachbas ic stepofthejobistoidentify potentialhazardsandtorecommendthes afes t
way todothejob.Othertermsusedtodescribethisprocedurearejobhazardanalys is
(JHA)andjobhazardbreakdown.
Someindiv idualsprefertoexpandtheanalysisintoallaspects
ofthejob,notjustsafety.Thisapproachis knownastotaljob
analy s is .Methodologyisbasedontheideathatsafetyisan
integralpartofeveryjobandnotaseparateentity.Inthis
document,only healthandsafetyaspec tswillbeconsidered.
Theterms"job"and"task"arecommonlyusedinterchangeably
tomeanas pec ificworkassignment,suchas"operatingagrinder,""usingapres s urized
waterex tinguis her,"or"changingaflattire."JSAsarenotsuitablefor JOBS defined
toobroadly ,forexample,"overhaulinganengine"ortoonarrowly,forexample,
"pos itioningc arjack."

BenefitsofdoingaJobSafetyAnalysis:
Oneofthemethodsusedinthisexampleistoobserveaworkeractuallyperformthe
JOB .Themajoradvantagesofthismethodincludethatitdoesnotrelyonindiv idual
memory andthattheprocesspromptsrec ognitionofhazards.Forinfrequently
performedor NEWJOBS

,observationmaynotbepractical.

Oneapproac histohaveagroupofexperiencedworkersandsupervisorscompletethe
analy s is throughdiscussion.Anadvantageofthismethodisthatmorepeopleare
inv olv edinawiderbaseofexperienceandpromotingamorereadyacceptanceofthe
res ultingworkprocedure.Membersofthejointoccupationalsafetyandhealth
c ommitteemus tparticipateinthisproc es s.
Initialbenefits fromdevelopingaJSAwillbecomeclearinthepreparationstage.The
analy s is proc es smayidentifypreviouslyundetectedhazardsandincreasethe JOB
knowledgeofthoseparticipating.Safetyandhealthawarenessisraised,
COMMUNICATION betweenworkersandsupervisorsisimproved,andacceptanc e
ofs afework proceduresispromoted.
AJSA,orbetterstill,awrittenworkprocedurebasedonit,canformthebasisfor
regularc ontac tbetweensupervisorsandworkers.Itcanserveasateachingaidfor
initialjobtrainingandasabriefingguideforinfrequent JOBS .Itmaybeusedasa
s tandardforhealthandsafetyinspectionsorobservations.Inparticular,aJSAwill
as sis tinc ompletingcomprehensiveacc identinvestigations.

Fourbasicsteps:
Fourbas ic s tagesinconductingaJSAare:
s elec tingthejobtobeanalyzed.
break ingthejobdownintoasequenceofsteps.
identify ingpotentialhazards.
determiningpreventivemeasurestoovercome
thes ehaz ards.

Importanttoknowwhen"selectingthe
job"?
Ideally ,alljobs shouldbesubjectedtoaJSA.Insomecasestherearepractical
c onstraints posedbytheamountoftimeandeffortrequiredtodoaJSA.Another
c onsiderationis thateachJSAwill REQUIRE revisionwheneverequipment,raw
materials ,proc esses,ortheenvironmentc hange.Forthesereasons,itisusually
neces s ary toidentifywhichjobsaretobeanalyzed.Evenifanalysisofalljobsis
planned,thiss tepensuresthatthemostcriticaljobsareexaminedfirst.
Fac tors tobec onsideredinsettingapriorityforanalysisofjobsinclude:
Ac c identfrequencyandseverity:jobswhereaccidentsoccurfrequentlyorwhere
they occ urinfrequentlybutresultindisablinginjuries.
Potentialforsevereinjuriesorillnesses:theconsequencesofanaccident,
haz ardous condition,orexposuretoharmfulsubstancearepotentiallysevere.
Newly es tablishedjobs:duetolackofexperienceinthesejobs,hazardsmay not
beev identoranticipated.
Modifiedjobs:newhazardsmaybeassociatedwithchangesinjobprocedures .
Infrequently performedjobs:workersmaybeatgreaterriskwhenundertakingnon
routinejobs ,andaJSAprovidesameans ofreviewinghazards.

HowdoIbreakthejobinto"basicsteps"?
Afterajobhasbeenchosenforanaly sis,thenextstageistobreakthejobinto
s teps .Ajobstepisdefinedasasegmentoftheoperationnecessarytoadv anc e
thework .Seeexamplesbelow.
Caremus tbetakennottomakethestepstoogeneral.Missingspecificsteps and
theiras sociatedhazardswillnothelp.Ontheotherhand,iftheyaretoodetailed,
therewillbetoomanysteps.Aruleofthumbisthatmostjobscanbedescribedin
les s thantensteps.Ifmorestepsarerequired,youmightwanttodividethejob
intotwos egments,eachwithitss eparateJSA,orcombinestepswhere
appropriate.Asanexample,thejobofchangingaflattirewillbeusedinthis

doc ument.
Animportantpointtorememberistokeepthe
s teps intheircorrectsequence.Any stepwhichis
outofordermaymissseriouspotentialhazardsor
introduc ehazardswhichdonotac tuallyexist.
Eac hs tepisrecordedinsequence.Makenotes
aboutwhatisdoneratherthanhowitisdone.Each
itemis s tartedwithanactionverb.AppendixA
illus trates aformatwhichcanbeusedasa
work sheetinpreparingaJSA.Jobs tepsarerecordedinthelefthandcolumn,as
s hownbelow:

This partoftheanalysisisusually preparedbyknowingorwatchingaworkerdo

thejob.Theobs erverisnormallytheimmediatesupervisor.Foramorethorough
analy s is oftenhappensbyhavinganotherperson,preferablyamemberofthejoint
occ upationalhealthandsafetycommittee,participateintheobservation.Key
pointsarelesslikelytobemissedinthisway.
Thejobobservershouldhaveexperiencedandbecapableinallpartsofthejob.
Tostrengthenfullcooperationandparticipation,thereasonfortheexercis emust
bec learly explained.TheJSAisneitheratimeandmotionstudyindisguise,nor
anattempttouncoverindividualunsafeacts.Thejob,nottheindividual,isbeing
s tudiedinanefforttomakeitsaferbyidentifyinghazardsandmaking
modific ationstoeliminateorreducethem.Theworker'sexperiencecontributes in
mak ingjobandsafetyimprovements.
Thejobs houldbeobservedduringnormaltimesandsituations.Forexample,ifa
jobis routinelydoneonlyatnight,theJSAreviewshouldalsobedoneatnight.
Similarly ,onlyregulartoolsandequipmentshouldbeused.Theonlydifference
fromnormaloperationsisthefactthattheworkerisbeingobserved.
Whenc ompleted,thebreakdownofstepsshouldbediscussedbyallthe
partic ipants(alwaysincludingtheworker)tomakethatallbasicstepshavebeen
notedandareinthecorrectorder.

Identifypotentialhazard:
Onc ethebas ic stepshavebeenrecorded,potentialhazardsmustbeidentifiedateac h
s tep.Bas edonobservationsofthejob,k nowledgeofaccidentandinjurycauses ,and
pers onalex perience,listthethingsthatcouldgowrongateachstep.
Asecondobs ervationofthejobbeingperformedmaybeneeded.Sincethebasic steps
havealready beenrecorded,moreattentioncannowbefocusedoneachpotential
hazards .Atthis stage,noattemptismadetosolveanyproblemswhichmayhav ebeen
detec ted.
Tohelpidentify potentialhazards,thejobanalystmayusequestionssuchasthese(
thisis notac ompletelist):
Canany bodypartgetcaughtinorbetweenobjects?
Dotools ,machines,orequipmentpresentany
haz ards ?
Cantheworkermakeharmfulcontac twithmoving
objec ts ?
Cantheworkerslip,trip,orfall?
Canthework ersufferstrainfromlifting,pushing,or
pulling?
Is theworkerexposedtoextremeheatorcold?
Is ex c es s ivenoiseorvibrationaproblem?
Is thereadangerfromfallingobjects?
Is lightingaproblem?
Canweatherconditionsaffectsafety?
Is harmfulradiationapossibility?
Canc ontactbemadewithhot,toxic,orcausticsubstances?
Aretheredusts,fumes,mists,orvapoursintheair?
Potentialhaz ardsarelistedinthemiddlecolumnoftheworksheet,numberedtomatc h
thec orres pondingjobstep.Forexample:

Again,allparticipantsshouldjointlyrev iewthispartoftheanalysis.

Determinepreventivemeasures:
Thefinals tageinaJSAistodeterminewaystoeliminateorcontrolthehazards
identified.Thegenerallyacceptedmeas ures,inorderofpreference,are:
1.Eliminatethehazard
This is themos teffectivemeasure.Thesetechniquesshouldbeusedtoeliminatethe
hazards :
Choos eadifferentprocess
Modify anexistingprocess
Subs titutewithlesshazardouss ubstance
Improv eenvironment(ventilation)
Modify orchangeequipmentortools
2.Containthehazard
Ifthehaz ardc annotbeeliminated,contactmightbepreventedbyusingenclosures,
mac hineguards ,workerboothsorsimilardevices.
3.Reviseworkprocedures
Cons iderationmightbegiventomodifyingstepswhicharehazardous,changingthe
s equenc eofsteps,oraddingadditionals teps(suchaslockingoutenergysources ).
4.Reducetheexposure

Thes emeas uresaretheleasteffectiveandshouldonlybeusedifnoothersolutions

arepos s ible.Onewayofminimizingexpos ureistoreducethenumberoftimesthe
hazardis enc ountered.Anexamplewouldbemodifyingmachinerysothatless
maintenanceis necessary.Theuseofappropriatepersonalprotectiveequipmentmay
berequired.Toreduc etheseverityofanaccident,emergencyfacilities,suchas
ey ewas hs tations,mayneedtobeprovided.
Inlistingthepreventivemeasures,donotusegeneralstatementssuchas"becareful"
or"us ec aution".Specificstatementswhic hdescribebothwhatactionistobetakenand
howitis tobeperformedarepreferable.Therecommendedmeasuresarelistedinthe
righthandc olumnoftheworksheet,numberedtomatchthehazardinquestion.For
ex ample:

HowshouldImaketheinformationavailabletoeveryoneelse?
J SAis aus efultechniqueforidentifyinghazardssothatworkerscantakemeasuresto
eliminateorc ontrolhazards.Oncetheanalysisiscompleted,theresultsmustbe
c ommunicatedtoallworkerswhoare,orwillbe,performingthatjob.Thesideby s ide
formatus edinJSAworksheetsisnotanidealoneforinstructionalpurposes.Better
res ults c anbeachiev edbyusinganarrativestylecommunicationformat.Forex ample,
thework proc edurebasedonthepartialJSAdevelopedasanexampleinthisdocument
mights tartoutlikethis:

1.Parkvehicle.
a)Driv ev ehicleofftheroadtoanareawellclearoftraffic,evenifitrequiresrollingon
aflattire.Turnontheemergencyflas herstoalertpassingdriverssothattheywillnot
hity ou.
b)Choos eafirmandlevelareaforparking.Youcanjackupthevehicletoprevent
rolling.
c )Apply theparkingbrake,leavethetransmissioninPARK,placeblocksinfrontand
backofthewheeldiagonallyoppositetheflat.Theseactionswillalsohelppreventthe
v ehic lefromrolling.
2.Removespareandtoolkit.
a)Toav oidbackstrain,turnthespareupintoanuprightpositioninitswell.Standas
c los etothetrunkaspossibleandslidethespareclosetoyourbody.Liftoutandrollto
flattire.
3.Pryoffhubcap,loosenlugbolts(nuts).
a)Pry offhubcapslowlywithsteadypres suretopreventitfrompoppingoffand
s trik ingy ou.
b)Us ingtheproperlugwrench,apply steadypressureslowlytoloosenthelugbolts
(nuts)sothatthewrenchwillnotslip,getlostorandhurtyourknuckles.
4.Andsoon.

AppendixA:SampleformforJobSafetyAnalysisWorksheet

AppendixB:SampleformsforTasksandJobInventory:

TipsandTricks
Itis v itally importantthatworkersunderstandthatitisnottheJSAformthatwillkeep
thems afeonthe JOB ,butrathertheprocessitrepresents.Itisoflittlevalueto
identify haz ardsanddevisecontrolsifthecontrolsarenotputinplace.
Work ers s houldneverbetemptedto"signon"thebottomofaJSAwithoutfirstreading
andunders tandingit.JSAsarequasilegaldocuments,andareoftenusedinincident
inv es tigations ,c ontractualdisputes,andcourtcases.
Ev ery body intheworkforceshouldbeinvolvedincreatingtheJSA.Themoreminds ,
themorey ears ofexperience APPLIED toanalysingthehazardsinajob,themore
s ucces s fultheworkgroupwillbeincontrollingthem.