Do you know what the hazards are in your workplace? How do you guard against those hazards? Conduct JSAs.
A Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is one of the best ways to identify workplace hazards and the controls to guard against them. A JSA can be broken down into four key components:
1) Determine the task to analyze
2) Break the task into steps
3) Identify the hazards, and
4) Identify solution and controls
First, determine which tasks or operations have the most serious potential for harm to the worker and/or the facility, and establish a list. Those tasks with the highest risk should be analyzed first. Employees that carry out the work must be involved with the JSA, and findings and recommendations must be discussed with all involved. When starting new projects or brining new material into a facility, consider conducting a JSA to ensure worker safety is established from the start.