Job Hazard Analysis: A Step-By-Step Guide

The best way to ensure your employees remain safe from injuries on the job is by conducting a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA). While these can prevent catastrophe, creating one can be a challenge. Here are the basic steps you should follow to create a holistic plan of action.

Step 1 – Select the Job to Be Analyzed

The first thing you need to do is to determine the job you want to perform the analysis on. When considering this, include frequency, complexity, whether it requires safety permits and the potential for injury it may cause. Most new jobs can result in serious injuries, as can old ones, if inexperienced or untrained workers are responsible for them.

Step 2 – Break the Job into Steps

Once you have determined the job, break it into steps by getting an experienced employee to demonstrate it for you. Ask the employee about the steps involved with the job and why they leave out some steps. This may happen if the job is second nature to the employee. Throughout this process, make sure the employee knows the job is under surveillance for the JHA, not their performance. Ask others who have performed it to demonstrate it for you as well.

Step 3 – Pinpoint Potential Hazards

Once the basic steps of the job are outlined clearly, determining potential hazards should not be difficult. Some of the questions you can ask yourself include:

• What can go wrong?
• Can a worker fall, trip, or slip on the job?
• Can the worker come in contact with harmful moving objects?
• Does the job expose the worker to hazardous elements such as dust and fumes?
• What can happen if things go wrong?
• Can the worker’s clothing get stuck in the machinery involved?
• Does the machinery emit excessive noise and vibrations that are problematic?

Step 4 – Determine Preventive Measures

The answers you receive in step 3 will come in handy for this step, i.e. determining the measures that can prevent injuries on the selected job. This includes modifying the harmful steps involved with the job or replacing/changing the equipment used for it. If certain hazards cannot be removed, they should be contained (via guard rails, work boots, etc) to prevent accidents and injuries.

Get Tailored Solutions for Worker Safety from SIA Insurance Group

Conducting a comprehensive Job Hazard Analysis can be a time-consuming task, not to mention complex. Leave it to the SIA Insurance Group. Our team is trained to determine the risk exposures and create custom solutions that can prevent potential hazards for all of our clients in Woodridge, IL. Get in touch with us today.