At the Ted Berry Company Inc we know one of the best ways for a supervisor to maintain a safe work site and to help us towards our goal of an incident free workplace is to identify potential hazards in a pre-job hazard analysis and to use that information to either eliminate or reduce the risk for all employees at the project site before the work itself commences. A job hazard analysis is one component of our larger commitment to protect our employees.
In practical terms, a hazard often is associated with a condition or activity that, if left uncontrolled, can result in an injury or illness. Identifying hazards and eliminating or controlling them as early as possible will help prevent injuries and illnesses.
A job hazard analysis is a technique that focuses on job tasks as a way to identify hazards before they occur. It focuses on the relationship between the worker, the task, the tools, and the work environment. At Ted Berry Company together we can help prevent workplace injuries and illnesses by looking at our workplace operations, establishing proper job procedures, and ensuring that all employees are trained properly.
One of the best ways to determine and establish proper work procedures is to conduct a job hazard analysis. It is very important to involve all of our employees in the hazard analysis process. Everyone has a unique perspective and understanding of the job, and this knowledge is invaluable for finding hazards. Involving employees also helps minimize oversights, ensure a quality analysis, and get workers to “buy in†to the solutions because they will share ownership in their safety and health program.
At the beginning of each shift, for each project, for each work team the Ted Berry Company Project Supervisor will hold a pre-job safety meeting and will discuss the hazards they know exist in their planned work tasks and surroundings.
Tips for the Project Supervisor
Nearly every job can be broken down into job tasks or steps. When beginning a job hazard analysis, watch an employee perform the job and list each step as the worker takes it. Be sure to record enough information to describe each job action without getting overly detailed. Avoid making the breakdown of steps so detailed that it becomes unnecessarily long or so broad that it does not include basic steps. You may find it valuable to get input from other workers who have performed the same job.
Later, review the job steps with the employee to make sure you have not omitted something. Point out that you are evaluating the job itself, not the employee’s job performance. Include the employee in all phases of the analysis—from reviewing the job steps and procedures to discussing uncontrolled hazards and recommended solutions.
A job hazard analysis is an exercise in detective work. Your goal is to discover the following:
- What can go wrong?
- What are the consequences?
- How could it arise?
- What are other contributing factors?
- How likely is it that the hazard will occur?
To make your job hazard analysis useful, document the answers to these questions in a consistent manner. Describing a hazard in this way helps to ensure that your efforts to eliminate the hazard and implement hazard controls help target the most important contributors to the hazard.
The results of the job hazard analysis should be shared with workers under the supervisor’s direct supervision and forwarded to the Service Group Manager and Safety Committee for review. Upon review the Safety Committee can direct and draft changes to existing safety policies and procedures, modify or create an SOP (standard operating procedures), or develop or modify training initiatives to improve employee awareness and knowledge.
Work Safe!
Mat Timberlake – Vice President