Job Safety Analysis Process

A JSA focuses on identifying the tasks necessary to perform a specific job; the potential safety and health, and in some cases, environmental, hazards associated with each task; and the possible risk control measures needed to eliminate or reduce these hazards. The JSA process can be divided into a number of steps, the complexity of which can vary depending on the job being analysed. As mentioned before, it can be used informally through a verbal discussion before performing a simple, routine job, or formally following a prescribed set of steps and a well-defined JSA form for more complex, non-routine, or new jobs. The JSA process presented in this chapter is a flexible approach that can accommodate any level of detail. A so called informal JSA process is described, as well as a formal JSA process for more complex jobs. Even within the formal JSA, the process can be applied at different levels of detail, depending on the complexity of the job. It can take minutes to several hours to complete. This chapter describes a range of options in terms of level of detail and complexity of each JSA process step. Each company can modify and adapt this JSA process to the appropriate level of detail for the different type of jobs applicable to them. Regardless of the type of JSA to be performed, there are three basic parts that need to be completed.