Free Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) Tool

(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015)

Reduce Employee Injuries

A JHA, when conducted properly, can prevent serious injuries and even fatalities in the workplace. The number one reason to ensure that a proper JHA is conducted is to prevent the injury or death of employees. When employees are seriously injured in the workplace, it is common for co-workers and employers to make statements such as “it shouldn’t have happened”, or “we didn’t think it would happen to us”. These statements do little to ease the pain of injured employees and their loved ones. Instead of a retroactive and ineffective reflection, a JHA can be the proactive solution that can be the difference between life and death, literally.

Reduce Worker’s Compensation Costs

Of course, if we can use a JHA to reduce injuries in the workplace, our worker’s compensation claims, insurance premiums, and Experience Modification Rate (EMR) will be reduced. Lowering your worker’s compensation rate is a significant cost-saving strategy, and it can be done simply by completing JHAs for the job tasks assigned to employees before the employees are exposed to the hazards. For contractors, this is a great way to establish a low EMR to win a bid over another contractor that has a higher EMR. Many hiring companies and general contractors like to see impressive safety statistics, and a low EMR can make the difference!

OSHA Fines

If an employee is seriously injured on the job site, OSHA may be the first one to knock on your door. If it is found that the employer did not implement and maintain a safe and healthy workplace for the injured employee, citations will be served. Having evidence of employee training covering the standard cited within the citation could be your best bet in preventing or fighting the citation. Of course, the best scenario would be completely preventing the incident from ever occurring by providing the required training for the employees before the incident. A membership with ComplyFlex provides unlimited online training and certificates of completion as training evidence for your employee records. If your employees work in elevated positions and require fall protection, check out the Free Fall Protection Training and get your free certificate immediately!

Steps of a Job Hazard Analysis

1. Identify a hazard associated with the job task (E.g. Working in an elevated position)
2. Identify how these hazards can cause injury to employees (E.g. Employees could fall and receive serious injury)
3. Identify control measures(s) to reduce the risk associated with the job task (E.g. Employees will use assigned fall protection to prevent falls).  The NIOSH Hierarchy of Controls above can be used to apply the most effective barrier to minimize risk.
4. Ensure that all employees are aware of the control measures to safely work the job.
5. Repeat this process for each hazard associated with the job tasks.

Application of a Job Hazard Analysis Form (JHA Form)

A JHA form can and should be adapted for the unique hazards and workplaces of different industries. For example, a warehouse may have a JHA conducted periodically when hazards change, but a construction site may need to conduct a JHA multiple times a day if the work scope changes, therefore exposing employees to new hazards not previously identified.

File Your Job Hazard Analysis Form (JHA Form)

Employers should file completed written or electronic JHA forms to provide evidence that a JHA was completed for recordkeeping purposes. The JHAs can then be used to train/retrain employees and be presented to authorities upon request.

Training Employees to Identify and Mitigate Hazards

It is required by OSHA that employees are provided with proper training for the job tasks that they are assigned, to ensure that the employees can complete their job safely. Employees should be trained by the OSHA standards that apply to them in their workplace. An employee that works in elevated positions should be trained on Fall Protection, and an employee that operates Hand and Power Tools should be trained to do so safely.

Training employees on all of the topics within the OSHA standards that apply to their job duties can be difficult, but it is a requirement. Effective workplace training can change an organization’s safety culture, and contribute towards preventing employee injuries, costly worker’s compensation claims, expensive OSHA fines, and even prevent fatalities. Your organization should implement a training program to become a safe and compliant place to work. Of course, we recommend a membership with ComplyFlex to gain unlimited access to online OSHA training for your entire organization, complete with printable training certificates of completion.

Conclusion

Employers can provide a safe and healthy workplace, prevent costly worker’s compensation claims, and avoid OSHA fines by completing effective JHAs for the workplace. Employees should be trained on the hazards in their workplace associated with their assigned tasks and trained on the employer’s JHA process to mitigate the risk associated with those hazards. Proper employee training, including Job Hazard Analysis training, can be completed online at Complyflex.com.

References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. (2015). Hierarchy of Controls. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/hierarchy/default.html