Increase Construction Safety by Using Job Hazard Analysis

Working at construction sites can be very dangerous. To ensure everyone’s safety on the jobsite, safety managers and project managers are responsible with locating and removing any dangers. For each job on a project, performing a job hazard analysis is an efficient way to reduce potential risks and safeguard workers.

A procedure for locating possible hazards and removing them or reducing their impact is called a job hazard analysis. The procedure entails decomposing the job into its component tasks, identifying potential risks for each activity, performing a risk assessment to ascertain the likelihood and seriousness of each hazard, and devising preventative measures targeted at removing each hazard.

Where to begin?

The first stage is to prioritize the professions you will start with and decide which ones you want to create a job hazard analysis for. Start with tasks that your firm experiences a high rate of accidents occurring at or that have the greatest potential to result in fatalities or catastrophic injuries. Jobs that are less likely to cause accidents or have a high risk of major injuries should be at the bottom of your list.

Since it is possible that your employees won’t have as much expertise performing certain duties, new occupations and jobs that are carried out very rarely should be prioritized accordingly. Compared to jobs they do often, your employees might not be as familiar with the required safety precautions.

You will eventually compile a library of job hazard studies for every task that your employees complete. These will need to be periodically updated and adjusted when conditions on the job site or in the environment change, or if the order in which tasks are to be completed changes.

Separate the job into its component tasks

Once you have chosen which activities to tackle first, it is time to divide each task into its own sequential components. The most effective approach to achieve this is to have a supervisor or safety manager watch a seasoned employee conduct the task. The observer should take thorough notes of every action, paying attention to what is being done rather than the worker’s method of execution.

To make sure you haven’t missed any stages or that you have the processes in the correct order, it can be good to film the task being completed by the employee on video. The movie can be used to review the procedures, confirm their correctness, and give your team a visual help for spotting any dangers.

In order to keep the attention on the task at hand, start each step of a project with an action verb like “lift” or “cut.” Attempt to limit each job’s phases or duties to 10 or less. It could be a good idea to divide a task into two different tasks if it requires 10 or more steps.

A very useful step in the process could be missed if you are too generic. On the other hand, being overly specific could lead you to combine distinct activities or complicate the procedures required to finish the work.

Determine Potential Risks

It is time to list all the potential hazards for each work after you have divided the assignment up into its component parts. Since they are already aware of some potential risks, familiarize the personnel with the task at hand. Keep in mind that you’re looking for possible risks, not only ones you saw or that the worker took care of while you watched them do their jobs.

In order to find potential dangers, OSHA advises including the some questions into your job hazard analysis.

What might go wrong?

What are the repercussions?

How did it get started?

What additional elements play a role?

What is the likelihood that the risk will materialize?

In addition to these considerations, it is critical to take into account potential risks associated with working at heights, risks associated with utilizing particular tools and equipment, and variations in weather. Some of the deadliest risks on construction sites are falls, electrocutions, being hit by things, and getting struck by falling objects.

Determine Each Hazard’s Risks

The next stage is to conduct a risk assessment of each potential hazard after you have identified them for each occupational task. The likelihood that a danger may materialize and the seriousness of potential accident injuries will be determined by the risk assessment of the job hazard analysis.

When deciding whether preventative actions should be implemented to mitigate those hazards, it will be helpful to know which potential hazards have more risks. Hazards with a higher likelihood of occurring should take precedence over those with a lower likelihood.

You can use the risk assessment you carry out as part of your job hazard analysis for safety training purposes. Hazards with a higher risk of happening and leading to serious injuries or death should receive more attention.

Eliminate or lessen risks

Finally you have to decide which steps must be taken to lessen the risks. Eliminating the risk should always be your number one objective. If the risk cannot be completely removed, try to keep it in check via different measures like machine guards or enclosing work areas. Revision of work procedures, including the addition or deletion of steps or a change in the order of duties, are other ways to reduce hazards. When deciding which preventative measures to apply, OSHA’s guidelines and regulations for construction are actually an excellent place for you to start.

Since reducing exposure to a hazard is typically thought to be the least effective strategy for hazard mitigation, it should be your final line of defense. This could be utilizing personal protective equipment (PPE) to lessen the risk of injuries should an accident happen or restricting the amount of time a worker is permitted to execute a certain task.

Evaluations 

A known technique for assisting in locating and removing hazards on the building site is the use of job hazard evaluations. When accidents happen, a job hazard analysis can be a helpful tool in the accident investigation process. Of course every occupational hazard analysis should be periodically reviewed. In order to make sure that the job hazard analysis is precise and successful at identifying and eliminating hazards, updates should be performed whenever conditions or work processes change.