Employers and employees alike have something to contribute to the improvement of safety and health in the workplace. Management must constantly provide employees with opportunities to participate in the protection of their own well-being. A technique to accomplish that is performing a Job Hazard Analysis.

Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) is an opportunity to engage employees by having them participate in identifying hazards and substandard practices in the workplace. They can also be a part of the process of modifying work methods to prevent future injury, illness and incidents. This can result in an improvement in productivity and product quality for the employer, and pride for employees in being an integral part of the safety process.

The JHA process relies on employees’ expertise and knowledge about each job and related tasks and encourages them to follow safe work practices. When used as a tool for continuous improvement, the JHA facilitates better communication between line employees, supervisors, team leaders, and senior managers.

A JHA template can be found in the RS Safety Library in the Forms section. You should review these JHA’s every two years or when you have a change of processes to your current operations.

When you finish the JHA review, ensure your Accident Prevention Program (APP) is current with the results of the JHA’s performed. For example, if additional personal protective gear is or is not required to perform a task, confirm that information is reflected in your APP.

If you don’t currently have an APP for your business, tryout our free eAPP which has the JHA template built into its library.

If you have any questions or need help with this or any other safety-related topic, please contact me directly.

Rick Means, Director of Safety and Education

(360) 943-9198, Ext. 118 — [email protected].