Control Risks with a Job Hazard Analysis

Controlling workplace hazards can help you build a positive safety culture and prevent accidents. Developing a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) is an important step in controlling risk in your company. The JHA is a safety process that helps you integrate safety and health practices into job tasks in order to reduce the risk of injury to workers.

In the JHA process, each step of a job is evaluated to identify potential hazards and the safety controls necessary. No one understands the job better than the employees who perform it, so be sure to include them in the process. Start by talking to your employees about the tasks they feel are the riskiest:

Which tasks already have a high rate of injury and/or illness?
Which tasks have the greatest potential to cause serious injury or death?
What new operations, equipment, and processes do you have?
What complex tasks does your operation include?

Then, as a group, prioritize those tasks and begin developing JHAs for them.

JHA HOW-TO GUIDE

JHA TEMPLATE

Two key areas to focus on when conducting a JHA are:

Prioritizing which hazards present the highest risk
Identifying the best control for each hazard

Prioritizing Hazards

A risk matrix is a tool used to define the level of risk for a workplace hazard. The matrix assesses the likelihood of a hazard causing injury and the severity of the consequences for not controlling exposure.

Definitions of the terms used in the matrix

Using the matrix to find the total risk factor for a certain hazard is easy. First, determine the risk level of a specific hazard from the five risk categories at the top of the diagram. Then assess the likelihood of them occurring from the left column. Calculate the total risk factor for a hazard by multiplying the value assigned to the likelihood of exposure by the value assigned to the severity of consequences.

Total Risk Factor = Likelihood Value x Severity Value

For example, a laborer performing work in a 20-feet deep unguarded trench would have a likelihood of exposure value of 5 as they are exposed any time they are working in the trench. The severity of the consequences for that exposure would be a 5 as well given that a trench collapse due to unguarded shoring could cause death. The total risk factor of this hazard would be 25. This hazard falls into the High Risk category and would be one of the first risk to focus on controlling.

Calculate the risk factor for all the hazards in your workplace and prioritize them to know which ones present the most danger and that you should address first.

Identifying the Best Control for Each Hazard

Image from NIOSH Hierarchy of Controls (NIOSH, 2015)

The Hierarchy of Controls (HOC) is a system for determining the best control for a workplace hazard. The HOC lists types of controls by level of effectiveness with an emphasis on eliminating the hazard.

Choose a control method that is going to be the most effective while also being feasible and permanent—you don’t want to implement a control that is excessively costly or that employees can’t use. The purpose of this process is to try to utilize the most effective control you can find instead of just providing training or personal protective equipment (PPE).

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Our flow chart walks you through the Hierarchy of Controls process to determine the best control for workplace hazards.

Here are more tips for using the HOC:

Always start at the top of the HOC. Try to reduce or eliminate the hazard first, followed by safe work practices, administrative controls. PPE should be your last option.
Avoid selecting controls that may create new hazards.
Use a combination of controls when one method isn’t enough to protect workers fully.

Control Risks with a Job Hazard Analysis

Additional Resources

Prioritizing Hazards

Identifying the Best Control for Each Hazard

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