Job-Safety-Analysis

[MUSIC PLAYING] Deadly accidents happen to experienced mariners when they become complacent. When done right, a job safety analysis, or JSA, will snap you out of complacency, help you to maintain situational awareness, and remind you to plan ahead. [MUSIC PLAYING] JSA takes many forms and goes by many names. But whether it is called Job Hazard Analysis or Job Risk Analysis, the purpose is the same-- keeping yourself safe by considering what could go wrong ahead of time and keeping it from happening. Think of a job safety analysis as the safety version of setting up your toolbox. If you go to a plumbing job and you don't have a pipe wrench, all you have are screwdrivers, you're not going to get the job done. JSA is more than a meeting required by management. It is the easiest way to prepare for work ahead of time. It highlights what you need to know to make your job safer, easier, and more efficient. I think we're all pretty good about looking around us and seeing hazards. I guess the important part of looking at the hazard is it's not just acknowledging that it's there. It's the second part of the JSA, really, is getting people mobilized to go out and do something about it. In this program, we will examine the process of job safety analysis, address how to conduct a risk assessment, identify the three kinds of controls use to mitigate risks, discuss when to stop work and revise a JSA, highlight record keeping and its importance, and review a case study from start to finish. For many people, a JSA is just a piece of paper work-- a standard form that management requires crew to fill out before they start their job. But this misses the point. Job safety analysis is a process of planning and communication. The purpose of the form is to record the process, provide proof that the JSA took place, and preserve what was learned for future use. They ask the crew to fill out all kinds of paperwork. And they're very ineffective. What I've seen to be most effective is when they set these up where the form is just to capture good information, to help management support them with good control measures. And it's more about facilitating the conversation with the crew than it is to having them just fill out the same form every time. I think the critical components of a JSA really involve communication, number one, so everyone can talk about what's going to happen that day and the work task involved. And then it identifies the work hazards, how to reduce those hazards or eliminate those hazards, and what proper personal protective equipment is needed to work safely. Job safety analysis is a two-way process of communication and planning. Think of it is a conversation between all crew involved. Communication and planning are a big part of the job safety analysis, because it's really about having people safely engage with this activity so that they stay as safe as possible. If you are on board the vessel and you're going to be going to perform this job, then you kind of discuss amongst yourselves as a crew-- you know, the steps can be really quick. It can take less than five minutes. You're just having conversation. This is what we're going to do. What do we have to be aware of? What can we do to mitigate our risk in performing this job? JSA essay provides an opportunity to ask questions and give feedback or advice. Every crew member has a different viewpoint. And by discussing a job ahead of time, everyone can benefit. We require the entire crew to be involved in the JSA process. From the captain of the vessel all the way down to the deckhand, everyone has input. And communication is the key. Your input as an employee is very important because, ultimately, it's the protection for you and your coworkers. To have everybody speak up from their perspective, encourage that conversation, and it's a great opportunity when you're going through a JSA is to hear from maybe the new person that's on board, because they may have a totally different outlook than someone who's been there for quite some time. So it really helps with that type of exchange between people less knowledgeable and those who are more knowledgeable. JSAs look very different depending on job sites. But they all have the same three essential parts-- identifying the steps of a job, the potential dangers at each step, and how best to avoid those dangers. So the JSA is different with every company. I've never seen where a JSA is consistent across the board, other than the fact that they are addressing risk. They're addressing hazards. But how and what form they use varies. When employees are going through the steps on a JSA, they start from the beginning and actually talk through the process, and actually communicate amongst themselves the different steps to be taken. And then they fill in the hazards and the PPE that's required. Ask yourself, who will be working? What will they be doing? And where will they be doing it? For each step that you identify, consider what could go wrong and what has gone wrong before. Consider the complexity of the job, level of training, and the extent that the participating crew members are rested or fatigued. Always consider changes in environment and working conditions. The same job might require very different safety precautions at night than it does during the day. From weather to waves, a lot can change at sea. So every job should be approached fresh. Environmental conditions are just one of the variables that should be addressed in the initial JSA. You should look at weather. You should look at geography, all those things-- the environment, whether dust is created, all those things. That should be part of the initial. So you shouldn't have to go along and say, oops, we didn't consider this. Let's stop and consider it now. It should be done at the very beginning. JSA exists to minimize risk. Simple jobs that involve little or no risk do not always require one. Risk assessment is the process of determining whether a particular task requires a JSA. Ask yourself, how likely is an accident? And how serious would it be if there was one? Always give proper care to high risk jobs. If you're doing a task and there's a potential for injury in any way, shape, or form, then you should do a job safety analysis on it and figure out what could go wrong, and how to mitigate that, or prevent it from happening. What companies are doing now on the form is to look at it from a severity standpoint. So you could actually score the different areas that you see as risk. And those that have the most significant score are the ones that you want to address first. Once a potential danger has been identified, control it. The three types of controls for workplace hazards could be broken down into engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment. Engineering controls are any physical changes made to a work site to make it a safer place. So engineering controls basically means any technique for isolating or controlling the hazard at its source. So the focus is on the hazard, and managing the hazard rather than managing the people. For example, if it's as simple as putting some type of a mat on the floor if someone's having to stand for long periods of time, from an ergonomic standpoint that really helps. Ventilation versus having to wear a respirator is always a good choice. From the engineering side, we can alter the way that we actually do things by moving tools, equipment, or actually temporary services that will actually accommodate the work to be done in a safe manner. Administrative controls are any changes in policy or procedure that are put in place to help people work in a safer way. And then we're going to couple that with good policies and procedures, which are your administrative controls. We're going to have training. We're going to visit with the crew members, and kind of take a look. And all these things factored in help to make a better environment. Administrative fixes or mitigations are more represented by procedures that, yes, if you have removable handrails on a barge, you're supposed to put those handrails up before working on that barge. And it's following those procedures that's critical as well. Engineering and administrative controls should always be used first because they are what keep a worksite safe for everyone. Personal protective equipment, or PPE, is very effective. But it is always the last line of defense. It can only protect the person who is using it. The best way to protect someone on a job site is always to remove the danger entirely, rather than trying to reduce its impact. And then the last resort control is PPE-- personal protective equipment. So they do what they can with engineering controls and work practices. And then whatever hazards are left that might be an exposure to the worker, they put on special protective clothing, or gloves, or respirators, and so on. And so that's where your hard hats come in. That's where your eye protection comes in. That's where your respiratory protection comes in. [MUSIC PLAYING] Sometimes conditions change, bringing new potential dangers to the job site. When that happens, stop work immediately and revisit the JSA process. It does not have to take long. A quick conversation can be all that you need to get back on track. Consider stopping work if environmental conditions change, a new crew member is introduced to the job, or if there is a near miss-- a potential accident which was narrowly avoided. If you're in the middle of an activity, such as trying to moor a ship in tough weather, certainly, you might have to just cease-- stop in the middle of that activity. If conditions change that are not addressed in the original job safety analysis then it might be time to regroup, retool, re-equip, retrain, if the conditions haven't been addressed yet in the current JSA. Well, if you have, let's say, introduction of a new piece of equipment to a certain process that is part of the JSA, you don't have to rewrite the whole process. But you have to look at the change and see how that's going to affect that individual, or the employees that are working in that process. [MUSIC PLAYING] Planning for safety extends beyond the immediate needs of the task at hand. By carefully archiving JSAs and periodically reviewing them, companies keep their safety practices up to date and make sure that everyone in their fleet has the full benefit of the best knowledge and experience available. Well, what happens with the JSA as far as looking at historical events-- whether they be incidents or near misses-- is you can really take it one step further faster as far as saying, OK, what didn't work? It's all continual improvement. And if we can have good lessons learned from past events, we can incorporate those into mitigating our risk with more effective control measures. Existing JSA forms can be revised. If an accident or near miss occurs, revise the JSA to keep it from happening again. JSA record keeping is vital if there is ever an accident investigation. Whenever an investigator looks into an accident, they try to determine if procedures are flawed, or if they were not followed correctly. Having a current JSA on hand helps determine what went wrong and-- just as important-- prove what was done correctly. The JSA would be part of the accident investigation. Is there a JSA for this task where this thing happened? OK, there is. What did it say? Were they following this? Yes, they were. OK, was it good enough? Did they cover everything in the initial? NO, we need to add this, that, or the other thing. That's the review process I spoke about when an incident occurs. It's part of the accident investigation or incident investigation. And you look at all the variables, and all the administrative controls in place, and procedures. And you say, OK, was it good? Or do we need to make it better? [MUSIC PLAYING] Now that you've learned the process, let's walk through the JSA from start to finish. First, the crew conducts a pre-work meeting using a JSA form to document the meeting. All involved personnel attend. They determine specific steps for performing the job, including specific mooring stations to use. They discuss hazards, concerns, and controls associated with every step of the job. The following is a list of potential hazards-- impact injuries from heaving lines, overexposure to weather conditions, back strain from heavy lifting, pinch point bites in the line, snapback. After reviewing all potential hazards, the crew discusses engineering and administrative controls. Use deck winches and soft impact heaving lines as much as possible. Maintain sufficient work distance from bits. Be aware of line movement under strain. Be aware of danger zones, and establish safety zones. Then they discuss what PPE should be used-- PFDs, hard hats, safety shoes, work gloves. The captain discusses the environmental concern of oil-soaked lines dipping in the water and determines that the control is to remove oil-soaked line from services. Every one participates during the pre-work meeting. Experienced personnel express what to look for and how the job should go. Inexperienced personnel ask questions about certain steps they are unfamiliar with. They also discuss the forms of communication to be used during the evolution. Once all crew members feel comfortable with the upcoming job, the meeting is adjourned. And they prepare for work. The JSA form is archived. The crew begins to perform the task. Shortly after work commences, the mooring team noticed that the intended roller chalk is insufficient for the current job. And the supervisor orders the team to stop work. The supervisor communicates the issue to the captain. And the two of them determine to use a different, better-suited roller chalk. The mooring team's supervisor goes over the change with the mooring team. Once everyone is informed of the change, they re-commence work. This change is also updated to the JSA form, or a new form is generated and archived. The task is completed. And all crew members involved meet for a debriefing where they discuss how the task went. What worked? What didn't? Was there anything out of the ordinary? The meeting is a learning experience, and is documented for record keeping purposes. [MUSIC PLAYING] To recap, remember that JSA is more than a form. It's a conversation. Perform a risk assessment to determine the need for a JSA. The three types of controls are engineering controls, administrative controls, and PPE. Control and avoid potential dangers by making physical changes to the work site, altering policy or procedures, and/or by donning proper PPE. When conditions change, stop work and revisit the JSA process. Archive JSAs, and keep records up to date for future use. Safety is everybody's business. A lot can happen at sea if you're not careful. Staying mindful and working smart can mean the difference between a long, productive career and a debilitating injury. Job safety analysis is the most effective method at your disposal to make sure everyone you work with is on the same page. Pay attention, participate, plan ahead, the question you ask could save you or a shipmate from serious harm. Safety regulations really are written in blood. The workers have been killed, or been injured, or gotten sick on the job. And a GSA, or standard operating procedures, are ways to prevent that. And those are kind of where a lot of those regulations come from. JSAs-- they're worth the time to do them right. Pay attention to the details ahead of time, and you'll stay safe. [MUSIC PLAYING]