Industrial safety task analysis

The job safety analysis (JSA) has been a part of the industrial and occupational safety effort for many years. It is basically a method of developing job procedures that includes a systematic task analysis that examines each step of a job or task, the possible hazards associated with each step, and preventive or corrective actions required to ensure a safe operation. The technique may be appropriate to include in a life cycle system safety effort but has not traditionally been considered a system safety analysis. The JSA may be referred to as a job hazard analysis or job task analysis, even though some make distinctions between the approaches. 

Industrial or occupational safety and health professionals have been involved for some time now in the analysis of tasks that must be performed in the workplace and the human interface that must occur in order to accomplish a given task. In actuality, the modern methods of task analysis and job analysis were initially developed as a result of the somewhat historic time and motion studies conducted in the early twentieth cenmry. These techniques were later enhanced further during the U.S. Department of Labor s efforts in occupational analysis conducted in 1930. These... 

The job safety analysis (JSA) [also referred to as the job hazard analysis (JHA)], which is a more simplified form of task analysis, has been a longstanding tool for task and function analysis. JSA has been available and utilized in general industry for many years by the industrial safety community. However, many practitioners do not understand or are simply unfamiliar with the connection between the JSA and the system safety tasks of hazard identification and analysis. It has even been suggested by some in the profession that the JSA itself is a type of oversimplified system safety analysis and, if performed earlier in the job development phase, could be used as the basis of a preliminary hazard analysis for a specific task or set of tasks. However, because JSA is often (if improperly) used to analyze a function only after it has been implemented, much of the data is not factored into the system safety process. The primary purpose of the JSA is to uncover inherent or potential hazards that may be encountered in the work environment. This basic definition is not unlike that previously discussed regarding the various system safety analyses. The primary difference between the two is subtle but important and is found in the end-use purpose of the JSA. Once the job or task is completed, the JSA is usually used as an effective tool for training and orienting the new employee into the work environment. The JSA presents a verbal picture of a specific job. 

The JSA, then, is a specialized approach of task analysis that takes an existing job and analyzes its tasks to specifically identify hazards encountered in the work environment. At the very least, the JSA does have a place within the system safety process as a tool to evaluate the hazards or risks of an existing task or function during the operation phase of the project life cycle. Here we see another connection between the principal elements of the industrial safety process and one of the basic objectives of the system safety effort, namely, that the JSA tries to eliminate or control the risk of hazard exposure in a given task during the life of the project. 

The JSA and the analysis of job or task risk is (or should be) a critical element in the assurance of worker safety and health. However, its potential for success can be severely hindered when the JSA is not utilized or performed properly. As stated earlier in this chapter, it is usually the task supervisor and the work team that will complete the JSA. At the very least, this means that consistency in JSA approach and completion can be as varied as the tasks being analyzed. Ideally, the safety professional should also participate in JSA development to facilitate the process and ensure the proper and complete analysis of the given task. However, in reality, most industrial safety and health practitioners may not always be involved or even present when a JSA exercise takes place. 

It cannot be overemphasized that the principal elements of a sound industrial safety program, with its primary purpose of OSHA compliance, work hazard reduction, assurance of employee/job safety and health, and the evaluation of jobs or tasks (through the ISA or another comparable method), can, in most cases, be achieved through application of the system safety process. The connection between the two programs, while not entirely obvious, is quite understandable, as described above. Perhaps the most important thing to remember here is that the industrial or occupational safety and health professional can utilize the time-proven techniques of hazard reduction and system safety analysis to accomplish the desired goal of both programs ... 

A job safety analysis may be part of other forms of task analysis common to industrial engineering practice. Engineers often consider work flow, motion economy, time associated with each job task, eye and hand or foot movements. Their goal is to find more efficient ways of completing operations. A side effect of job safety analysis is helping to find less hazardous ways of completing work and helping to improve operational performance. 

Brazier, A., Gait, A., and Waite, P. (2004). Different Types of Supervision and the Impact on Safety in the Chemical and Allied Industries. London Health and Safety Executive. Burke, C.S. (2004). Team task analysis. In N.A. Stanton, A. Hedge, K. Brookhuis, E. Salas, and H. Hendrick (Eds.), Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics Methods (pp. 526-535). Boca Raton, FL CRC Press. 

The terms job hazard analysis QHA) and job safety analysis (JSA) are used somewhat interchangeably. A variety of other terminology such as job task analysis (JTA), activity task analysis (ATA), and others are used depending on the industry and organization. 

Food authentication is one of the major areas involved in food quality and safety. Several regulations have been implemented to assure correct information and to avoid species substitutions (26). Food species identification has traditionally relied on morphological/anatomical analysis. However, this is a difficult task in the case of closely related species and especially for those products that have been subjected to processing practices. Therefore, there is a strong need for fast and reliable molecular identification methods that provide authorities and food industries the tools needed to comply with labeling and traceability requirements, thus ensuring product quality and protection of the consumer. 

From an analysis of the published financial research on the chemical industry, the sustainability issues of concern in the mainstream investment world revolve first around exposure to hot-button issues such as asbestos and genetic modification. There are some indications that this concern may extend to issues that have not yet fully blossomed, such as endocrine disruptors. There is also lingering concern about the potential for European Union rules that, if adopted, would essentially shift the burden of proof from showing that a chemical caused harm to having to demonstrate the safety of a number of chemicals in current use. Among those analyzing the sustainability of the chemical industry, the primary task appears to be to evaluate the companies ability to deal with complex issues of safety, emission reductions, community relations, and so on. 

Development and Validation of Career Development Guidelines by Task/Activity Analysis of Occupational Safety and Health Professions Industrial Hygiene and Safety Professional. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Contract CDC-99-74-94, 1977. 

Standards like the lEC 61508 (1998-2005) propose a succession of tasks to develop safety critical systems. Nevertheless, these standards precisely define the analysis to produce but do not provide methods to efficiently conduct them. Therefore, there is a real need in today s industry to obtain tools and methods to support the design of safety critical systems, by linking classical methods of each specialist working on those projects. 

Soszynska, J., Kolowrocki, K., Kaminski, R, Jurdzihski, M., Guze, S. Milczek, B., Golik, P. 2009. Data Mining for Identification and Prediction of Safety and Reliability Characteristics of Complex Industrial Systems and Processes. WP6 - Task 6.2. Preliminary safety and risk analysis and evaluation of a Stena Baltica ferry in variable operation conditions. Sub-Task 6.2.5 - 16.03.2009. Poland-Singapore Joint Research Project, 2007-2010. 

While human reliabihty analysis (HRA) has been well established and integrated into safety analysis in other industries (nuclear, aviation...) its application to healthcare is limited (Lyons, et.al. 2004). HRA studies human operator performance in the context of a specific task enviromnent. It is often focused on estimating the probability of human error, and how this probability might increase or decrease when coupled with various performance shaping factors. 

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