JSA

JSA stands for job safety analysis. Some builders call it a job hazard analysis (JHA) or a task risk assessment. Whatever the name, the idea is the same: before a crew starts a task, they write down how the job will be done, step by step, what could go wrong at each step and what they will do about it.

A JSA is normally prepared by the supervisor or leading hand with the workers who will do the task, then reviewed and signed by the crew before work starts. It sits between a quick personal check like a Take 5 and a full safe work method statement (SWMS).

Most JSA templates follow the same layout, usually a three or four column table.

• Job steps. Break the task into its basic steps in the order they happen, such as set up, cut, lift, fix and clean up.

• Hazards. For each step, list what could cause harm: manual handling, dust, noise, moving plant, sharp edges, electricity.

• Risk rating. Many templates score each hazard before and after controls using a likelihood and consequence matrix.

• Controls. Record the controls for each hazard, working down the hierarchy of controls rather than jumping straight to PPE.

• Sign-off. Everyone doing the task signs to confirm they understand it, and the JSA stays at the work area.

If the task, the crew or the conditions change, the JSA should be reviewed and updated before work continues.

A SWMS (safe work method statement) is a legal document. Under the model WHS Regulations, a SWMS must be prepared before any high risk construction work starts, and the work must then be done in line with it. The regulations set out what it must include and how it must be kept and reviewed.

A JSA has no set legal form. It is one way of meeting the general duty to identify hazards and manage risks so far as is reasonably practicable. Builders typically use JSAs for routine or lower risk tasks that fall outside the high risk construction work categories, and some use them for non-construction work such as maintenance.

The practical rule: if the task is high risk construction work, you need a SWMS. A JSA cannot replace it, although it can sit underneath a SWMS to cover a specific step in more detail. If the task is not high risk construction work, a JSA is often the right level of planning. Victoria uses the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and its own regulations, but the same split between SWMS and general task risk assessments applies in practice.

• Using a JSA for high risk construction work. If the task involves, for example, a fall risk of more than 2 metres or work near energised services, a SWMS is required.

• Copy and paste JSAs. A generic JSA written once and reused on every job rarely matches the real task or site conditions.

• Writing it without the crew. The people doing the work know the hazards best. A JSA filled in by someone in the site office misses them.

• Never reviewing it. Conditions change through the day. Weather, new trades or a change in method should trigger a review.