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U.S.
Department of the Interior
Minerals Management Service
Gulf of Mexico OCS Region |
Safety
Alert No. 203
August 22, 2002 |
Contact: David Dykes
(504) 731-3249 |
Job Safety Analysis (JSA)
Recent investigations of fatal accidents in the Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) have revealed that the fatalities occurred during the performance of
day-to-day tasks. MMS found that, in each of the accidents, a lack of written, procedural
guidelines for the performance of these routine tasks was identified as a cause of the
accidents. Further, as a result of the latest annual performance reviews, MMS has found
that there is a lack of a clear understanding by many operators of what constitutes a Job
Safety Analysis (JSA), and most operators do not have a formal review process for
determining which jobs require a JSA. It appears that most operators conduct a JSA on
routine tasks where most accidents are occurring. However, operators are not considering
routine tasks that have the potential for severe consequences even though no accidents
have occurred as yet.
JSA’s can be regarded as one form of hazard analysis. Hazard
analysis is an analysis performed to identify and evaluate hazards for the purpose of
their elimination or control. Job Hazards Analysis (JHA) is used to review the scope of
work to be performed on a broad scale and can uncover hazards overlooked in the original
design, mock-up, or setup of a particular process, operation, or task. A JSA, on the other
hand, is a process used to review site-specific detailed job steps and uncover hazards
associated with the specific job undertaken.
When the hazards have been identified and their severity evaluated,
a strategy must then be developed to eliminate or reduce these hazards. This strategy may
include the development of operating procedures, safe work practices, operating
guidelines, or a combination of all three. These procedures, practices, and/or guidelines
must be made available to the employee performing the tasks. This process of mitigating
hazards is commonly used in industry for situations in which the inherent risks are
recognizably high. Unfortunately, this process is not used as frequently in the more
day-to-day tasks.
It is therefore recommended that:
- Operators develop a systemic approach for evaluating all tasks to identify
those tasks that have potential severe or fatal consequences should an accident occur
- Once those tasks have been identified, operators should conduct the necessary
JHA and/or JSA to identify those hazards that could lead to potentially severe or fatal
consequences; and
- The operator should then eliminate the hazard or reduce the severity of the
consequences through the use of design engineering, administrative controls, or written
procedures and/or guidelines.
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