BREAKING THE JOB DOWN

BREAKING THE JOB DOWN

Before the search for hazards begins, the job should be broken down into basic steps. The steps should describe what is being done and should be given in order of occurrence. Details should be omitted.

There are two common errors are to make the breakdown too general. The result is that important basic steps are not recorded. Obviously, JHA will not show the hazards associated with all the basic steps and will be worthless.

Key points in breaking a job down into successive basic steps are:

The man selected should be experienced, capable, co-operative and willing to share ideas. If the man selected has never worked on a JHA, the supervisors should thoroughly explain the purpose of the analysis. The man must be reassured that he is not being watched to see whether or not the work safely. He should. He should understand that the purpose is not to study the job, not the man, and that he was selected for observation because of his experience and capability. The job should be observed for breakdown by basic steps. The supervisor should ask ‘what the first basic step of the job is; what starts the job? What are the next steps? And so on. These steps must not be either too general or too limited.