In brief
A job safety analysis (JSA) is a task-based analysis that breaks a single job into its steps and writes down the hazard and control for each step. It does not replace the risk assessment, which looks at the workplace as a whole; it complements it for non-routine maintenance, work done for the first time or work requiring a permit. The analysis is prepared together with the team who will do the job and read through with the team before work starts.
Why is a job safety analysis needed?
A factory's risk assessment has a line reading "conveyor: entrapment, crushing", and its controls are clear: guards, emergency stops, training. But a gearbox replacement carried out once a year is a very different job from what that line describes: guards are removed, the equipment sits at height, an 80-kilogram part is lowered, and hot oil is drained. The hazards of this job are not the hazards of normal production.
A job safety analysis (JSA) fills exactly this gap. Known in English-language sources as job safety analysis or job hazard analysis, the method breaks a single job into its steps in sequence and asks for each step, "what could go wrong here, and how do we prevent it?". The result is a task-based risk analysis specific to that job.
Its place in the legislation
No document named "job safety analysis" is defined in the legislation. However, the Regulation on Occupational Health and Safety Risk Assessment lays the groundwork for the JSA in two places:
- Art. 8/3-ç: When identifying hazards, account is taken of hazards that may arise from factors such as working methods, shift patterns, teamwork and supervision in all kinds of activities to be carried out in the workplace, "including maintenance and repair work".
- Art. 9/2: Risks are analysed using one or more methods chosen according to the characteristics of the business and the nature of the risks. The regulation does not make any particular method mandatory.
So there is an obligation to identify the hazards of maintenance and repair work; the JSA is a practical way of fulfilling this obligation at task level. For the general steps of a risk assessment, see our article on how to carry out a risk assessment.
The difference between a JSA and a risk assessment
| Risk assessment | Job safety analysis | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | The whole workplace, departments, equipment | A single job or task |
| Perspective | "What hazards are there in this department?" | "What could happen at each step while doing this job?" |
| When? | At establishment, every 2/4/6 years and when there are changes | Before non-routine, first-time or rarely performed work |
| Who prepares it? | The risk assessment team defined in the regulation | The specialist with the technicians who will do the job and the person in charge |
| Output | Risk assessment report and action plan | Step–hazard–control table, read before work |
| Scoring | According to the chosen method (Fine-Kinney, L-type matrix, etc.) | Usually unscored; optional simple grading |
The two documents feed each other. A hazard that comes out of a JSA and is not in the risk assessment is added to the risk assessment. A maintenance job rated "high" in the risk assessment is a good candidate for a JSA. For scoring methods, see our articles on the Fine-Kinney method and the L-type matrix.
Which jobs need a JSA?
Writing a JSA for every job is unnecessary, and after a while nobody reads them. Prioritise the following jobs:
- Non-routine maintenance and repair: Gearbox, motor and bearing replacement; die repair; tank interior cleaning.
- Work done for the first time or very rarely: Commissioning a new machine, the annual general maintenance shutdown.
- Work requiring a permit: Hot work, confined spaces, work at height, work requiring energy isolation. For the permit system, see our article on the permit to work system.
- Jobs where an accident or near miss has occurred: Before the next time the same job is done.
- Work given to contractors: The contractor is asked to submit its own JSA, which is compared with workplace conditions.
- Jobs whose method changes: A new tool, lifting equipment or a different team.
The JSA form: what fields should it have?
A simple JSA form fits on one page. The header section contains:
- Name and location of the job and the equipment's inventory number
- Date of analysis, the team preparing it and the person approving it
- Permits required (hot work, work at height, LOTO, etc.)
- Equipment and tools required, PPE list
- Competencies and certificates required (electrical authorisation, crane operator certificate, vocational training certificate)
- What to do in an emergency and whom to notify
The body is a four-column table: job step, hazard, control, responsible person. Steps begin with a verb ("remove", "lower", "drain") and are kept between 5 and 10. If more steps come out, the job is split into two analyses.
Example: replacing a conveyor gearbox
The example below is a JSA prepared for replacing a conveyor drive gearbox located about 2.5 metres high in an automotive supplier plant. The gearbox is assumed to weigh about 80 kg.
| Step | Hazard | Control | Responsible |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Prepare the area, obtain the work permit | Production employees entering the area | Area is cordoned off with tape, work permit and team list are posted | Maintenance supervisor |
| 2. Isolate and lock out energy | Unexpected start-up of the conveyor; release of a tensioned belt or chain; load sliding on an inclined belt | Electrical and any pneumatic energy is isolated with LOTO, each technician fits their own lock, zero energy is verified with a start test, belt tension is released | Each technician |
| 3. Access the gearbox | Fall from height | A mobile work platform with guardrails is used; no one climbs onto the conveyor frame | Team leader |
| 4. Drain the oil | Hot oil burns, slipping, environmental pollution | Wait for the equipment to cool, use a drip tray and absorbent pads, collect waste oil in a labelled container | Technician |
| 5. Remove the coupling and mounting bolts | Slipping hand tools, crushed fingers, unexpected movement of the gearbox | Gearbox is suspended with a sling before removal, correctly sized sockets are used | Technician |
| 6. Lower the gearbox | Falling load, back injury | Chain hoist and controlled slinging are used, the load capacity of the anchor point is known, no one stands under the load, no manual lifting | Team leader |
| 7. Position and align the new gearbox | Hand trapped between the part and the frame | Alignment tool and pry bar are used, fingers are not put in line with the holes | Technician |
| 8. Refit the guards, fill with oil | Commissioning without guards | Locks are not removed until guards are fitted; checklist is signed | Maintenance supervisor |
| 9. Remove the locks, test run | Person or tool left in the area | Area is cleared by headcount, locks are removed by their owners, a short test run is made | Maintenance supervisor |
| 10. Clean the area, close the permit | Slipping on an oily floor | Floor is cleaned, waste removed, work permit closed | Team leader |
Two points stand out in this table. First, the most serious risks are not in the act of "replacing the gearbox" itself but in the energy isolation and lowering steps; this distinction is not visible in the general risk assessment. Second, the anchor point for the sling and hoist requires a calculation; this information must be known before work starts. For details of the energy isolation steps, see our article on the LOTO procedure, and for conveyor-specific risks, conveyor safety.
Preparing a JSA step by step
- Choose the job. Pick a job according to the priorities above.
- Form the team. The specialist, the technicians who will do the job and the maintenance manager. The person who knows the job best is the one who does it.
- Observe the job or describe it step by step. If it has been done before, have the team describe how it was done; if it is being done for the first time, work out the sequence from the manual.
- Ask about the hazard for each step. Falls, entrapment, being struck, energy, hot surfaces, chemicals, loads, ergonomics; and also how the step will affect other employees.
- Choose controls according to the hierarchy of controls. First the control that eliminates or reduces the hazard, PPE last. For the order, see our article on the hierarchy of controls.
- Read it with the team before the job. The JSA is read at a short meeting at the start of the job and signed by the team. You can use the toolbox talk method for this meeting.
- Review it when the job is finished. If something unexpected came up on site, the analysis is updated and kept ready for the next time.
Common mistakes
- Writing steps too generally. "Maintenance is carried out" is not a step; "remove the coupling bolts" is a step.
- Preparing it at a desk. A JSA in which the technician doing the job did not take part misses the real sequence on site.
- Writing "PPE will be used" against every hazard. This shows the analysis has not been done.
- Leaving the analysis in a file. A JSA that is not read at the start of the job changes nobody's behaviour.
- Not feeding back to the risk assessment. If new hazards from the JSA are not entered in the main document, they are lost at the next assessment.
In businesses in Bursa and the surrounding provinces, especially during maintenance shutdowns at automotive supplier plants, we prepare JSAs for non-routine work together with maintenance teams and link them to the risk assessment report; this work is part of our OHS specialist service. You can plan annual maintenance shutdowns and JSA review dates with our OHS calendar tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a job safety analysis mandatory?
There is no mandatory document named "JSA" in the legislation. However, the Risk Assessment Regulation requires the hazards of every activity, including maintenance and repair work, to be identified; for non-routine work, the most practical way to meet this obligation is a task-based analysis.
Are a JSA and a risk assessment the same thing?
No. A risk assessment looks at the whole workplace and is renewed at set intervals. A JSA breaks a single job into steps and is prepared before that job. New hazards that come out of a JSA are added to the risk assessment.
Are job safety analysis and job hazard analysis different?
They are different names for the same method. It is also referred to as job safety analysis, job hazard analysis or task-based risk analysis; its essence is to break the job into steps and write down the hazard and control for each step.
Who signs the JSA form?
The team that prepared it (the specialist and the technicians who will do the job) and the person approving the job sign it. At the start of the job, after the form has been read with the team, the team members' signatures are also obtained.
A risk assessment that identifies and scores hazards on site, links each measure to an owner and a date, and has a clear renewal schedule.
Bursa SİSTEMER OSGB Technical Team — written from the field experience of our OHS specialists and workplace physicians. Legal information is valid as of the publication/update date; contact us for an assessment specific to your business.