Get a step ahead of your injuries
August 1, 2005 3 minutes read
Get a step ahead of your injuries
Job hazard analysis uncovers risk
When an injury occurs, it’s helpful to dissect the incident and figure out how to correct safety problems. But wouldn’t it be better to prevent the injury in the first place?
Job hazard analysis is a process that helps employers stay a step ahead of injuries. It shows employees that you’re serious about creating a safer workplace, and it can be used to justify new investments in safety and health, says Mary Gene Ryan, MPH, RN, COHNS, executive director of MGRyan & Co. Inc., a Ventura, CA-based occupational safety and health consulting firm. Ryan presented a session on job hazard analysis at a recent conference of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, which is based in Atlanta.
You should include managers and supervisors as well as frontline employees in this effort, she notes. For example, you could conduct brainstorming sessions at staff meetings. Ideally, you would analyze the tasks of each job in your facility. But as a practical matter, you should set priorities and focus on areas that result in the highest injury rates and workers’ compensation costs.
The steps actually are simple:
• Write out all the steps of a particular task. For example, you might analyze a particular type of patient handling maneuver, such as repositioning a totally dependent patient in the intensive care unit. You even could take photos of the right way to perform the task, which could be used in training and orientation, Ryan explains.
• Consider what could go wrong. If the employee is supposed to get help before performing the lift, what happens if other staff members are busy? Is the lift equipment convenient, or is it stored down the hall? Are different employees performing the task differently?
• Evaluate the available hazard controls. The best way to resolve a hazard is to change the task to remove the hazard, Ryan adds. If that’s not possible, look at your policies, procedures, and personal protective equipment. Are they effective?
• Consider other contributing factors. If a unit is short-staffed, does that lead to changes in patient-handling and a greater likelihood of injury? You may want to ask your frontline employees to describe situations in which they feel most at risk performing a certain task.
"What you’re trying to do is to get the best practices utilized by all members of your facility to cut down on inefficiencies and things that create human error," she says. "If I do a job hazard analysis, then ideally I’ve prevented incidents from occurring."
If you have an incident, you can refer to your job hazard analysis to find where the preventive measures failed. You may be able to use the job hazard analysis, along with injury data, to show administration why you need more lift equipment or other safety devices, Ryan explains. (See sample form.)
"It’s asking people to look more deeply at their job tasks," she says. "Ideally, every single job task you have should be looked at in this detailed manner."
(Editor’s note: More information on job hazard analysis is available from a 2002 OSHA publication at www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3071.pdf.)
When an injury occurs, its helpful to dissect the incident and figure out how to correct safety problems. But wouldnt it be better to prevent the injury in the first place?You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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