• Jobs with the highest injury or illness rates;
• Jobs with the potential to cause severe or disabling injuries or illness, even if there is no history of previous accidents;
• Jobs in which one simple human error could lead to a severe accident or injury;
• Jobs that are new to your operation or have undergone changes in processes and procedures; and
• Jobs complex enough to require written instructions.

1. Involve your employees. It is very important to involve your employees in the hazard analysis process. They have a unique understanding of the job, and this knowledge is invaluable for finding hazards. Involving employees will help minimize oversights, ensure a quality analysis, and get workers to "buy in" to the solutions because they will share ownership in their safety and health program.
   
   
2. Review your accident history. Review with your employees your worksite's history of accidents and occupational illnesses that needed treatment, losses that required repair or replacement, and any "near misses" -- events in which an accident or loss did not occur, but could have. These events are indicators that the existing hazard controls (if any) may not be adequate and deserve more scrutiny.
   
   
3. Conduct a preliminary job review. Discuss with your employees the hazards they know exist in their current work and surroundings. Brainstorm with them for ideas to eliminate or control those hazards.
   
   If any hazards exist that pose an immediate danger to an employee's life or health, take immediate action to protect the worker. Any problems that can be corrected easily should be corrected as soon as possible. Do not wait to complete your job hazard analysis. This will demonstrate your commitment to safety and health and enable you to focus on the hazards and jobs that need more study because of their complexity. For those hazards determined to present unacceptable risks, evaluate types of hazard controls. More information about hazard controls is found in Appendix 1.
   
   
4. List, rank, and set priorities for hazardous jobs. List jobs with hazards that present unacceptable risks, based on those most likely to occur and with the most severe consequences. These jobs should be your first priority for analysis.
   
   
5. Outline the steps or tasks. Nearly every job can be broken down into job tasks or steps. When beginning a job hazard analysis, watch the employee perform the job and list each step as the worker takes it. Be sure to record enough information to describe each job action without getting overly detailed. Avoid making the breakdown of steps so detailed that it becomes unnecessarily long or so broad that it does not include basic steps. You may find it valuable to get input from other workers who have performed the same job. Later, review the job steps with the employee to make sure you have not omitted something. Point out that you are evaluating the job itself, not the employee's job performance. Include the employee in all phases of the analysis -- from reviewing the job steps and procedures to discussing uncontrolled hazards and recommended solutions.
   
   Sometimes, in conducting a job hazard analysis, it may be helpful to photograph or videotape the worker performing the job. These visual records can be handy references when doing a more detailed analysis of the work.

• What can go wrong?
• What are the consequences?
• How could it arise?
• What are other contributing factors?
• How likely is it that the hazard will occur?

• Where it is happening (environment),
• Who or what it is happening to (exposure),
• What precipitates the hazard (trigger),
• The outcome that would occur should it happen (consequence), and
• Any other contributing factors.

In the metal shop (environment), while clearing a snag (trigger), a worker's hand (exposure) comes into contact with a rotating pulley. It pulls his hand into the machine and severs his fingers (consequences) quickly.

• What can go wrong? The worker's hand could come into contact with a rotating object that "catches" it and pulls it into the machine.
  
  
• What are the consequences? The worker could receive a severe injury and lose fingers and hands.
  
  
• How could it happen? The accident could happen as a result of the worker trying to clear a snag during operations or as part of a maintenance activity while the pulley is operating. Obviously, this hazard scenario could not occur if the pulley is not rotating.
  
  
• What are other contributing factors? This hazard occurs very quickly. It does not give the worker much opportunity to recover or prevent it once his hand comes into contact with the pulley. This is an important factor, because it helps you determine the severity and likelihood of an accident when selecting appropriate hazard controls. Unfortunately, experience has shown that training is not very effective in hazard control when triggering events happen quickly because humans can react only so quickly.
  
  
• How likely is it that the hazard will occur? This determination requires some judgment. If there have been "near-misses" or actual cases, then the likelihood of a recurrence would be considered high. If the pulley is exposed and easily accessible, that also is a consideration. In the example, the likelihood that the hazard will occur is high because there is no guard preventing contact, and the operation is performed while the machine is running. By following the steps in this example, you can organize your hazard analysis activities.

Step 1. Reach into metal box to right of machine, grasp casting, and carry to wheel.

Step 2. Push casting against wheel to grind off burr.

Step 3. Place finished casting in box to left of machine.

• Management leadership and employee involvement;
• Worksite analysis;
• Hazard prevention and control; and
• Safety and health training.

• Recognize employers who have successfully developed and implemented effective and comprehensive safety and health management systems;
• Encourage these employers to continuously improve their safety and health management systems;
• Motivate other employers to achieve excellent safety and health results in the same outstanding way; and
• Establish a relationship between employers, employees, and OSHA that is based on cooperation.

• Reduced numbers of worker fatalities, injuries, and illnesses;
• Lost-workday case rates generally 50 percent below industry averages;
• Lower workers' compensation and other injury- and illness-related costs;
• Improved employee motivation to work safely, leading to a better quality of life at work;
• Positive community recognition and interaction;
• Further improvement and revitalization of already-good safety and health programs; and a
• Positive relationship with OSHA.

• Comprehensive, which focuses on establishing comprehensive safety and health management systems at partnering worksites; and
• Limited, which helps identify and eliminate hazards associated with worker deaths, injuries, and illnesses, or have goals other than establishing comprehensive worksite safety and health programs.

• Fewer worker fatalities, injuries, and illnesses;
• Lower workers' compensation and other injury- and illness-related costs;
• Improved employee motivation to work safely, leading to a better quality of life at work and enhanced productivity;
• Positive community recognition and interaction;
• Development of or improvement in safety and health management systems; and
• Positive interaction with OSHA.

1. Engineering controls.
2. Administrative controls.
3. Personal protective equipment.

• Elimination/minimization of the hazard -- Designing the facility, equipment, or process to remove the hazard, or substituting processes, equipment, materials, or other factors to lessen the hazard;
• Enclosure of the hazard using enclosed cabs, enclosures for noisy equipment, or other means;
• Isolation of the hazard with interlocks, machine guards, blast shields, welding curtains, or other means; and
• Removal or redirection of the hazard such as with local and exhaust ventilation.

• Written operating procedures, work permits, and safe work practices;
• Exposure time limitations (used most commonly to control temperature extremes and ergonomic hazards);
• Monitoring the use of highly hazardous materials;
• Alarms, signs, and warnings;
• Buddy system; and
• Training.

• When engineering controls are not feasible or do not totally eliminate the hazard;
• While engineering controls are being developed;
• When safe work practices do not provide sufficient additional protection; and
• During emergencies when engineering controls may not be feasible.