Analyzing the Workplace
Beyond Identification
To identify workplace hazardous conditions, unsafe behaviors, and safety management system failures, we should conduct surveys and interviews, safety inspections, and audits.
What is Analysis?
But merely identifying these defects is not good enough. We need to get beyond the mere identification of hazards: We need to determine how those defects impact overall safety in the workplace. To do that we must conduct an analysis: But, what is it?
Analysis - How Each Part Impacts The Whole
When conducting analysis, we closely examine each part of a policy, program, plan, process, procedure or task to determine its impact on the whole. There are various forms of analysis used to improve safety in the workplace. In this module we'll look at:
- Job Hazard Analysis
- Change Analysis
- Process Hazard Analysis
- Phase Hazard Analysis
To get a better idea how analysis is conducted, let's look at a couple of examples:
- if we are conducting a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA), we'll look at each step of the job to determine the impact each step has on the whole job.
- if we are conducting a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA), we'll look at each procedure in the process to determine its effect on the entire process.
Bottom line: Remember, the purpose of analysis is to learn how each part impacts the whole.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
4-1. The process of analysis _____.
You forgot to answer the question!