OSHA Training News Update
March 31, 2021
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Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan:
What I’ve Learned About JHA’s
by Joel Flowers
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Very early on in my career as a Safety Manager, I attended a Safety Forum that would shape my view of what really works in preventing accidents. I’ll never forget listening to a peer tell his story about two employees losing their lives on different jobs in the span of a year. While that fact should strike fear in the heart of any safety person, what he said afterward has rung in my ears since that day. He related that what really turned things around for his company was developing an effective Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) program. As he explained how it had been such a success in improving the employees’ safety record, a light went on in my head. This is what I had been looking for!
An effective Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) is not rocket science, but it must be appropriate to the tasks that your employees will be performing. While my previous experience in safety management was in construction, I currently work with union millwrights who work with steel, not wood or other building materials. Developing an effective JHA that these employees could relate to required that I take the time to observe the tasks they perform. After all, the JHA starts with what the job or task is. It was only after several months of intense observation that I could begin to develop an appropriate Job Hazard Analysis for this work environment.
The basic concept of an effective Job Hazard Analysis establishes and answers 3 questions: (1) What is the task that I will be performing? (2) What could hurt or injure me while performing that work? (3) What will I do to prevent or mitigate that hazard so that I don’t get injured? The more people involved in this process and giving their input, the more awareness there will be throughout the workday. JHA’s work best when they are a completed via a team discussion.
A well-executed Job Hazard Analysis can help reduce incidents and accidents. It’s not a guarantee that you will never have another incident, but it increases awareness throughout the workday. It makes your workers feel safer, which in turn promotes greater production. So, plan your work and work your plan! Make a great JHA work for you!
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Job Hazard Analysis Suggestions
~ Allow workers to see the JHA throughout the day, such as a JHA whiteboard.
~ Include the potential for human error (i.e., loss of focus), as well as physical hazards in your JHA.
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This 1-day introductory course addresses the four core elements of an effective safety and health program with strategies & techniques that are critical to each element’s proper management. The course is designed for the small employer, business owner or manager designated with the responsibility to develop and manage a firm’s safety and health program or system.
April 26-27, 2021
2 Half-Days
Virtual, Instructor-Led (Zoom)
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Joel Flowers
Joel Flowers has been an OSHA Training Institute Education Center instructor since 2012, and shares his passion for workplace safety and health through a range of OSHA numbered classes. He has 42 years of experience in commercial construction and currently serves as the Safety Manager and Environmental Officer for NMI Industrial. Joel previously provided Excavation and Fall Protection training for Cal/OSHA from 2015-2019.
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OSHA Updates Interim Enforcement Response Plan
OSHA has updated its Interim Enforcement Response Plan to prioritize the use of on-site workplace inspections where practical. This Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) provides new instructions and guidance to Area Offices and Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) for handling COVID-19-related complaints, referrals and severe illness reports.
OSHA's priority is to use its resources to eliminate and control workplace exposures to COVID-19 and to provide OSHA enforcement personnel with the protections necessary to allow them to safely perform inspections.
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OSHA Launches COVID-19 National Emphasis Program |
OSHA has launched a National Emphasis Program to protect high-risk workers from COVID-19 hazards and to prioritize employers who retaliate against workers who complain about unsafe or unhealthful conditions.
NEP inspections will enhance the agency’s previous coronavirus enforcement efforts and will include some follow-up inspections of worksites inspected in 2020. The program’s focused strategy ensures abatement and includes monitoring the effectiveness of OSHA’s enforcement and guidance efforts. The program will remain in effect for up to one year, though OSHA has the flexibility to amend or cancel the program.
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The focus of this course is the recognition of hazards and risks associated with a pandemic illness event and development of strategies to assist a business, community or family with realistic preparation for a pandemic event.
April 8-9, 2021 (2 Half-Days)
Virtual, Instructor-Led (Zoom)
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This course focuses on the roles and responsibilities of the employer to develop and implement an energy control program, or lockout/tagout (LOTO), for worker protection while performing servicing and maintenance activities on machines and equipment.
April 8-9, 2021 (2 Half-Days)
Virtual, Instructor-Led (Zoom)
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This course covers a proactive approach to reducing the use of hazardous chemicals in the workplace by transitioning to safer alternatives. Learn OSHA's 7-step substitution planning process in workshops and hands-on activities using online chemical databases and tools.
April 15-16, 2021 (2 Half-Days)
Virtual, Instructor-Led (Zoom)
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"I felt I came out of this with a wealth of new resources as well as a refocus of some of my frequent responsibilities, such as putting together the department safety committee and encouraging instructors to look at alternative reagents and preservatives. The chance to work with my peers and glean from their knowledge and perspective is invaluable as well.” |
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OSHA numbered Virtual, Instructor-Led classes via Zoom offered by the OSHA Training Institute Education Center at Chabot-Las Positas Community College District are only available to participants located in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa. |
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NEW ADDRESS
5860 Owens Drive
3rd Floor
Pleasanton, CA 94588
Phone: 866-936-6742
Fax: 925-460-0133
E-Mail
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We are still primarily working remotely, but we're available to respond to your inquiries by email or phone (phone inquiries will be answered within 24 hours).
The recommendations in this newsletter are advisory in nature, informational in content, and intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace.
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