When building an ROV, there are lots of jobs that require using a powered tool. These tools may be sharp, fast, loud, bright, hot, or any number of qualities that make them both extremely helpful and considerably dangerous. This does not mean that working with these tools will guarantee an injury! However, if an accident were to occur, we will most likely find ourselves wishing we had done something beforehand to prevent it. This is what’s known as proactive safety: steps made to avoid an accident before one even occurs.

The Job Safety and Environment Analysis (JSEA) is a form that encourages a proactive safety mindset by having the responder think about the potential risks of the work that they will be doing. By asking the responder to generate answers instead of simply handing the answers to them, all team members are actively involved in safety in the workplace. This helps to create a complete list of rules, as they are drawn from every person’s unique experiences.

The primary way that safety is maintained at Eastern Edge Robotics is through controls. Controls are things that can be added, changed, or removed to make work safer. They are generally separated into three categories:

Engineering Controls: Features that are added to equipment or the work environment to increase safety. Examples include fume extractors, emergency stops, guards, and vice grips.

Administrative Controls: Teaching information that will increase safety. This includes training courses as well as posters around the work area with important reminders. The JSEA is, in its own way, a form of administrative control!

Personal Protective Equipment: Adding or removing attire to the person (or people) doing work. Adding might include steel-toed shoes, safety glasses, hearing protection, and gloves. Removing might include not wearing long-sleeves, jewelry, or loose fitting clothes.

The JSEA at Eastern Edge Robotics, and most JSEAs you will see, ask what controls were used for a particular kind of work. More dangerous work often requires more controls. To determine the risk involved with a task, a Risk Registry can be completed. This is a chart evaluated on two axes - Likelihood and Severity of Harm.

The responder first considers how likely it is that they will undergo harm doing this work. This can be done by percentage “If I used this tool 100 times, how many times would I get hurt?” or by time “How many times will someone in my team hurt themselves on this tool during the year?” The 5 results range from Very Unlikely to Very Likely.

Next, the responder is asked how badly they would be hurt if an accident were to occur. “Harm” is a broad term, and could range anywhere from a papercut to a life-altering injury. The 5 results range from Very Minor (First Aid or no aid) to Extreme (Death or severe disability).

Depending on these two responses, the work will be qualified as either Low Risk, Moderate Risk, or High Risk on the risk registry. Low risk work can generally be completed with the normal shop rules in mind (At Eastern Edge Robotics, this means not working alone and using proper controls). Moderate risk work means on top of the normal shop rules, there should probably be additional controls like more involved training or a supervisor approval.

Risks are able to be reduced to a lower level by adding more controls. This is very similar to the iterative design process: Calculate the initial risk registry, come up with a list of potential controls, and reassess the risk registry if these controls were added. High risk work should be avoided completely and controls should be added until the risk is mitigated to at least the moderate level.

After all of this, the responder is ready to begin work, knowing that all possible measures were taken to make sure they are safe and informed. I am a firm believer that people cannot reach peak success unless they are enjoying themselves, and that people cannot enjoy themselves unless they feel comfortable in their environment. This means that the foundation of any project should be intentional investments into the safety of the team members. Not only is a JSEA and a proactive safety mindset important for reducing the amount of accidents in the workplace, but it can also make team members feel more secure to know that rules are in place to keep them safe. All of this contributes to the success of your team, so don’t underestimate the power of a (relatively) short form!