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This has been driven to some extent by our legislation in that some people interpret the WHS legislation to mean you have to have a risk assessment to do anything. This is not helped by the typical response to an incident where the first question is: Did you have a risk assessment? Again, this question puts the focus on the document not the process. While there is certainly a need to demonstrate that the business has assessed the risks associated with a task, it doesn't say it has to be done by the workers. Maybe the first question should be: What risks did we fail to manage effectively? So my advice is to seriously consider your policy around when work groups have to complete JSAs. Consider developing work procedures and instructions for workers and work groups, rather than requiring them to do a JSA before a task. This takes more effort up front, but I believe better serves the workers and recongises that they are typically trained and competent individuals, rather than a bunch of people who need to fill out a JSA to be safe. There must be a review process My final bit of advice is around the review process for JSAs (and other risk documents for that matter). At the heart of what I am talking about is that in many situations workers place little to no value in the documents they are asked to complete, and this is often because their direct supervisors feels the same way, or at least exhibits behavior that might suggest this. Where a document needs to be reviewed or approved by a supervisor, and they consistently just sign off without reading it, and let poor documentation slide through, then they are reinforcing the message that it is more important to have a risk assessment than to manage risks. I believe you can generate a lot of change (in terms of the quality of the JSA, the level of value placed in it, and how well it is implemented) by having a genuine review process. Supervisors should be encouraged (by their managers) to actually review the document and challenge any content that is not up to scratch. Supervisors should question the workers on what they have written. They should make it clear, through their actions, that documents won't just be signed off, and then supervisors must actually go on-site and see if they are being followed. It won't take the workers long to work out what is going on. Final word JSAs, permits, and checklists etc. are genuine risk management tools that, when used properly, can assist in managing risks and preventing injuries. Don't use them just for the sake of it. Don't make them simply another step you need to get past to do the job. Seriously consider reducing the need for work groups to have to complete some documents (after all they don't place value in many of them now), and encourage a genuine review and authorisation process. Consulting Manager Baseline Training & Consulting safety dave whitefield 59 The Australasian Mine Safety Journal Spring 2011