What is a Task Analysis?

A Task Analysis walks one task from start to finish and says how the risk is controlled at each step. It is the document used to plan the work, identify the hazards and communicate the controls to the people doing it, and the one a main contractor asks to see before your crew starts.

What is in one

General details

Project, client, address, location, date, who completed it. Then a one-paragraph description of the activity and its objective, so anyone reading the document knows what work it covers and what it is trying to prevent.

Work screening

A tick list of the conditions that change how you work: height, excavation, live services, mobile plant, confined spaces, asbestos, hot work, traffic. On our documents the ten reg 26 notifiable categories say so in the label; everything else is a prompt to assess, not a notification category. That distinction matters, because notification carries a 24-hour clock and the rest do not.

Legislation and standards

The Act and the regulations that always apply, the task-specific instruments (the Building Act 2004 for building work, NZECP 34:2001 near overhead lines, the Asbestos Regulations 2016 where asbestos may be disturbed), the standards cited by number, and the WorkSafe guidance that covers the task.

Hazards and controls

The core of the document. Each step of the task, the hazard at that step, the risk before controls, the controls, and the risk after. Ranked on the same five-by-five matrix so a supervisor reading three different Task Analyses sees the same scale.

PPE, emergency, sign-on

What to wear, the 111 line, the assembly point, rescue arrangements where the task needs them. Then the sign-on block: supervisor, date, briefing record, every name. This is the page that shows the crew were consulted, which is what HSWA ss58 to 59 ask for.

The Master Task Analysis

Every trade pack opens with one. Use the Master for activities within its stated scope, and add task-specific assessments where the work needs them. Scope is not the same as risk: routine work can still carry serious risk, so reach for the specific TA whenever the task involves one, such as a roof edge, a trench or a live board.

How to prepare your template for the job

1. Read it against the actual site. A template lists what a task usually involves; your site decides what it does involve.
2. Delete first. A TA with twelve hazards that are not present is harder to follow than one with the four that are.
3. Fill every field. Blank general details are the first thing a site manager returns.
4. Brief the crew and take the sign-on. Then keep it where they can find it, and review it when the work changes.

A blank template makes you the author. Start with prepared task content, then review and adapt it for your work.

Sources

• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, ss36, 58 and 59
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016
• Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995, reg 26
• WorkSafe New Zealand, Identifying, assessing and managing work risks, worksafe.govt.nz

This guide is general information about New Zealand health and safety law as at the review date. It is not legal advice and it does not describe your site. Confirm what applies to you with WorkSafe New Zealand or your adviser.