Skip to content

Practical guide · Safety management

Job hazard analysis (JHA): steps, example and how it differs from a JSA

Short answer

A job hazard analysis (JHA) breaks a task into steps, finds the hazards at each step, and decides the controls that remove or reduce them, so the task is done safely. Job safety analysis (JSA) is the same method under another name in most workplaces.

A job hazard analysis, or JHA, is a written review of one job. The team breaks the job into its steps, lists what could hurt someone at each step, and decides what to do about each hazard, starting with the strongest control. The result is a record and a safer method for the task. OSHA publishes guidance on the method under the title Job Hazard Analysis. In most workplaces JSA, job safety analysis, means the same thing. Some safety professionals reserve JHA for a version that also rates the risk, so state which you mean in your own procedure.

Last updated:

How to do a job hazard analysis in four steps

  1. 1

    Choose the job

    Start with the jobs that have hurt people, nearly hurt people, or could hurt someone badly, and with new or changed jobs. The near miss and injury records tell you where.

  2. 2

    Break the job into steps

    Watch the job being done, with the person who does it. Write the steps in order, each as a verb and an object, such as "lift coil onto the stand". Keep to the main steps. Around ten is plenty for most jobs; if you need many more, split the job.

  3. 3

    Identify the hazards at each step

    For every step ask what could go wrong and how someone could be hurt: struck by, caught in, falls, strains, contact with energy, chemicals, noise, heat. Also ask what the person does when the step goes wrong, because that is when injuries happen.

  4. 4

    Decide the controls

    For each hazard write what will be done, and prefer controls in this order: eliminate the hazard, substitute something safer, put in engineering controls, use administrative controls such as procedures and training, and last, personal protective equipment. This is the hierarchy of controls. Give each action an owner and a date.

Then use the result: put the safe method into the procedure, train the people who do the job, and review the analysis whenever the job, the equipment or the people change, or after an incident. The free job safety analysis template lays out the table.

Worked example: loading a coil onto an uncoiler

This example is made up for this page and is illustrative. The 1 to 5 scales are our own; use your site's scales. Risk score is severity times likelihood.

Part of a JHA for loading a coil, with risk before and after controls
StepHazardBefore (S x L)ControlAfter (S x L)
Move the coil to the uncoiler with the lift truckStruck by the truck or a falling coil4 x 3 = 12Marked route, spotter at the crossing, coil secured on the forks (engineering and administrative)4 x 2 = 8
Lift the coil onto the mandrelCoil drops while lifted5 x 2 = 10Rated lifting device with a lifting eye replaces the manual lift (substitution)5 x 1 = 5
Cut the bandingCut hands; the coil springs open4 x 4 = 16Cut with the coil restrained by the hold-down arm, cut-resistant gloves (engineering and PPE)4 x 1 = 4
Feed the stripHands caught between strip and rolls4 x 3 = 12Guard on the entry roll, interlocked; hands out of the zone at start-up (engineering)4 x 1 = 4

Illustrative. S is severity 1 to 5, L is likelihood 1 to 5.

Read it row by row. Cutting the banding scored 4 times 4, which is 16, the highest, so it gets fixed first. The hold-down arm drops the likelihood from 4 to 1, so the score falls from 16 to 4. Adding the four before scores, 12 plus 10 plus 16 plus 12, gives 50; the four after scores, 8 plus 5 plus 4 plus 4, give 21. The total fell by 29, but the bigger point is that the two worst steps now rely on a physical control, not on someone remembering. Notice also what did not change: the first row's severity stays at 4 because a truck strike is still serious, and only the likelihood can move.

JHA vs JSA: are they different?

In most workplaces, no. Both describe the same technique: break a job into steps, find the hazards, set controls. Different industries and companies picked different names. OSHA's published guidance on the method is titled Job Hazard Analysis, and many companies and safety bodies say Job Safety Analysis. Others say job safety analysis, task hazard analysis or activity hazard analysis for the same thing. Check the current publication from your regulator or safety body.

Some practitioners draw a line: a JSA lists steps, hazards and controls, and a JHA also scores the risk of each hazard before and after, as the example above does. That is a useful habit, but it is a choice, not a rule you can cite. Whichever name you use, define it in your procedure so everyone means the same document. Our template is named job safety analysis and has a risk column.

When to do a JHA

  • Before a new job or a new piece of equipment starts.
  • When a job has produced an injury, a near miss or a close call.
  • When a job changes: new material, tool, layout, people or procedure.
  • For non-routine and high-risk work, such as maintenance, confined spaces and work at height, usually together with a permit system where your rules require one.
  • On a regular review cycle for high-risk jobs, set by your own procedure.

A JHA is a planning tool. It is not a substitute for a risk assessment matrix at the area level, a lockout procedure for energy control (see the lockout tagout template), or a stop on the job when something unexpected appears. See stop-work authority.

Common mistakes

  • Doing it at a desk. The people who do the job know the hazards and the workarounds. Do it at the job, with them.
  • Steps too broad. "Operate the press" hides the hazards. Split until each step has a clear action.
  • Naming the person as the hazard. "Operator inattention" is not a hazard. Ask what made the mistake easy, and fix that. See unsafe acts and unsafe conditions.
  • Every control is PPE or a warning sign. These are the weakest controls. Look up the hierarchy before writing them down.
  • Filing it. A JHA in a binder changes nothing. Put the controls into the procedure and the training.
  • Never reviewing it. When the job changes, the analysis is wrong.

How LeanSuite fits

LeanSuite's safety improvement module runs safety inspections, gemba walks and LOTO checks from ready-made templates, with a failed item raising a safety tag automatically, and a floor-plan heat map shows where hazards cluster. Its near miss reporting tracks each reported hazard to closure. It is not a permit-to-work system, and it does not tell you what the law requires of your site.

Regulations on hazard assessment vary by country and industry. This guide names no section of any regulation. Read the current text of the rule that applies to you.

Go deeper

This page is the short version. These guides cover each part in full.

All our articles on this subject are in the safety management topic.

Free templates and tools

Key terms

Lean glossary

Doing this in LeanSuite

See it on your own lines

Bring the problem you are working on to a 45-minute demo. Or look around with sample data first, or pilot LeanSuite on your own lines for 90 days, with the setup done by our team.

Book a 45-minute demoClick through the interactive demoStart a 90-day pilot

FAQ

Questions about job hazard analysis

  1. A job hazard analysis is a written review of one job. The team breaks the job into steps, lists the hazards at each step and decides the controls, starting with the strongest. It produces a safer method and a record.

  2. In most workplaces they are the same method with two names. Some safety professionals use JHA for a version that also rates the risk of each hazard. There is no single rule, so define the term in your own procedure.

  3. Choose the job, break it into steps, identify the hazards at each step, and decide the controls, preferring elimination and engineering controls to procedures and protective equipment. Then put the controls into the procedure, train the team and review the analysis when the job changes.

  4. The people who do the job, a supervisor who knows how it is meant to be done, and someone with safety or engineering knowledge. The person who does the job knows the shortcuts and the real hazards, so a JHA done without them misses things.

  5. Whenever the job, equipment, material or people change, after any injury or near miss on that job, and on a regular cycle that you set for high-risk jobs. Check any rule from your regulator or customer that sets an interval.

Related guides and tools

More method guides

Or browse the topics, the full library and the lean glossary.

Rather see it on your own problem?

Bring the problem you are stuck on, and we will show you on a call how LeanSuite handles it.

Schedule Demo

Pass it on

We want LeanSuite to be the best place on the internet for lean help. If this was useful, send it to someone on your team or in your network who needs it.