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Job hazard analysis (JHA) template

A job hazard analysis, also called a JSA, breaks a task into steps, lists the hazard in each step and decides how to control it before work starts. OSHA does not generally require a written JHA for construction tasks, but the employer must instruct each employee in recognizing and avoiding unsafe conditions (29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)). This free template helps you meet that duty.

What a JHA is and what OSHA requires

A JHA is a working paper, not paperwork for its own sake. The supervisor and the crew walk through the task one step at a time, ask what could go wrong in each step and write down what will be done so it does not. It fits before new tasks, before high hazard tasks, when the equipment or the place changes, and after an injury or a near miss.

OSHA's construction standards do not ask for a written JHA in general. What they do ask for is in the general training rule:

“The employer shall instruct each employee in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and the regulations applicable to his work environment to control or eliminate any hazards or other exposure to illness or injury.” 29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)

A JHA is a practical way to meet that instruction, because it puts the hazards of the task and what the crew must do in writing. A few specific standards do call for written plans or assessments for certain work, and your client or employer may require a JHA even when OSHA does not. Always check the standard that applies to your task.

How to use the template

  1. Pick the task or write your own. Tasks with a template come with the steps, hazards and controls already written.
  2. Walk the job with the crew and change anything that does not match today's work. Add the hazards that belong to your site.
  3. Order the controls from most effective to least. Removing the hazard comes first, protective equipment comes last.
  4. Print the JHA or save it as a PDF, or download it as Word to keep editing. Have the crew sign it.

The controls follow the hierarchy of controls: eliminate, substitute, engineering controls, administrative controls and, last, personal protective equipment. Each level protects less than the one before it, so protective equipment should never be the only control when another is possible.

Free JHA generator

No login. What you type stays in your browser.

Pick a task to fill in the steps, or write your own. Everything stays editable.

Steps, hazards and controls

  1. Step 1

  2. Step 2

  3. Step 3

JHA templates by task

For the toolbox talk on the same task, see the free toolbox talks.

PRINT AND EDIT

JHA template pack, $29

All 20 task templates as editable Word and Excel files and as PDF, in English and Spanish, plus a blank master form. Change them for your site and your equipment and use them inside your company.

  • 20 task JHA templates, editable Word (DOCX)
  • The same 20 as Excel (XLSX) and PDF
  • English and Spanish versions
  • A blank master JHA form
  • Hazards, ranked controls, PPE and the OSHA paragraphs for each task

Instant download. 30-day refund, no questions.