Job Hazard Analysis (JHA/JSA): How to Write One That Actually Works (2026)

Most JHAs don’t work. Not because the format is wrong, but because they were written to satisfy an audit, not to actually guide workers doing the job. You’ve probably seen them: a three-column table with “Step 1: Begin task” in the first column, “hazard: injury” in the second, and “wear PPE” in the third. Technically a JHA. Completely useless.

The document you actually need looks different. It takes real work to build, requires input from the people doing the job, and gets used in the field instead of filed in a drawer. Here’s what that looks like.

What a JHA Actually Is

A job hazard analysis breaks a specific work task into individual steps, identifies the hazard or hazards present at each step, and describes the controls that protect workers from each hazard. That’s the whole structure: steps, hazards, controls. The three-column format is standard because it maps directly to that structure.

The word “specific” matters. A JHA for “working at heights” is too broad to be useful. A JHA for “installing HVAC equipment on a roof-mounted platform using a scissor lift” is specific enough to identify real hazards. The more defined the task, the more accurate the hazard inventory, and the more useful the controls.

Some companies add a fourth column for the responsible person or the verification step. Some use a five-column format that includes a risk rating before and after controls. Those variations are fine. The core three columns are what OSHA references in its Job Hazard Analysis publication, and they’re the baseline.

JHA vs JSA vs THA

You’ll hear all three terms depending on where you work. JHA (Job Hazard Analysis) is the term OSHA uses officially. JSA (Job Safety Analysis) is more common in construction and some manufacturing settings. THA (Task Hazard Analysis) shows up in oil and gas, particularly for turnaround and shutdown work.

The format and purpose are identical across all three. The only practical difference is the name on the form. If you’re moving between industries, confirm which term your new employer uses so you’re speaking the same language on day one.

When OSHA Expects Them

OSHA doesn’t always use the phrase “job hazard analysis” in its standards, but several standards effectively require the same process.

Confined space entry under 29 CFR 1910.146 requires that employers identify hazards before entry. Lockout/tagout under 29 CFR 1910.147 requires written procedures that describe the hazardous energy sources and the methods to control them. Process safety management under 29 CFR 1910.119 requires process hazard analyses. Excavation standards require slope and shoring analysis tied to specific soil conditions.

Beyond those specific standards, the OSHA General Duty Clause requires that employers address recognized hazards that could cause serious injury or death. If OSHA can show that a hazard was known, recognizable, and not controlled, that’s a General Duty citation. A JHA is one of the clearest ways to document that your facility identified and controlled recognized hazards before the work began.

That last point matters: the JHA protects you too, not just workers. An incomplete JHA is worse than none, but a thorough one is documentation that your facility took the hazard identification process seriously.

How to Write One That Works

Pick the right tasks first

Don’t try to JHA everything at once. Start with the tasks that carry the highest consequence: work at heights, confined space entry, hot work, work near energized equipment, lifting operations over workers, tasks with a history of near-misses or incidents.

After high-risk tasks, move to complex tasks that vary by worker, tasks performed by contractors or new employees, and non-routine tasks that don’t happen often enough for workers to stay sharp on the hazards. Routine, low-risk tasks can wait until the high-priority work is covered.

Break the task into steps

Aim for 5 to 10 steps per JHA. If you’re writing 20 steps, the task should probably be split into two separate JHAs. If you have 3 steps, the task breakdown isn’t specific enough.

Steps should describe discrete actions in sequence. “Climb ladder and position materials” is one step. “Climb ladder” and “position materials at elevated surface” are two steps if the hazards at each are meaningfully different. Walk through the task in your head or, better, watch a worker do it. Write what actually happens, not what should ideally happen.

Be specific about hazards

This is where most JHAs fail. “Struck by” is not a hazard description. “Caught between rotating auger and fixed guard when clearing jam without lockout” is a hazard description. The level of specificity tells workers exactly what they’re protecting against, and it tells supervisors exactly what to look for.

For each step, ask: what could go wrong here? What energy sources are present? What could move unexpectedly? What surfaces, edges, or chemicals are involved? What happens if something slips, fails, or breaks? Write down the specific failure mode, not just the category of harm.

Write controls that workers can actually use

The hierarchy of controls should shape your thinking: elimination first, then substitution, then engineering controls, then administrative controls, then PPE. Most JHAs default straight to PPE because it’s easy to write. That’s backwards.

If the hazard can be engineered out (guarding, interlocks, ventilation), write that first. If the hazard requires a procedure, make the procedure specific enough to follow. If PPE is required, list the specific type, not just “wear gloves.” Nitrile 6-mil versus leather work gloves aren’t interchangeable. Workers need to know which one.

Controls that aren’t actually available on-site are worse than no controls. They teach workers that the JHA is fictional. If your form says “chemical-resistant apron required” and none are stocked in the area, fix the stocking problem or fix the JHA. The document has to reflect reality.

Get worker input before you finalize it

The safety manager writing a JHA alone at a desk will miss hazards. Workers who do the task every day know things you don’t: the awkward position required by that one piece of equipment, the way the surface gets slippery after rain, the step that looks simple in theory but requires both hands in a pinch point. Ask before you publish.

A practical approach: draft the JHA based on your walkthrough, then sit down with two or three workers who perform the task and go through it step by step. Ask what’s missing. Ask what’s unrealistic. Then have someone unfamiliar with the task read it for clarity. If they can’t understand what the control requires, workers in the field won’t either.

Common Mistakes That Kill JHAs

Vague hazard descriptions are the most common problem. “Fall hazard” tells workers nothing. “Fall to lower level from unguarded roof edge during material staging” tells them exactly what to watch for.

Impractical controls are the second-most-common issue. If the control requires equipment that isn’t available, a procedure that’s never been trained, or a second person when work is always done solo, workers will ignore it. That’s not a worker problem. That’s a JHA quality problem.

Using JHAs only after incidents is a third failure mode. If the first time workers see the JHA for a task is during an incident investigation, the document was never actually a prevention tool. It becomes evidence that you knew about the hazard and didn’t act on it before someone got hurt.

Reviewing on a fixed schedule but not when anything changes is also a problem. Annual review is a floor, not a ceiling. A near-miss involving a JHA task should trigger an immediate review, every time.

Getting Workers to Actually Use Them

The fastest way to make JHAs useless is to treat them as desk documents. They need to be accessible at the worksite, not in a binder in the safety office. Laminated copies, job-box clip folders, digital access on a tablet at the work area, these all work. The format doesn’t matter as long as the document is where the work is.

Pre-task briefings are the most effective use of a JHA. Before a crew starts a high-risk task, walk through the JHA together. Each worker confirms they understand their role and the controls. This takes three minutes on a well-written JHA. And it does something else: it creates a shared understanding between workers, not just between a worker and a piece of paper.

Workers who helped write a JHA will use it. Workers who were handed one they had no part in creating often won’t. That’s not cynicism. It’s how participation affects ownership. Build worker input into the writing process and you won’t need to enforce JHA compliance nearly as hard.

Digital vs Paper

Apps and software for mobile JHA completion have gotten practical. Workers complete JHAs on a phone or tablet before starting work. The form auto-populates task details, timestamps completion, captures a signature, and syncs to a central system. That’s useful for record-keeping and for spotting patterns in hazard identification across sites.

Paper still works fine for most operations. A laminated pocket-size card for a standard recurring task, a clipboard form for non-routine work. The technology matters less than whether workers engage with the content.

If you go digital, don’t let the app become the goal. Easy clicks and checkboxes without worker thought defeats the purpose as much as a signed paper form no one actually read.

After a Near-Miss or Incident

When something goes wrong on a task that has a JHA, pull the document immediately. You’re answering two questions: did the JHA identify this hazard, and was the control followed?

If the hazard was identified and the control wasn’t followed, that’s a training or supervision issue. The JHA was sound. The break was in execution.

If the hazard wasn’t identified, that’s a JHA quality issue. The document failed to capture a real risk. Revise it immediately, communicate the revision to everyone who does that task, and treat it as a signal that your hazard identification process needs improvement.

If the incident happened on a task with no JHA, that’s the first priority: write one before the task resumes. Document that the JHA was written in response to the incident and why.

Where to Start

Pick one high-risk task at your facility that doesn’t have a JHA, or has one that you know is inadequate. Spend an hour walking the task, another hour writing a draft with a worker who does it regularly, and another 30 minutes getting feedback from a second worker. That’s one solid JHA. It’s also a model you can use to train supervisors to build the next 10. Start there, not with a full program rollout that never gets off the ground.