Job Hazard Analysis Form

What a job safety analysis is for

A job safety analysis examines how a task is actually carried out and what could go wrong at each step of it. Rather than assessing a workplace as a whole, it breaks an activity down step by step so that hazards and controls can be considered where they occur. The point is to make the hazards of a task visible before work begins, and to satisfy yourself that the controls in place bring the risk down to a level you are willing to accept. That is why a job safety analysis is more than a list of hazards. It asks you to name the people developing the procedures, the permits, authorizations and PPE the activity requires, the training each task depends on, and the checks on the equipment you will use. The analysis then works through the task itself.

Setting up the analysis

The form begins with the administrative record that anchors everything else: - **Conducted on, Prepared by and Location** — when, by whom and where the analysis is being carried out. - **Purpose and use of this hazard analysis form** — a statement of what the form is for, so that anyone reading the completed record understands its scope. - **Full name of each person developing the job safety analysis (JSA) procedures** — the people responsible for the analysis. From there you set out the conditions the activity depends on: 1. **Work permits required for this activity.** 2. **Authorizations required for this activity.** 3. **Personal protective equipment (PPE) required for this activity.** 4. **Training required to carry out the individual tasks of this activity.** 5. Whether all required training for the individual tasks is currently verified, and details of any training gaps, refreshers or additional instruction required. Where the answer to the training question leaves a gap, note what is needed to close it. A task step should not be signed off as ready if the people carrying it out are not trained for it. Equipment and tools are checked in the same section by section way. You record the equipment or tool inspected, whether the check was completed and the equipment found fit for use, any notes on defects found or corrective action taken, and, where useful, a photograph of the equipment checked or of any defect identified.

Analyzing each step, hazard and control

The core of a job safety analysis is the step-by-step record. For each step in the task being analyzed, the form asks you to work through the same sequence: 1. **The step in the task being analyzed.** 2. **The hazards associated with this step.** 3. **The existing controls already in place for this step.** 4. **An initial risk rating for this step.** 5. **Any additional controls required for this step.** 6. **A residual (reviewed) risk rating for this step after controls.** 7. **Whether the residual risk is acceptable to proceed with this step.** The initial risk rating tells you what the step looks like before anything further is done about it. The residual rating tells you what it looks like once the additional controls are in place. Comparing the two is the point of the exercise: it shows whether the controls you have chosen actually change the risk, and whether what is left after them is something you are prepared to accept. If the residual risk is not acceptable, the step needs more control before it goes ahead. Risk ratings in the form can be recorded as Low, Medium, High or Critical, and the acceptability question can be answered Yes or No.

Completing the job safety analysis

A job safety analysis is not finished when the last hazard has been written down. The form closes with a check on whether the process was completed in full, and provides a route for the cases where it was not: - **Was the job safety analysis process completed in full?** - **If the process was not completed, describe the reason.** - **Summary of the task review carried out to support continuation of the process.** - **Actions required to resume and complete the job safety analysis.** - **Date by which the job safety analysis must be completed.** The task review exists so that a partly finished analysis is not simply abandoned. It gives the next person a basis for continuing the work, together with the actions and deadline needed to finish it. Once the analysis is complete, the people involved sign it off. The form records the full name of each person involved, whether all of them have signed the completed form, and their signatures, along with the time the work finished and the inspection's real start and end dates.

Where a job safety analysis fits in your safety arrangements

A completed job safety analysis is a working record. It supports the planning of the task, the briefing of the people carrying it out, and the decisions about PPE, permits, authorizations and training that the activity depends on. It also gives you something to return to when the task changes, when the equipment changes, or when the people carrying out the work change. Keep the analysis with the task documentation so that the permissions, training, equipment checks and step-by-step controls stay together. If the analysis is carried out before the work begins, the signatures at the end confirm that the people involved have seen it and are working to it. If a regulation applies to the activity, it will set the requirements you must meet; the analysis is the record of how you have addressed them in this particular task.

Frequently Asked Questions

Plan the analysis by naming the people who will develop it, then note the work permits, authorizations and PPE the activity requires. List the training needed to carry out the individual tasks and confirm that training is current and verified. Check the equipment or tools involved and record whether they are fit for use. Answer the questions in 'Job Safety Analysis and Risk Assessment' once for each step of the task, and complete the checks in the remaining sections. If the analysis was not completed in full, record the reason, summarize the task review carried out to support continuation of the process, and set the actions and date by which the analysis must be completed.

The first section records the date of the analysis, who prepared it, and the location. It also states the purpose and use of the hazard analysis form, and lists the full names of each person developing the job safety analysis (JSA) procedures. The final section records the full names of everyone involved, whether they have signed the completed form, their signature, when the work finished, and the inspection's real start and end dates.

Permits, authorizations and PPE, applicable training, and equipment checks make up the middle of the form. That coverage is the practical point of a JSA: the step-by-step hazard and risk work only holds up if the people, permissions and equipment around it are in place first. Each of the tasks in the analysis carries its own set of questions, and the answer scales include Yes/No/N/A, Yes/No, and a Low/Medium/High/Critical risk rating.

Each task step is recorded, along with the hazards associated with it and any existing controls already in place. You then give the step an initial risk rating, note any additional controls required, and give a residual (reviewed) risk rating after those controls. The last question in that section asks whether the residual risk is acceptable to proceed with the step, so any step with unacceptable residual risk needs additional controls before work continues.

Written by

Arne Reis

Founder

Process optimizer with 25 years of expertise, focused on operational excellence in quality, maintenance, EHS, and commissioning. Emphasizes innovative solutions and top-quality standards.

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