How to Write a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA): Step-by-Step Example

A job hazard analysis (JHA) is a written breakdown of one task into its steps, with the hazards and controls for each step. OSHA recommends JHAs and explains the method in Publication 3071. This guide goes through the process in order and includes a worked example for setting and tying rebar on an elevated slab.

You can follow along in the free JHA builder. It has a field for each part of the process below, scores every step before and after controls, and prints to PDF.

Step 1: Pick the task

Write the JHA for one task done by one crew in one area, such as “set and tie rebar for the level 3 deck.” A JHA titled “concrete work” covers too much to say anything specific about any one step.

If you are deciding which tasks to cover first, OSHA 3071 gives priority to jobs with the highest injury or illness rates and jobs that could cause severe or disabling injuries, even with no accident history.

Step 2: Break the task into steps, in order

List the steps in the order the crew does them. OSHA 3071 recommends watching the work and writing down each step as the worker takes it. It warns against a breakdown so detailed that it gets long, or so broad that basic steps drop out.

Start each step with a verb, for example “fly cages to the deck” or “tie mat intersections.” Then ask the crew to check the order. They will often add a step you skipped, such as moving dunnage before a pick.

Step 3: List the hazards for each step

For each step, OSHA 3071 suggests asking what can go wrong, what the consequences would be, how it could happen, and what else contributes. Look at falls, struck-by and caught-between hazards, material handling, and conditions like weather and lighting. The hazard library has pages for common ones, including falls from height and cranes and rigging.

Write each hazard as the event you want to prevent, for example “worker falls from unprotected deck edge,” so it lines up with the control you pick.

Step 4: Score each step before controls

Score each step as if no controls were in place. This site uses Likelihood (1 to 5) times Consequence (1 to 5). Likelihood runs from 1, the least likely, to 5, the most likely. Consequence runs from 1, an injury that needs no first aid, to 5, a fatality or permanent disability.

Scores of 1 to 2 are Negligible and 3 to 4 are Low. A score of 5 to 9 is Moderate, which means the step proceeds only with the listed controls in place and the supervisor confirms them. A High score, 10 to 16, means the step does not start until added controls bring the score down, with supervisor sign-off. Extreme is 20 to 25, and it means you stop and redesign the task. The risk matrix calculator does the math, and the 5x5 risk matrix guide covers how to keep scores consistent.

Step 5: Pick controls using the hierarchy of controls

NIOSH ranks controls from most to least effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment (PPE). Elimination, substitution, and engineering controls work better because they control exposure without depending on much human interaction. For each hazard, start at the top and work down:

• Elimination removes the hazard. Tying beam cages on the ground and flying them in takes most of the tying away from the deck edge.
• Substitution swaps in something safer, such as a stand-up tying tool in place of hand pliers.
• Engineering controls put a physical barrier between the worker and the hazard: perimeter guardrail, covers on deck openings, and caps on protruding bars.
• Administrative controls change how people work, such as keeping the crew out of the crane’s fall zone.
• PPE comes last, for example gloves, or a personal fall arrest system where guardrail has to come down.

NIOSH advises against relying on PPE alone when other effective controls are available. Some OSHA rules name the controls for you. Under 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(1), anyone on a surface with an unprotected side or edge 6 feet or more above a lower level must be protected by guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest. Under 29 CFR 1926.701(b), protruding reinforcing steel that workers could fall onto or into must be guarded to eliminate the hazard of impalement. State plans such as Cal/OSHA can be stricter, so check your state’s rules if you work in one.

Step 6: Score the residual risk

Score each step again with the controls in place. That second score is the residual risk. Most controls lower the likelihood. The consequence often stays where it was, because a fall from a deck edge would cause the same injury if it happened, even though the guardrail makes it far less likely.

Step 7: Review it with the crew

Read the JHA at the work area with everyone who will do the task. OSHA 3071 says to discuss your recommended controls with everyone who performs the job. Ask the crew what is missing and fix the form before anyone signs.

Step 8: Sign it

The person who prepared the JHA, the foreman or competent person, and each crew member sign. A signature means that person read the JHA and understands the controls for their part of the work. Anyone who joins the crew later reads it and signs before starting.

Step 9: Keep it on site and update it

Keep the signed JHA at the work area for the length of the task. When conditions change, stop the affected step, update the JHA, score it again, and have the crew initial the change. OSHA 3071 recommends reviewing a JHA after any injury or illness on that job and training every affected employee whenever you revise it. On USACE projects, EM 385-1-1 requires AHAs to be available on site to all employees for 12 months, and crews must have the current AHA with them while they work.

Worked example: setting and tying rebar for an elevated slab

Here is an example JHA for a crew setting prefabricated beam cages and tying the slab mat on an elevated deck, with edges 6 feet or more above the level below. The scores are examples, and your crew should score its own task.

Step	Hazards	Controls	Before (LxC=score)	After (LxC=score)
1. Fly beam cages to the deck	Struck by a swinging or dropped cage	Qualified rigger; tag lines; only the receiving crew in the fall zone during landing	3x5=15 High	1x5=5 Moderate
2. Set cages in beam forms at the slab edge	Fall from the edge or through openings; pinched hands	Perimeter guardrail and opening covers in place first; guide with tag lines	3x5=15 High	1x5=5 Moderate
3. Carry and spread slab bars	Back strain; cuts; trips	Land bundles near where bars go; two-person carry for long bars; cut-resistant gloves	4x3=12 High	2x3=6 Moderate
4. Tie mat intersections	Repetitive bending and wrist strain; wire punctures	Stand-up or battery tying tool; rotate tiers; gloves	4x2=8 Moderate	2x2=4 Low
5. Work near column dowels	Impalement on protruding bars	Impalement caps or troughs on every protruding bar	2x5=10 High	1x3=3 Low
6. Walk on the finished mat	Trips; ankle injuries	Walk boards over the mat; wire and tools kept off walkways	4x2=8 Moderate	2x2=4 Low

Four of the six steps start in the High band, so none of them begins until the added controls bring the score down and the supervisor signs off. After controls, steps 1, 2, and 3 sit in the Moderate band, so they proceed only with the listed controls in place and confirmed by the supervisor. Steps 1 and 2 score 5 even with the controls, because a dropped cage or a fall from the edge would still be severe.

The crane controls come from 29 CFR 1926.1425. Only employees needed to receive a load may be in the fall zone while it lands, and when workers in the fall zone hook, unhook, or guide a load, a qualified rigger must rig it. When the JHA is done, print it from the builder or use the blank form on the templates page, and keep the signed copy with the crew.