Job Hazard Analysis (JHA)

How to analyze health & safety hazards at your

worksite

Division of Occupational Safety & Health (DOSH)

Updated: October, 2013
 What is Job Hazard Analysis (JHA)?

It is a method for systematically identifying

and evaluating hazards associated with a
particular job or task. It is also called “job
safety analysis (JSA)”.
 Why conduct a job hazard analysis?

A job hazard analysis can prevent work-related death,

injuries or illnesses by eliminating or controlling
identified hazards.

It is a means to ensure that workers have the

training, equipment and supplies to do their jobs
safely.

It will help you in developing your accident prevention

program (APP), an L & I safety requirement for all
employers.

Note: The general method can be used in other loss prevention efforts
such as environmental pollution prevention or fire protection.
 Hazard Awareness
Accepting a risk or hazard is not the same as eliminating or
controlling it.
When conducting a job hazard analysis, you may need
to take a fresh look at the way things are done at your
workplace.
Even though you may hear “we’ve been doing it that
way for 20 years and nothing happened”, it doesn’t
mean a hazard doesn’t exist.
You should take a comprehensive look at all possible
hazards with an open mind.
 How do I conduct a JHA?

Identify the job or task to be analyzed.

Break the job or task into key components.
Identify the hazards found in each key component.
Identify ways to eliminate or control these hazards.
Eliminate the hazard or install controls.
Keep a record of the hazards identified and steps taken to
eliminate or control them.
Periodically assess controls to ensure they are working
correctly.
 Identifying the job for analysis

Any job or task that meets any of the following conditions should have a
JHA conducted for it:

• Jobs or tasks with a history of injuries or near misses.

• Jobs with catastrophic potential – fire, explosion, large
chemical releases, massive equipment failure.
• Tasks in which one simple human error could lead to
serious injury.
 Identifying the job for analysis

Any job or task that meets any of the following conditions should also
have a JHA conducted for it:

• New people doing the task,

• Tasks that have changed,
• Rarely performed jobs,
• Any job done under a “safety permit” -
confined space permit, hot work permit, etc.
 Identifying jobs for a JHA

1. Look at jobs where workers have been injured using

existing information from:
– Your accident or incident reports
– Your worker compensation claims
– Industry or trade association data
2. Conduct a preliminary worksite walk-around to observe
or identify hazardous jobs or tasks.
 Walk-around Observations

Watch workers doing their jobs to identify potential

hazards that may lead to an injury, paying attention
to the amount of time the worker is exposed to the
hazard.
Talk with workers to find out what they think is the
most hazardous part of their job. Ask them if what
you observe them doing is typical.
 Involving employees – a good idea

Once you have identified jobs needing a JHA, then it is time to start
conducting the JHA.
Involving employees and/or foreman or supervisors in the JHA process
allows them to bring their insights about the jobs to the process.
They can help identify hazards and they will have ownership of the JHA and
will often more readily accept the findings and the hazard controls selected.
 Break job down into key components

Once a job is identified, you will need to break it into key components or
sub-tasks and list all the hazards associated with each sub-task.
Too much detail makes the JHA cumbersome, but too little detail may
omit hazards.
The correct amount of detail breaks the job into components that make
sense in terms of the overall job.
Generally, limit the number of components to 10 or less.
 Breaking job into key components - example
Changing a light bulb
Too Much Detail Too Little Detail Right Amount of Detail
Get ladder from storage. Get a ladder and new light Get ladder and new light bulb.
Get new light bulb from storage. bulb.
Turn light switch off
Carry ladder and light bulb to light needing changing. Change bulb.
Place ladder under light to be
Place ladder under light to be changed. Put ladder away and throw changed.
Ensure light switch is in the off position. out old light bulb.
Using ladder, change bulb.
Climb ladder.
Put ladder back in storage.
Remove light cover.
Twist light bulb in a counter clock-wise direction until
it is free of the socket.
Remove old light bulb.
Insert new light bulb into socket.
Turn in a clock-wise direction until tightened.
Replace light cover.
Descend ladder.
Carry ladder back to storage.
 Evaluate sub-tasks using a JHA checklist
There are a variety of JHA forms and checklists.

Certain hazards are common on many jobs. Here is a link to partial list of
questions about hazards:

While this list is comprehensive, it is not complete and you will need to
think about the sub-tasks and hazards present. You may want to seek
outside help from an agency or private safety and health consultant.
DOSH consultants.

The next two slides shows a simple JHA form for small businesses
 Job Hazard Analysis
Example form

Date of analysis: _____________________ People who participated:

_________________________________ __________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________

Job or task where injuries occur, or can occur

How people get hurt What causes them to get hurt? What safe practices or PPE are
needed?

Sample Job Hazard Analysis Form

 Small Business Job Hazard Analysis
People who participated:
Date of analysis: _____________________ __________________________________
__________________________________
Tasks/jobs where injuries occur, or can occur

How people get hurt What causes them to get hurt? What safe practices or PPE are needed?

Ladders tipping over  Ladder was not on a level surface  Set ladder feet on solid level surfaces.
 Ladder was on soft ground and the leg sunk  When reaching out, keep belt buckle
in between the side rails of the ladder.
 The person reached out too far  Do not stand on the top of a stepladder or
 The ladder wasn’t high enough to reach up on the first step down from the top.
safely – the person stood up near the top of  Replace or repair ladder
it
 Ladder broken or damaged

Lifting heavy objects  Trying to lift too heavy objects  Use proper lifting practices (bend knees,
 Bending over at the waist when lifting don’t twist)
 Turning (twisting) back while lifting  For very heavy objects, use mechanical
devices or get another person to help.

Slipping on the floor  Spilled liquids not cleaned up  Wipe up all spills, and pick up dropped
 Small objects are dropped on the floor and items, immediately.
left there  Wear sturdy shoes with slip-resistant soles;
 People wear the wrong type of shoes for
conditions
Using the bench grinder  Flying particles get in eyes  Wear safety glasses and earplugs when
 If grinder wheel breaks, large chunks fly off using grinder.
at high speed  Keep tongue guards adjusted properly (see
 High noise level can injure hearing sticker on grinder for spacing).
 Ranking Hazardous Tasks
Once you have identified jobs or tasks that have the potential to or are in
fact injuring workers, you will need to rank these tasks and start
addressing the most serious first.
One method for ranking tasks considers the probability that the hazard will
cause an injury and an estimate of the severity of that injury.
These are not precise predictions of when or how severe an injury may be,
they are only estimates.
The method can help you decide which is more important – an infrequent
job that has the potential to kill a worker, or frequent job that causes less
severe injuries.
See the next slide for an illustration of this method.
 A method to prioritize hazardous tasks
Severity Table
Consider the severity of the injury of Score Classification Description
something may go wrong while doing 4 Catastrophic May cause death
the task in the severity table.
3 Critical May cause severe injury or illness

Next, think about how often the 2 Marginal May cause minor injury or illness
worker is exposed to the hazard in
1 Minor Will not cause injury or illness
the probability table.

Multiply the severity rank by the Probability Table

probability rank. Score Classification Description

5 frequent Very likely to occur frequently

Address the highest scored tasks 4 probable Probably will occur at some time
first. 3 Occasional May occur infrequently
2 Remote Unlikely, but possible
1 Improbable So unlikely, it is assumed it will not occur
 Eliminating or controlling hazards
After you have identified the jobs and evaluated its sub-tasks and hazards,
you will need to identify ways to eliminate or control these hazards.
The best method is eliminate the hazard at the source.
If elimination is not possible, control the hazard at its source with
engineering controls or limit worker exposure using administrative
controls.
If those two methods are not enough to remove or reduce the worker
exposure to acceptable levels, then personal protective equipment must
be used.
Personal protective equipment can also be used temporarily while
engineering controls are installed.
Eliminating or controlling hazards
 Eliminating hazards by engineering controls
Engineering controls are design changes or physical devices that control a
worker’s exposure to a hazard.

Unguarded belt Example: machine

guarding controls

Example: ventilation
controls for chemicals
Guarded belt
Noise control examples
 Equipment Lock-out
Locking out electrical equipment or moving parts of machinery eliminates
hazards during maintenance.
 Administrative Controls

Administrative controls act on the worker, not the

hazard. The hazard still exists, but the worker avoids
the hazard by the way they do their job.

Examples include limiting the amount of time a

worker is exposed to a hazard, or limiting the number
of workers exposed, or limiting exposure through
specified work practices.

Using a lifting platform

 Personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) should be considered only after other
control methods have been tried or shown not to be feasible.
It requires the employee to understand the nature of the hazard and the
limitations of the PPE.
It also requires constant management to ensure the PPE is appropriate for
the hazard, employees are properly trained to use the PPE correctly, and a
supply of replacements is readily available.
 Combination of controls
In some cases, a combination of controls may be necessary to fully
protect workers.

Worker wearing respirator & coveralls in a ventilated spray booth

 Reviewing a Job Hazard Analysis
Periodically reviewing your job hazard analysis ensures that it remains
current and continues to help reduce workplace accidents and injuries.
Even if the job has not changed, it is possible that during the review
process you will identify hazards that were not identified in the initial
analysis.
It is especially important to review your job hazard analysis if an illness or
injury occurs on a specific job. Based on the circumstances, you may
determine that you need to change the job procedures or provide
additional controls to prevent similar incidents in the future. This is also
true in a close call, or near miss situation where an injury was barely
avoided.
Any time you revise a job hazard analysis, it is important to train all
employees affected by the changes in the job methods, procedures, or
protective measures adopted.
 Additional references on JHAs
Wikipedia – Job Safety Analysis

L & I – Small Business Checklists – Job Hazard Analysis

Federal OSHA - Job Hazard Analysis

Oregon OSHA – Job Hazard Analysis online course

L & I has a video library that loans out free videos on a variety of topics
including job safety analysis.

L & I also conducts 4-hour workshops on accident prevention which

includes information on how to conduct a job hazard analysis. To
register for those workshops.