OSHA's guidance describes a job hazard analysis as a technique focused on the relationship between the worker, the task, the tools, and the work environment. The three-column format below — job steps, potential hazards, controls — is what the guidance describes and what site supervisors and GC reviewers recognize. Fill it in by hand or use it as a fillable reference for your crew.
The form
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Which jobs do you analyze first?
OSHA's guidance identifies five job-priority classes for deciding where to start. Work down the list:
- Jobs with the highest rates of injuries and illnesses. Start where people are getting hurt.
- Jobs with potential for severe or disabling injury or illness — even if no accident has occurred yet. High consequence is reason enough to analyze the job.
- Jobs where one simple human error could cause a severe accident. Low tolerance for error means higher priority.
- Jobs that are new or changed. Unfamiliar tasks and recently modified procedures carry elevated risk.
- Jobs complex enough to require written instructions. If you need to document the steps anyway, a JHA adds only marginal effort.
Does OSHA require a JHA?
Straight answer: federal OSHA has no general rule requiring a JHA form. OSHA Publication 3071, Job Hazard Analysis, is recommended practice — not a standard, not a regulation, not a mandate.
What is mandatory nearby:
- The General Duty Clause — OSH Act §5(a)(1) — obliges every employer to keep the workplace free from recognized serious hazards. A JHA is a tool for meeting that obligation; the obligation itself is the rule.
- A written certification that a PPE hazard assessment was performed, naming the workplace evaluated, the certifier, and the date — 29 CFR 1910.132(d)(1)–(d)(2). The assessment itself can be informal; it is the written certification of that assessment that the regulation mandates. A completed JHA is a natural input to that certification.
- For PSM-covered chemical processes only, a formal process hazard analysis — 1910.119(e).
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a JHA and a JSA?
The terms are used interchangeably in the industry. OSHA's own guidance uses "job hazard analysis." Some safety programs assign the two names different scopes internally — if a hiring client's manual does, their definition controls.
Does OSHA require a JHA?
Federal OSHA has no general rule requiring a JHA form. Publication 3071 is recommended practice, not a standard. What is mandatory nearby: the General Duty Clause (OSH Act §5(a)(1)); a written PPE hazard assessment certification naming the workplace evaluated, the certifier, and the date — 29 CFR 1910.132(d)(1)–(d)(2); and, for PSM-covered chemical processes only, a formal process hazard analysis — 1910.119(e). Hiring clients and prequal platforms (ISN, Avetta, Veriforce) often require documented JHA/JSA processes regardless of the federal picture.
How often should a JHA be reviewed?
No fixed federal interval exists. OSHA's guidance says to review periodically, and to re-review after any injury, illness, or close call on that job. If your hiring client sets a cadence, that governs.
Who should fill out a JHA?
A supervisor or competent person leads the analysis, but OSHA's method says to involve the employees who actually do the job — they have unique knowledge of the work, and involvement minimizes oversights.
Does OSHA endorse or certify JHA forms?
OSHA does not endorse or approve commercial or free templates. There is no OSHA approval program for forms of this kind.