What a finished JHA contains
OSHA's sample form (Appendix 3 of OSHA 3071) has a header and a block for each task. The header holds the job title, job location, analyst and date. Each task block holds the task number, task description, hazard type, hazard description, consequence, hazard controls, and a line for rationale or comment. [OSHA] The eTool worksheet is a landscape table instead: step number, sequence of basic job steps, potential hazards, and recommended safe job procedures, with a header for the job, the crew's names and roles, who wrote it, the PPE and special tools required, and the supervisor's approval signature. [OSHA]
Both layouts carry the same three things per step: what the worker does, what could hurt them, and what prevents it. The two examples below show one of each layout.
Example 1: Grinding iron castings (OSHA 3071)
OSHA's booklet first breaks the job into three steps, then fills in the form for the first step. [OSHA] The job: a worker in a metal shop takes castings from a box, grinds the burr off each one, and sets it in another box.
Job steps
| Step | What the worker does |
|---|---|
| 1 | “Reach into metal box to right of machine, grasp casting, and carry to wheel.” [OSHA] |
| 2 | “Push casting against wheel to grind off burr.” [OSHA] |
| 3 | “Place finished casting in box to left of machine.” [OSHA] |
Step 1 analyzed: three hazards, each with controls
OSHA fills in one form per hazard. The task description is the same on all three:
“Worker reaches into metal box to the right of the machine, grasps a 15-pound casting and carries it to grinding wheel. Worker grinds 20 to 30 castings per hour.”
| Hazard description | Hazard controls |
|---|---|
| “Picking up a casting, the employee could drop it onto his foot. The casting’s weight and height could seriously injure the worker’s foot or toes.” [OSHA] | |
| “Castings have sharp burrs and edges that can cause severe lacerations.” [OSHA] | |
| “Reaching, twisting, and lifting 15-pound castings from the floor could result in a muscle strain to the lower back.” [OSHA] |
The booklet stops there with the instruction “Repeat similar forms for each job step.” [OSHA]So OSHA's example is complete for step 1 and leaves steps 2 and 3 to the reader. Notice the order of the controls: the first control under each hazard changes the work (a table beside the grinder, a clamp, castings at waist height) and the PPE comes after. That matches OSHA's stated order of precedence, engineering controls, then administrative controls, then PPE. [OSHA]
Example 2: Tripping pipe in hole (OSHA oil and gas eTool)
OSHA's drilling eTool publishes a full sample worksheet, which it titles a JSA. The job is tripping drill pipe into the hole on a rig. The header lists a five-person crew by role (driller, derrickman, motorman and two floormen), names the driller as the author, lists the PPE as“Hardhat, Safety toe Boots, Safety Glasses” [OSHA] and carries the toolpusher's approval signature as supervisor. [OSHA] All eight steps are filled in.
| Step | Sequence of basic job steps | Potential hazards | Recommended safe job procedures |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Traveling block moving up derrick” [OSHA] | “Swinging blocks hitting sides of derrick. Tong counterweight line getting hooked on blocks or elevators” [OSHA] | “Stabilize blocks and elevators. Do not put tongs on pipe too soon. Look up and live!” [OSHA] |
| 2 | “Put make-up tongs on and wrap spinning chain” [OSHA] | “Pinch points when latching tongs to pipe.” [OSHA] | “Keep hands and fingers on designated handles. Keep good tail on spinning chain. Keep control of chain.” [OSHA] |
| 3 | “Latching pipe into elevators” [OSHA] | “Pinch points of elevators and pipe. Dropping stand across derrick. Swinging pipe.” [OSHA] | “Derrickman should tail out pipe and stabilize stand after pickup. Floormen watch for snag or short stand.” [OSHA] |
| 4 | “Stabbing pipe” [OSHA] | “Slipping while tailing pipe. Pinch points of pipe and tongs. Missing box.” [OSHA] | “Get firm hold. Give driller clear view. Place hands and legs properly.” [OSHA] |
| 5 | “Throwing chain, torquing pipe, unlatching tongs” [OSHA] | “Chain breaking, stuck by chain, pinch points - getting hand or fingers in chain. Tongs slipping.” [OSHA] | “Make sure tongs are latched properly. Hold tongs out of way after unlatching. Stay clear of chain and out of swing of tongs” [OSHA] |
| 6 | “Pulling slips” [OSHA] | “Strains” [OSHA] | “Proper lifting techniques. Lift together. Use moving pipe as leverage.” [OSHA] |
| 7 | “Lowering pipe” [OSHA] | “Hitting bridge, line parting brake, or hydromatic failure” [OSHA] | “Lower pipe at controlled speed. Watch weight indicator.” [OSHA] |
| 8 | “Set slips and unlatch elevators” [OSHA] | “Pinch points at slip handles, elevator links, and elevator latch” [OSHA] | “Slow down pipe and set slips. All hands should work together. Proper lifting and hand placement.” [OSHA] |
This example shows a different style from the first: short, crew-language entries, several hazards per cell, and procedures that read like instructions to the person doing the step. The eTool's rule for that third column is strict:
“Each safe job procedure or action must correspond to the job steps and identified hazards.”
How OSHA writes up a single hazard
Before the grinding example, OSHA 3071 shows how to describe one hazard so the controls aim at the right thing. A good hazard scenario names the environment, the exposure (who or what is hit), the trigger, the consequence, and any other contributing factors. [OSHA] OSHA's example:
“In the metal shop (environment), while clearing a snag (trigger), a worker's hand (exposure) comes into contact with a rotating pulley. It pulls his hand into the machine and severs his fingers (consequences) quickly.”
OSHA then works through its five questions for that scenario: what can go wrong, what the consequences are, how it could happen, what else contributes, and how likely it is. Two points from that walk-through are worth keeping. First, the hazard cannot occur if the pulley is not rotating, which points straight at the control. Second, because the injury happens in an instant, OSHA notes that training is not very effective for hazards with fast triggers, since people can only react so quickly. [OSHA]That is why a guard or a stopped machine ranks above a warning in this case.
What the two examples teach
- Steps are actions, not a work order. “Push casting against wheel to grind off burr” is a step. “Grind castings” is the whole job. OSHA's advice on the level of detail:
“Avoid making the breakdown of steps so detailed that it becomes unnecessarily long or so broad that it does not include basic steps.”
- Each control answers a named hazard. In both examples you can draw a line from every control back to the hazard it treats. A control that floats free (“be careful”) does not belong in the column. [OSHA]
- Change the work before you change the worker. OSHA's controls lead with a table, a clamp and a waist-height pallet, then gloves and boots. PPE is acceptable when engineering controls are not feasible or do not fully eliminate the hazard, while they are being developed, when safe work practices are not enough, and in emergencies. [OSHA]
- Write for the person doing the job. The rig worksheet is in the crew's own words. The eTool says everyone who will do the job should be present when the JSA is written, and that it must be reviewed and updated whenever a step changes. [OSHA]
- These are models, not your JHA. OSHA says its procedures are for illustration only and tells you to consult the standards for your industry, which are mandatory. [OSHA]A JHA for your crew starts with your job, your tools and your site.