Job Safety Analysis - JSA Templates

In this article

• What is a Job Safety Analysis Template?
• Why is the Analysis Important?
• Is it Required by OSHA?
• When Should the Analysis be Completed?
• Top 10 Most Dangerous Jobs in the United States
• How to Conduct a Job Safety Analysis
• Job Safety Analysis Examples
• Toolbox Talk Topics
• Job Safety Analysis in Construction
• Streamline Your Analysis with SafetyCulture Templates & Tools
• Job Safety Analysis (JSA) Templates

What is a Job Safety Analysis Template?

A JSA template or Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) form is a useful tool for observing and breaking down high-risk tasks into individual steps and recommending controls. Supervisors and employees work together in accomplishing JSA templates to ensure that both have a good understanding of the hazards and come up with safety measures.

The JSA process typically involves breaking a job down into smaller tasks and observing a worker performing it, identifying the potential hazards for each task, and determining preventive measures and controls to overcome these hazards.

Why is the Analysis Important?

A job safety analysis is important because it increases job knowledge, establishes teamwork, serves as a health and safety standard and teaching aid, and supports accident investigations at work. Dangerous jobs benefit the most from a JSA because it can reduce or eliminate hazards that cause serious injuries or fatalities.

Is it Required by OSHA?

While federal regulations generally require hazard assessments, OSHA provides detailed guidelines for conducting a Job Hazard Analysis—often used interchangeably with Job Safety Analysis—in this document. As one of the tools used for hazard assessments, regularly performing a job safety analysis can help proactively ensure compliance with OSHA standard 1910.132:

“The employer shall verify that the required workplace hazard assessment has been performed through a written certification that identifies the workplace evaluated; the person certifying that the evaluation has been performed; the date(s) of the hazard assessment; and, which identifies the document as a certification of hazard assessment.”

When Should the Analysis be Completed?

A JSA can be conducted on many jobs in your workplace, but priority should go to the types of jobs that have:

1. Highest injury or illness rates;
2. Potential to cause severe or disabling injuries or illness, even if there is no history of previous accidents;
3. Simple human error which could lead to a severe accident or injury;
4. Undergone changes in processes and procedures; and
5. Complex enough to require written instructions.

Top 10 Most Dangerous Jobs in the United States

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ recent workplace fatality census identified the top 10 most dangerous jobs in the US. These dangerous jobs would benefit significantly from a JSA process.

• Logging Workers
• Fishers and related fishing workers
• Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
• Roofers
• Refuse and recyclable material collectors
• Structural iron and steelworkers
• Driver/sales workers and truck drivers
• Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
• First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers
• Miscellaneous agricultural workers

How to Conduct a Job Safety Analysis

A JSA template is used when performing a JSA procedure and is used to generate a safety and recommendation report. These four key steps can help you get started with performing more effective JSAs:

1. Choose the right job

• Choose a job that has a high accident frequency, severity and result in serious injuries
• A job that has exposure to hazardous and harmful products
• Newly established jobs in which there is a lack of experience and where hazards may not be anticipated.
• Modified jobs due to changes in procedures
• Infrequently performed jobs or non-routine jobs put workers at greater risk

2. Break a job into steps

• Don’t be too general yet not too detailed
• Rule of thumb is 10 steps
• Arrange steps into the correct sequence
• Items start in verbs
• Make notes about “What is done” not “How it is done”
• Job should be observed during normal times and situations
• Only regular tools and equipment should be used

3. Identify potential hazards

• When identifying hazards, ask the right questions:
• Is the worker at risk of falling, slipping, and tripping?
• Is the worker exposed to extreme temperatures?
• Is the worker at risk of getting caught between objects?
• Is the worker exposed to explosive and combustible materials?
• Is the worker at risk of electrocution?

4. Set preventive measures

• Eliminate the hazards by using a different process, modifying an existing process, improving the environment, and changing tools.
• Contain hazard by using machine guards, enclosures, workers’ booths, or similar devices if the hazard is impossible to be eliminated.
• Reorganize work procedures.
• Minimize exposure by reducing the number of times the hazard is encountered.

Following the 4 steps for conducting a job safety analysis, a job analysis template consists of the following sections:

• Job task being assessed
  The supervisor or safety officer will describe the job and identify the workers observed during the analysis.
• Hazards and safety measures
  The observer will determine the potential hazard for each task being performed and come up with control measures to minimize or eliminate the hazard.
• Recommendations
  Recommendations on how each task can be accomplished safely will be recorded on the JSA and submitted for review and implementation.

Job Safety Analysis Examples

Writing a job safety analysis can seem challenging at first, but with continuous practice, workers can master breaking down their job tasks, identifying hazards, and implementing controls. Listed below is an OSHA example of a job hazard analysis:

• Job Location: Metal Shop
• Analyst: Joe Safety
• Date: January 31, 2020
• Task Description: The worker reaches into the metal box to the right of the machine, grasps a 15-pound casting and carries it to the grinding wheel. The worker grinds 20 to 30 castings per hour.
• Hazard Description: 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.
• Hazard Controls:
  • Remove castings from the box and place them on a table next to the grinder.
  • Wear steel-toe shoes with arch protection.
  •  Change protective gloves that allow a better grip.
  • Use a device to pick up castings.

Here is another example of a job safety analysis using SafetyCulture JSA templates:

Click here to view the full Job Safety Analysis Report PDF with annotated images and digital signatures.

Toolbox Talk Topics

Discussing relevant topics in daily or weekly toolbox talks can positively impact safety outcomes. Consider the following toolbox talk topics in relation to job safety analysis:

• Construction: Fatal Four Hazards Discussion | Download Template
• OSHA: Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls | Download Template
• PPE Safety Toolbox Talk: Top 8 Protective Gear | Download Template
• Electrical Safety Toolbox Talk: Hazards, Dos and Don’ts | Download Template
• Working at Heights: Hazards, Planning, and Safety Tips | Download Template

Job Safety Analysis in Construction

JSA can be one of the most critical safe work practices that workers could ever do, especially when working in high-risk conditions such as in the construction industry.

Forward-thinking leaders in one of America’s largest roofing companies needed a better way to efficiently manage teams working on dangerous projects across the United States. The solution changed the corporate culture from the bottom up—every worker on every roof does one inspection using SafetyCulture every day.

“Once we started preaching that message to them that this is an empowerment tool, it just caught like wildfire… We are now able to attribute volume of quality inspections with a decrease in incidents and injuries, and we all win.” – Ro Lewis, Director of Health and Safety