Pick the job and the right size
Write one JSA per job, not per project. "Replace the damaged section of pipe on line 4" is a job. "Maintenance" is not.
Pick jobs that are new, changed, non-routine or have hurt someone before. A task done the same way every day may fit better as a written procedure.
Write it in order
- 1
Break the job into steps
Write the steps in the order the crew does them. Aim for a handful of steps, each a plain action: "Set up the ladder." "Cut the old fitting." "Lift the new section into place."
- 2
Name the hazard at each step
Ask what could hurt someone here. Look at the work, the place, the tools, the people nearby and the weather. Be specific: "pinch point between the clamp and the rail", not "hand injury."
- 3
Set a control for each hazard
Say what the crew will do. Remove the hazard if you can. If you can't, guard it, change how the work is done, or protect the person with the right PPE. Follow your company's procedure.
- 4
Assign who is responsible
Put a name or a role next to each control. "Spotter: Dana." "Lead checks the lockout." Controls with no owner don't happen.
- 5
Review it with the crew
Read it aloud at the job, not in the truck. Ask what's missing. The crew often knows a hazard the writer didn't.
- 6
Sign it and start
Everyone doing the work signs. The sign-in records that they saw it. It doesn't show they understood every line.
Keep it short and specific
A JSA a crew will use fits on one page. If it runs longer, split the job.
- Use the words the crew uses. "Bucket" and "boom", not "conveyance."
- Name the real thing: "the extension ladder on the north wall", not "access equipment."
- One hazard per line. One control per hazard, or a short list.
- Say the control as an action: "Barricade the swing radius."
- Cut any line that applies to every job ever. That belongs in your general rules.
Update it when conditions change
A JSA describes the job as planned. When the plan changes, the JSA is wrong.
- New people on the crew who haven't seen it.
- A change in weather, light or ground conditions.
- A different tool, a different lift or a different sequence.
- Another crew starts work nearby.
- A near miss or an injury on the job.
- Anyone uses stop work authority.
Common mistakes
- Copy-pasting last job's. The site, the crew and the tools differ. The hazards do too.
- Generic hazards like "slips" or "be careful." They tell the crew nothing.
- Nobody reads it. It gets signed in the truck at 6:55.
- Written by an office person who never saw the job.
- Controls that depend on "awareness" and nothing else.
- No owner on the controls.
- Never updated after the job changed.
JSA, JHA and pre-task plan
JSA and JHA mean nearly the same thing. Which name you use is a company habit. Both break a job into steps and look at the hazards.
A pre-task plan is a shorter version, filled out by the crew at the start of the shift or before a task. Many sites use a JSA for the planned job and a pre-task plan for what changed that day. Follow what your site and customer require.