5 Job Safety Analysis Forms to Share and Use on Jobsites

Your team has to be in good shape to do their best work.

They may be a tough group of people, but unexpected dangers at the jobsite can threaten anyone’s safety and health. Doing a job safety analysis (JSA) to find those dangers drastically reduces the risk of injuries, illnesses, and severe strain.

When workers get hurt, you don’t just lose good people—you lose productivity, miss out on jobs, and could open your business to serious liabilities.

You may have a keen eye for detail, but every job has more potential risks than any single person can keep track of.

The best way to build more safety into your work processes is to run a thorough job safety analysis and equip your team with easy-to-use safety checklists they can use on every job.

What is a job safety analysis?

A job safety analysis, or job hazard analysis (JHA), is a process that identifies the dangers and risk levels of a specific job. It helps you catch threats to your crew’s health and safety before they happen.

Creating a job safety analysis checklist is the best way to ensure your work environment and crew meet the safety standards of your industry and to avoid legal and financial penalties. It’s a must-have in your business’ overall safety program.

An online safety checklist, like the one shown below that was created using Jobber’s job forms feature, can be easy to edit, duplicate, or expand over time as you add more safety measures to your jobs.

While the main goal is to prevent injuries and health risks, JSAs come with lots of benefits. They can:

• Ensure a consistent job every time with no small details missed
• Train new employees and help standardize your business’s operations as you grow
• Make your business look more professional
• Improve employee morale by showing that their wellbeing matters
• Help you and your team become comfortable talking about safety issues, which could help you pinpoint safety concerns you wouldn’t have found otherwise

To help you get started, we’ve compiled four examples of effective, customizable job safety analysis checklists that your team can create and share using Jobber’s home service management software.

Job safety analysis checklist examples

Use the examples below as the foundation for your job safety analysis checklists. They’re yours to customize depending on what applies to your work.

Or skip to: How to do a job safety analysis

Basic safety checklist template

• Is all PPE being worn?
• Is there a fully-stocked first aid kit in the workspace?
• Can all employees identify the person(s) qualified to administer first aid?
• Are all walkways and floors clear from obstructions?
• Are all emergency exits clearly marked?
• All equipment stored under correct conditions?
• Does all equipment and machinery appear safe and in good condition?
• Is there an accident reporting procedure in place?
• Are all employees using machines safely?
• Are all employees trained in lifting and other manual handling techniques (ask employee)?
• Are all emergency exits free from obstructions?
• Are fire extinguishers accessible within 75 feet and locations marked (on floor and above)?
• Have employees been instructed on evacuation procedures?
• Have all fire and safety equipment been inspected?
• Are all containers including secondary containers properly labeled and stored?
• Are all containers free of damage such as bulging, rusting, crusting, and evident leakage?
• Have employees been trained on the hazards of each material in use?
• Is there a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) readily available for reference if needed?

Ladder inspection checklist template

• Is the ladder placed on level ground?
• If not, is there a stability device in place to prevent it from slipping and falling?
• Do the ladder rungs run parallel with the floor?
• Is the top of the ladder resting against a strong surface, such as a brick wall?
• Is the ladder at a 75° angle – 1 unit out for every 4 units up?
• Has the ladder been checked for defects before use?
• Are the feet free of wear or damage?
• Are the rungs and stiles straight and free of damage?
• On a stepladder, does the locking mechanism engage fully?
• Are the steps free of dirt and debris?
• Has a regular formal inspection of the ladder been completed?
• Are wood ladders protected with a clear sealer, such as varnish, shellac, linseed oil or wood preservative?
• Overall Rating: Good / Needs Repair

Electrical risk assessment checklist template

• Are portable electrical tools and equipment grounded or double insulated?
• Do extension cords have a grounding conductor?
• Are multiple plug adapters prohibited?
• Are all temporary circuits protected by disconnecting switches or plug connectors at the junction with permanent wiring?
• Are electrical installations far enough from hazardous dust or vapor areas?
• Have all exposed wiring and cords with deteriorated insulation been repaired or replaced?
• Are bare wires visible in any flexible leads or connectors?
• Are flexible cords and cables free of splices or taps?
• Are all cord, cable and raceway connections intact and secure?
• In wet or damp locations, are all electrical tools and equipment protected?
• Is the location of electrical power lines and cables determined before digging, drilling, or similar work has begun?
• Are all disconnecting switches and circuit breakers labeled to indicate their use or equipment served?
• Are disconnecting means always opened before fuses are replaced?
• Do all interior wiring systems include provisions for grounding metal parts of electrical raceways, equipment and enclosures?
• Are all electrical raceways and enclosures securely fastened in place?
• Are all energized parts of electrical circuits and equipment guarded against accidental contact by approved cabinets or enclosures?
• Is sufficient access and working space provided and maintained around all electrical equipment to permit ready and safe operations and maintenance?
• Are all unused openings (including conduit knockouts) in electrical enclosures and fittings closed with appropriate covers, plugs, or plates?
• Is each motor disconnecting switch or circuit breaker located within sight of the motor control device?
• Are emergency shut-offs / switches properly marked and working?
• Are employees instructed to make preliminary inspections and/or appropriate tests to determine conditions before starting work on electrical equipment or lines?
• Are employees who regularly work on or around energized electrical equipment or lines instructed in CPR?
• Overall Rating: Safe / At Risk

Forklift safety checklist template

• Does the operator have a valid training certificate and an up-to-date authorization to operate?
• Has the operator confirmed the weight of the load prior to lifting?
• Is the load weight safe according to the forklift’s capacity plate?
• Is the operator manoeuvring the forklift safely into position with clearance to enter or stop?
• Are both forks as far under the load as possible before lifting?
• Has the operator allowed sufficient clearance between load and unload areas to successfully lift load?
• Has the operator fully lowered the forks?
• Is the surrounding area free of hydraulic fluid leakage?
• Does the horn work?
• Is the parking brake working properly?
• Does the service brake work properly?
• Is the steering wheel moving smoothly?
• Does forward driving and reverse work smoothly?
• Does the steering column lift and tilt smoothly?
• Is the hitch and pin in place?
• Are any of the power cables showing bare wire or cuts?
• Is the battery connector intact?
• Do the front and back lights work?
• Are the tires in good condition?
• Overall Rating: Safe / At Risk

Personal protective equipment: PPE checklist template

• Are hard hats inspected regularly for damage to the shell and suspension system?
• Is all personal protective equipment (PPE) maintained in a sanitary condition and ready for use?
• Are all employees wearing protective goggles or face shields where there is danger of corrosive materials or airborne particles?
• Are safety glasses worn at all times at jobsites that pose risk of abrasions, contusions, eye punctures, or burns?
• Are employees provided with protective gloves, aprons, shields, or other guards where there is possible exposure to corrosive liquids, chemicals, blood, or other potentially infectious materials?
• Is appropriate foot protection worn where there is the risk of foot injury?
• Are approved respirators provided for regular or emergency use where needed?
• Are food and beverages consumed in areas with no hazardous exposure to toxic materials, blood, or other infectious materials?
• Is ear protection provided in areas where sound levels exceed those of federal health and safety noise standards?
• Have all employees working in hazardous areas been trained on federal PPE standards?
• Overall Rating: Safe / At Risk

How to do a job safety analysis: the 4 basic steps

Step 1: Break the job into basic tasks

To find and analyze hazards, you need to know which job tasks those hazards can come from. Every job needs to be broken down into its most basic steps.

It’s best not to rely on memory alone. Take a day to monitor a job from start to finish and document individual tasks as they happen.

For instance, if you’re monitoring the install of an electrical outlet receptacle, you might write:

• Turn off the power
• Unscrew and remove the old outlet
• Prepare the new cables
• Strip the wires
• Attach pigtail wires to circuit wires…

…and so on.

Even though you haven’t outlined electrical hazards yet, you’ll have already created a job checklist that will help your team keep work consistent from job to job.

Using job forms in the Jobber app, you can check off tasks as they’re done on your phone or tablet, right at the jobsite.

READ MORE: House cleaning checklist: a professional template to get (and stay) organized

Before you start job monitoring, you might want to let your employees know that you’re not evaluating their performance—you’re reviewing the job tasks. This can help relieve any unease they may feel about being watched while working, and it gets them involved in the job safety analysis process from start to finish.

Once you’ve outlined all the job tasks, review them back at the office with your team and start working on the next step: hazard identification.

Step 2: Identify potential hazards

Using your new job checklist as a full record of a typical job, start listing all the potential hazards you can think of underneath each task. This is a great time to get your whole team in the room and use their experience to jot down as many hazards as possible.

Try to list all the usual risks that come with the work environment (e.g., dangerous fumes, hot surfaces, flying debris), plus common slip-ups, and any severe accidents that could come from performing a particular task without caution.

Using your team’s knowledge and your records of past incidents, you should also decide which tasks pose the highest injury risks to your workers. Those are the hazards to keep a close eye on and to place at the top of your site inspection checklists.

Any historical information you have on jobsite incidents is crucial to bring out in this process.

This step is very important: Find the workplace hazards in your industry outlined by your local or federal health and safety office. These websites offer resources for hazard identification, risk assessment, inspections, and safety training:

• Canada: Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
• United States: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• United Kingdom: Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
• Australia: Safe Work Australia (SWA)

Step 3: Determine preventative measures

CCOHS outlines a few different categories of hazard controls, depending on when and where they’re needed.

• At the source. Placing a control at the source means eliminating the hazard before it affects workers. This could mean installing ventilation in a fume-heavy work environment or removing a dangerous piece of equipment from the jobsite. These controls are the most effective at reducing risk.
• Along the path. Hazards that are found during the job can be replaced, modified, or repaired to prevent injuries and illnesses.
• At the worker. Although not as effective as total hazard elimination or substitution, there are measures your team can take to decrease the risk of incidents. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is an example of this kind of control.
• Temporary controls address the hazard on the spot. Example: if excess sawdust or debris become respiratory hazards, you might ask your workers to wear face masks.
• Permanent controls help you prevent recurring hazards by changing your work processes or engineering a solution (AKA creating engineering controls). These can also be administrative controls, such as writing operating procedures or limiting your workers’ exposure time to extreme temperatures.

We’ve included concrete examples of hazard controls in our checklist templates (see above).

Make sure you review your health and safety authority’s list of standards for your industry.

Complying to these guidelines is the law.

But it’s also important that you continue working with your team to build on those hazard controls and choose ones that apply to the specific set of jobs you do. Only you can run a job safety analysis that’s 100% specific to your business.

Noticing a trend here? It’s important to bring your team into every step of the job hazard analysis. Getting all your employees involved in safety encourages future engagement and buy-in for your safety program.

When your team grows, you’ll have experienced safety leaders that can act as supervisors for your larger crew. And since employees will see that their health and wellbeing matters to you, they’ll feel better about going to work every day.

Step 4: Create shareable job safety analysis checklists

Once you’ve put your preventative measures through careful revision, you have a job hazard analysis checklist that’s ready to use in the field!

You can use Jobber to create an easily editable version of your JSA checklist. With a checklist that you can access from your phone or tablet, you equip your whole team to make every job a safe job.

Checkboxes make it easy for your employees to check off inspection steps, and text fields let them add detailed notes and findings on the job.

When your crew is out in the field, they’ll have detailed safety checklists on mobile devices—and no reason to miss a single threat to anyone’s wellbeing.

Start your job safety analysis checklist today

If you’re committed to health and safety, creating job safety analysis checklists is going to save you a lot of stress and time.

From the field, truck, or office, Jobber’s job forms features let you:

• Quickly add new jobsite details to your checklists
• Create special instructions for highly customized jobs
• Record details from your service calls
• Ensure consistency and accountability in the field

Safety can (and should) be easy to integrate into the people-first experience you create for your team. When everyone is healthier and happier about going to work, it lifts up your entire business.

Want to go even deeper on this topic? Learn how to master operational efficiency on the Masters of Home Service podcast.