JHA or JSA? Does it Matter?

We’ve got a new article over at EHS Today magazine. It discusses the job hazard analysis (JHA) and the job safety analysis (JSA). In particular, it asks if they’re the same thing or are different. Here’s the link if you want to read up on JHAs and JSAs.

Hope you find it interesting!  Feel free to comment there or here if you’ve got an opinion on this  barn-burner.

If you’re especially interested, check out our previous What is a JHA? article here at the Convergence Training blog and keep your eyes open for our upcoming JHA Guide Checklist.

Finally, many thanks to EHS Today editor Sandy Smith. Sandy runs a great magazine over there at EHS Today and we encourage you to check it out.

And why now download our free How to Conduct a Job Hazard Analysis Guide while you’re here? 

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Job Hazard Analysis Guide

Learn how to perform a job hazard analysis on the job with our free step-by-step guide.

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Jeffrey Dalto

Jeffrey Dalto

Jeffrey Dalto is an Instructional Designer and the Senior Learning & Development Specialist at Convergence Training. He's worked in training/learning & development for 25 years, in safety and safety training for more than 10, is an OSHA Authorized Outreach Trainer for General Industry OSHA 10 and 30, has completed a General Industry Safety and Health Specialist Certificate from the University of Washington/Pacific Northwest OSHA Education Center and an Instructional Design certification from the Association of Talent Development (ATD), and is a member of the committee creating the upcoming ANSI/ASSP Z490.2 national standard on online environmental, health, and safety training. Jeff frequently writes for magazines related to safety, safety training, and training and frequently speaks at conferences on the same issues, including the Washington Governor's Safety and Health Conference, the Oregon Governor's Occupational Safety and Health Conference, the Wisconsin Safety Conference, the MSHA Training Resources Applied to Mining (TRAM) Conference, and others.

2 thoughts on “JHA or JSA? Does it Matter?

  1. I have been in Construction safety for over 14 years and my opinion is that a JHA or JSA are basically the same thing, but they are the first step in a 2 step process where we that the JHA/JSA and daily fill out a Pre-Task plan starting with our JHA/JSA for the task then making it very specific to the current work environment.

    1. Jill, I tend to agree with you–that JHA and JSA are two slightly different terms for the same thing.

      That said, there ARE a large number of people who disagree and think they’re entirely different things.

      I like your process of doing the JHA/JSA, and then completing a daily Pre-Task Plan that starts with the JHA/JSA as its “basis” and checks and/or adjusts for daily circumstances. When people say that the JHA and JSA ARE different things, they often get to a similar point–you do one less frequently and the other daily.

      Have you found that there’s a widely accepted name for your daily Pre-Task plan? I see you call it a “pre-task plan”–have you found that others use the same term?

      In your 14 years of experience, what kind of issues do your daily inspections tend to bring up? And during those daily inspections, how do you use the JHA/JSA as your basis?

      Thanks for the comment!

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