JHA / JSA / AHA builder
Ladder Use JHA
A JHA breaks the work into steps, hazards and controls. Use this example to build a draft for your actual job and review it with your crew.
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Step 1 of 4 · Working draft
Your job
Tell Jenkins what you’re planning and where the work will happen. Use the actual job details.
Use the published example’s suggestions when they fit your task, or write your own steps. These are planned controls, not verified worksite conditions.
Describe an observable step, how someone could be harmed, and the control that acts on that hazard. Identify who checks it and what evidence is needed.
Walk through the plan with the people doing the work. Resolve missing controls and agree who checks them. Moving to the next step does not approve the work.
Confirm people, equipment and emergency arrangements
Record changes, checks, and open actions
Walk the work area, review with the crew, and resolve missing controls. Follow the required approval process. This tool does not judge completeness, verify signatures or authorize work.
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Your Ladder Use JHA
Walk through the job in order. Use these possible hazards, planned controls and checks to start a conversation about your actual work.
01Select the access method and ladder
Possible hazards: A short, overloaded, or unsuitable ladder encourages overreaching, carrying bulky loads, or climbing from improvised support.
Planned controls: Compare a ladder with stairs or another suitable access arrangement. Select a manufactured ladder of appropriate type, length, capacity, and material. Arrange separate transfer of bulky tools and materials rather than carrying them while climbing.
Check before work: The supervisor verifies suitability for this worker, access frequency, landing, load, and task before choosing the ladder.
02Inspect and transport the ladder
Possible hazards: A cracked rail, damaged lock, contaminated rung, or uncontrolled long ladder causes a fall or strikes others.
Planned controls: Check rails, rungs, feet, extension locks, rope, labels, and contamination under the manufacturer’s instructions. Mark defective equipment and withdraw it from service. Plan carrying and raising with adequate people and clearances.
Check before work: The user verifies condition and the carry path; the competent person handles periodic and post-event inspection requirements.
03Establish the base and isolate the passage
Possible hazards: The base slips or is displaced by a door, person, or vehicle; unstable packing causes tipping.
Planned controls: Prepare stable support and keep the top and bottom clear. Secure against displacement or barricade the adjacent traffic exposure. Use the specified feet and setup method; do not gain height with boxes or improvised packing.
Check before work: Confirm the passage is controlled and the ladder can be set without obstructing required emergency access.
04Set the angle and secure the landing access
Possible hazards: A steep or shallow angle increases sliding or backward-fall risk; an unsupported transition causes loss of balance.
Planned controls: For this manufactured non-self-supporting ladder, set the horizontal setback at about one-quarter of its working length, measured along the ladder between foot and top support. Provide at least three feet of side-rail extension above the landing in this planned setup and secure the ladder.
Check before work: Check the manufacturer angle indicator/instructions, both top support points, restraint, extension, and protected landing transition before climbing.
05Climb and transfer to the protected platform
Possible hazards: A carried object interferes with grip; the worker falls while turning or stepping through an unprotected opening.
Planned controls: Face the ladder and maintain secure hand contact while climbing. Use three-point contact as the climbing practice and transfer bulky items separately. Follow the planned landing transition without defeating its protection. Do not shift or extend an occupied ladder.
Check before work: The worker confirms clean footwear, a clear landing, secured tools, and the ability to maintain stable contact before ascent.
06Descend, remove, and store
Possible hazards: A changed base area obstructs descent; removing the ladder leaves an open access point or strikes a passerby.
Planned controls: Check the route again before descent. Maintain access for anyone still above. Remove the ladder using controlled handling only after the area is released; restore the landing barrier and store the ladder against damage.
Check before work: The responsible person confirms nobody depends on the access and that the elevated area is left protected.
Example scope and starting conditions
Fictional example: a construction worker uses a manufactured extension ladder for occasional access to a small, protected elevated platform. The ladder is not the work platform: fastening and two-handed tasks occur after the worker reaches the guarded area. A nearby passage must remain controlled. This example excludes fixed ladders, roof work, electrical work, scaffold erection, and improvised ladders. The access choice must be reconsidered if traffic, duration, or the worker’s needs make a ladder unsuitable.
- Establish the landing height, access frequency, carried equipment, worker and tool load, available setup space, and the method of securing the ladder.
- The ground and top support must be assessed for stability; the landing and its opening need their own protection and a safe transition.
- Identify overhead and electrical exposures throughout carrying, raising, and use. Nonconductive side rails do not replace control of electrical hazards.
- Provide ladder training by a competent person and required inspections. This example also calls for a user pre-use check; report defects and prevent use of defective equipment.
Know when to pause
- Reassess for wet or icy surfaces, wind, shifted supports, nearby electrical work, or uncontrolled traffic.
- Change the method for frequent two-way access, heavy material transfer, sustained work from rungs, or a worker unable to use the planned arrangement safely.
After a pause, correct the condition, reassess the work, and obtain required authorization before restarting.
Free example and template
No account required. The worked example contains planned controls. The blank template is for your own work; neither includes fabricated inspection results, signatures or approval.
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For managers
Does the team have what it needs to carry out the plan? Give the crew time, equipment and support, and make it clear who will resolve anything that is missing.
Manager checks and supporting resources
Confirm the people doing the work have the time, equipment, information and support to carry out the plan. Agree who checks the controls and who resolves open actions.
Decisions that change the plan
The correct ladder cannot fit without blocking the doorway. What now?
Change the access arrangement or establish effective control of that doorway while preserving required egress. Do not accept a poor angle just to make it fit.
The worker must carry a large box up. Is a careful climb enough?
No. Arrange separate material transfer or select a suitable alternative access/handling method before the climb.
Keep planning connected
Resources that support this JHA
Additional tools for task planning and safe work. Start with the free resources; explore paid options only when they meet an additional need.
Toolbox talks for the work
Prepare a practical crew discussion.
Browse free toolbox talks →
Safety program resources
Review procedures, roles, and requirements.
Browse the existing catalog and confirm the scope and purchase availability of each program.
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Paid service · Availability
Task-specific training and qualifications
Explore applicable training and qualification needs.
Task-specific training services are not currently available to book here. Start with the free training-needs lookup; a toolbox talk or online course alone does not establish competence or employer authorization.
Review training needs · Free →People, equipment, emergency arrangements and open actions are recorded in the guided JHA’s Crew review step.
Open the crew review step →For safety professionals
How do we know the planning process and controls are working? Connect what the crew reports with field checks, risk decisions and the evidence behind your system.
Industry context, SIF, control verification and AHA review
Guidance and evidence
Review the method, risk decisions and evidence behind the plan. Use the actual jurisdiction, equipment instructions, employer process and project requirements.
Task-by-task control and verification rationale
Select the access method and ladder
Hazard: A short, overloaded, or unsuitable ladder encourages overreaching, carrying bulky loads, or climbing from improvised support.
Control: Compare a ladder with stairs or another suitable access arrangement. Select a manufactured ladder of appropriate type, length, capacity, and material. Arrange separate transfer of bulky tools and materials rather than carrying them while climbing.
Verification: The supervisor verifies suitability for this worker, access frequency, landing, load, and task before choosing the ladder.
Why this belongs in the analysis: A ladder JHA should first decide whether a ladder is the right method.
Inspect and transport the ladder
Hazard: A cracked rail, damaged lock, contaminated rung, or uncontrolled long ladder causes a fall or strikes others.
Control: Check rails, rungs, feet, extension locks, rope, labels, and contamination under the manufacturer’s instructions. Mark defective equipment and withdraw it from service. Plan carrying and raising with adequate people and clearances.
Verification: The user verifies condition and the carry path; the competent person handles periodic and post-event inspection requirements.
Why this belongs in the analysis: A pre-use check can find transport damage that occurred after the last recorded inspection.
Establish the base and isolate the passage
Hazard: The base slips or is displaced by a door, person, or vehicle; unstable packing causes tipping.
Control: Prepare stable support and keep the top and bottom clear. Secure against displacement or barricade the adjacent traffic exposure. Use the specified feet and setup method; do not gain height with boxes or improvised packing.
Verification: Confirm the passage is controlled and the ladder can be set without obstructing required emergency access.
Why this belongs in the analysis: A warning sign alone does not physically resolve a door opening into the ladder.
Set the angle and secure the landing access
Hazard: A steep or shallow angle increases sliding or backward-fall risk; an unsupported transition causes loss of balance.
Control: For this manufactured non-self-supporting ladder, set the horizontal setback at about one-quarter of its working length, measured along the ladder between foot and top support. Provide at least three feet of side-rail extension above the landing in this planned setup and secure the ladder.
Verification: Check the manufacturer angle indicator/instructions, both top support points, restraint, extension, and protected landing transition before climbing.
Why this belongs in the analysis: Working length is not the label’s total ladder length; landing protection remains a separate check.
Climb and transfer to the protected platform
Hazard: A carried object interferes with grip; the worker falls while turning or stepping through an unprotected opening.
Control: Face the ladder and maintain secure hand contact while climbing. Use three-point contact as the climbing practice and transfer bulky items separately. Follow the planned landing transition without defeating its protection. Do not shift or extend an occupied ladder.
Verification: The worker confirms clean footwear, a clear landing, secured tools, and the ability to maintain stable contact before ascent.
Why this belongs in the analysis: The transition needs as much planning as the climb because the body moves between two supports.
Descend, remove, and store
Hazard: A changed base area obstructs descent; removing the ladder leaves an open access point or strikes a passerby.
Control: Check the route again before descent. Maintain access for anyone still above. Remove the ladder using controlled handling only after the area is released; restore the landing barrier and store the ladder against damage.
Verification: The responsible person confirms nobody depends on the access and that the elevated area is left protected.
Why this belongs in the analysis: Removing access too early can create a new hazard for the next person.
Compare control wording
| Needs improvement | More useful for this scenario |
|---|---|
| Ladder: use three points of contact. | First choose suitable access, inspect and secure the ladder, protect the landing, and arrange material transfer; then define the climbing practice. |
| Set at 4:1. | Use the manufacturer setup guidance and approximately one-quarter of the ladder’s working length as horizontal setback for this extension ladder. |
Common questions
Does every ladder need to extend three feet above its support?
That access requirement concerns portable ladders used to reach an upper landing. Federal 1926.1053(b)(1) also specifies an alternative when extension is impossible because of length. This example deliberately selects a ladder that provides the extension; it is not a universal rule for every ladder task.
Can I change the form to cover a stepladder?
Yes, after rewriting the setup and use controls for its design. An ordinary stepladder is opened with its spreaders locked; do not apply extension-ladder angle instructions or use its top/top step as a step.
Are these resources part of a paid course?
This walkthrough, browser draft builder and downloads are free public resources, separate from Academy course enrollment.
References and source note
This original walkthrough was informed by review of uploaded examples, then rewritten for the stated fictional scenario using current primary references. It does not reproduce a source document or its approval record. Use actual equipment instructions and site requirements alongside these references. Reference review: October 6, 2026.
Developed by Todd Jerome Jenkins, MS, CSP · Edition v1.0 · October 6, 2026
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