The pre-task plan for the job in front of you.
Describe the task and answer a few questions. You get a plan written for that task, that site and that crew — hazards and controls with the risk that remains, the standards behind them, PPE, permits and training. Review it, edit anything, approve it, brief the crew by QR code, and keep the signed record.
What a pre-task plan is
The written hazard analysis for ONE task, done before the work starts: what the crew is about to do, what can hurt them, what is being done about it, and what risk is left after that. Site safety programs, AHAs and JHAs are the same discipline at different scales — the pre-task plan is the task-level one a crew actually reads at the tailgate.
- Task level, not site level — one task, one crew, one shift.
- Written before the work, not filed after it.
- Names the standard behind each control, so a control is a requirement rather than an opinion.
- Signed by the people it covers, which is what makes it a record.
How it works
- 01Describe the task
Type what the crew is doing and where, and pick the rulebooks that apply — federal OSHA, EM 385-1-1, or a state plan. Trade, equipment and site conditions sharpen it.
- 02Answer a few questions
A short set of questions about the things that change the hazards: heights, energy sources, access, who else is working nearby. “Unknown” is a valid answer and becomes a confirm-before-work line instead of a guess.
- 03Review, edit, approve
The plan arrives as a draft. Edit any line, add or drop rows, then approve it as the competent person — your name, title and the date are printed on the document.
- 04Brief the crew by QR
Open the briefing and hand out the QR code or the link. The crew reads the plan on their own phones or on one shared tablet, in English or Spanish. No app, no worker logins.
- 05Signed record
Each worker acknowledges and signs. You get one tamper-evident PDF: the signatures, the audit trail, and the approved plan appended page for page.
What is in the plan
Nine sections, the same every time, so a reader knows where to look.
Every hazard row carries its control and the risk that REMAINS after that control — Low, Medium or High. The plan says how dangerous the work still is, not just that someone thought about it.
Citations to the rule that actually applies: 29 CFR 1926 and 1910, EM 385-1-1 on USACE work, and a state plan where it goes further — California Title 8, Washington's WAC.
Each item names the class or standard it has to meet (ANSI Z89.1 Class G, EN 397, per NR-6), split into the site baseline and what this task's own hazards add.
Hot work, confined space, excavation, energized work, critical lifts — named by type, with the part of this task that triggers each one.
What the crew has to hold before starting, and the hazard, equipment or standard that requires it.
Where a credential, a rule or a site condition cannot be settled from a description, the plan says so in plain words — a line to confirm, never a fact invented to fill the gap.
English and Spanish, line for line
Pick one language or both. Both carry the same rows in the same order: a translation never adds, drops or reorders a safety line, and never alters a citation. The crew reads the plan in their own language on the briefing screen, and both versions ride in the same PDF.
Plan credits
One credit per plan language — an English plan is 1 credit, English and Spanish is 2.
Delivery also includes the toolbox-talk library, crew sign-off and the signed records. Credits are reserved when a plan starts and returned if it fails.
A sample plan
The real document, rendered by the same code a customer gets: anchor-bolt installation at a third-floor deck edge, in English and Spanish.
Questions
What is a pre-task plan?
The written hazard analysis for one task, done before the work starts: the scope, the hazards, the controls, the risk that remains, and who approved it. On most sites it is the document the foreman walks the crew through at the tailgate, and the one an inspector asks for afterwards.
Is this an AHA or a JHA?
Both names describe the same discipline. An Activity Hazard Analysis (USACE / EM 385-1-1) and a Job Hazard Analysis (OSHA's term) break work into steps, hazards and controls. A pre-task plan is that analysis for the task in front of you today, with the crew's sign-off attached. Our AHA / JHA library holds the reference documents by task; this builds the one for yours.
Which standards does it cite?
The ones you choose: 29 CFR 1926 (construction), 1910 (general industry), the maritime parts, MSHA 30 CFR, and EM 385-1-1. Where a state plan is stricter — California's Title 8, Washington's WAC — the state rule is the one named.
Can I change the plan before the crew signs it?
Yes. Every line is editable, and an edit returns the plan to draft, so nothing is briefed as approved after it changed. The approval records who signed it off, with their title and the date, and that is what prints on the document.
How many plans do I get?
A free account gets 2 plan credits, one time. Delivery includes 20 a month. One credit per language per plan, so an English-and-Spanish plan uses 2.
Plan the task. Brief the crew. Keep the record.
Start with the task in front of you.