The four steps, in order
1. Select the task
Analyze one task at a time — the narrower the task, the more useful the analysis. Prioritize tasks that are high-hazard, new, changed, or have an incident history.
2. Break it into steps
Write the sequence a worker actually performs, in order, at a level the crew will recognize in a briefing. Setup and cleanup are steps too — they're where a lot of injuries live.
3. Identify the hazard in each step
Ask what could cause harm: the fall, the caught-between, the struck-by, the exposure. Give each hazard its own row instead of stacking several into one line.
4. Assign a control to each hazard
Follow the hierarchy of controls — eliminate, substitute, engineer, then administrative controls and PPE. Controls that name a specific action, device, or person hold up; "be careful" does not.
Where these documents get rejected
Two failure modes dominate. The first is a generic analysis that could describe anyone's job — it won't survive a reviewer comparing it to your actual scope or site. The second is a document so long nobody reads it in the field, which defeats its purpose. Aim for specific to the real hazards of the real task, at a length a crew will use.
If your hazard analyses need to line up with written programs — fall protection, lockout/tagout, respiratory protection, silica — the analysis and the program have to agree. See which written programs apply to your work.