"How Do You Do That?" Blog Series - Question 8: Hazard Analysis

There are two main reasons why it’s important to conduct a hazard analysis. 1) Identifying hazards so they can be analyzed and remediated is a regulatory requirement and 2) Without conducting a hazard analysis, risks would be very difficult to properly assess because hazard analysis is the first step in the risk assessment process. Before we get too far into this discussion though, let’s cover the basics by defining “hazard’ and “risk”.

Hazard vs Risk

Hazards and risks are not the same thing and shouldn't be used interchangeably.
Hazards are the actual sources of potential harm to people, property, or the environment. Risks are the likelihood of that hazard causing harm.

Here’s an example that better explains things:

A bottle of bleach sitting on a shelf is always a hazard — but risk is determined by evaluating the likelihood of that hazard causing harm.

Assessing that risk requires considering tasks involving bleach, storage conditions, and how it interacts with emergency scenarios like fires or explosions. Once likelihood is established, the next step is mitigating or eliminating the potential for harm.(OSHA has a required process for how employers are to eliminate or reduce risks called the Hierarchy of Controls which you can read about here.)

Regulatory Requirements

One of the primary reasons to conduct a hazard analysis is regulatory compliance. OSHA's General Duty Clause requires employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm.
Employers meet this obligation by complying with occupational safety and health standards under the OSH Act of 1970.

The phrase "recognized hazards" in the General Duty Clause often leads employers to believe unidentified hazards aren't their responsibility — but OSHA addresses this by requiring hazard analysis and risk assessment across General Industry, Construction, Maritime, and Agriculture standards.

The clause applies only to hazards that could cause death or serious physical harm because eliminating every workplace hazard is impractical. Federal safety regulations represent minimum compliance requirements — not a ceiling for safety performance.

OSHA also uses the General Duty Clause as a catch-all when a hazard materializes that isn't covered by existing regulatory standards, ensuring no gap in employer accountability.

Risk Assessment Process

Beyond regulatory compliance, hazard analysis is the first and most critical step in the risk assessment process — where organizations scrutinize their workplaces, policies, processes, and equipment to identify actual and potential hazards.

Those hazards are then analyzed to establish the level of harm they could cause, and control measures are developed to eliminate or reduce risks to an acceptable level.

Hazard analysis is the foundation of the risk assessment process — without it, nothing else can be completed. There are also specific types of hazard analysis that are required and/or utilized based on the industry such as:

• Job Hazard Analysis or JHA
• Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point or HACCP
• Process Hazard Analysis or PHA
• Failure Mode and Effects Analysis or FMEA
• Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis or DFMEA
• Fault Tree Analysis or FTA

The Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) is the most common hazard analysis method used across virtually every industry. It helps employers reduce or eliminate hazards by providing step-by-step instructions for performing tasks safely.

The JHA is also an effective way to incorporate workforce feedback and buy-in — something employers should prioritize as often as possible.

Final Thoughts

No matter how it’s used, hazard analysis has a significant place of importance within a company’s safety program and because of its flexibility can be used by virtually any company no matter the size or type.

If you’ve never considered using EHS software to manage your risk assessment process, why not check out EHS Insight’s Hazard Identification Risk Assessment module? This module provides the perfect place to manage this process and it won’t cost an arm and a leg.  Give us a call today, we’d love to talk to you about it.