What is a hazard?
A hazard is anything at work that can hurt someone if it is not controlled: a condition, a task, a chemical or a source of energy.
What it means.
OSHA's Job Hazard Analysis booklet puts it in one line: a hazard is the potential for harm. Under the general duty clause of the OSH Act, each employer must furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.
The Hazard Communication Standard uses a narrower term. A hazardous chemical is one classified as a physical or health hazard, a simple asphyxiant, combustible dust or a hazard not otherwise classified, and that definition drives labels and safety data sheets. Not every hazard is a chemical, and the chemical definition is not the whole of the word.
A hazard is the potential for harm.
Where it shows up on a job.
An unguarded pinch point, a wet floor by the ice machine, a heavy lift done alone, a solvent used without ventilation. Each can be written down, assessed for how likely and how bad it is, and given a control.
Where this comes from.
Each source was read on 22 October 2026. Guidance is advice; a regulation is the rule.
- OSHA 3071, Job Hazard AnalysisOccupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA guidance, advisory. What a hazard is, and what a job hazard analysis is.
- OSH Act, section 5(a)(1)Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Statute. The general duty clause and recognized hazards.
- 29 CFR 1910.1200(c)Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29. Regulation. The Hazard Communication definition of a hazardous chemical.
A plain-language definition, not legal advice. For a decision on your site, read the standard that applies to it.
Related terms
- job hazard analysis
A job hazard analysis is breaking a job into steps, identifying what could go wrong at each step, and deciding how to control it before the work starts.
- near miss
A near miss is an event that could have hurt someone and did not, often by luck; OSHA also calls it a close call.
- safety concern
A safety concern is anything a worker wants looked at that is not yet an injury, an incident or a named hazard, such as a missing guard, a rushed job or a shortcut that has become normal.
- safety data sheet
A safety data sheet is the document that comes with a hazardous chemical and explains, in sixteen numbered sections, what it is, how it can hurt people and what to do about it.
In PanoraHazard zones and JHA: A job hazard analysis tied to a zone on your site, read and signed on a worker's phone.