Construction site hazard assessment, built around the Focus Four

It is worth being precise, because a lot of marketing is not: OSHA does not have a general standard that requires you to produce a written 'site hazard assessment' document, and it does not mandate a JHA. What OSHA does require in writing is the PPE hazard assessment under 29 CFR 1910.132(d) — the employer must assess the workplace to determine whether hazards are present that require personal protective equipment, select appropriate PPE, and certify that assessment in a written document that identifies the workplace evaluated, the person certifying, and the date(s). That certification is the one true 'assessment' paperwork requirement most sites can point to, and it maps naturally onto a site walkthrough: as you identify eye, head, foot, and hand hazards area by area, you are building the record 1910.132(d) asks for.

Everything else about hazard assessment is best-practice and general-duty territory. OSHA's recommended practices for safety programs describe hazard identification and assessment as a core element — collect information, inspect the workplace, investigate incidents, and prioritize — but that is guidance, not a numbered mandate to file a specific form. The General Duty Clause still applies: an employer must keep the workplace free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm, which is exactly what a systematic site assessment surfaces. So run the assessment because it prevents the Focus Four incidents and supports your 1910.132(d) certification — not because a fictional 'OSHA site-assessment form' exists.

The Focus Four is not a slogan; it is where the bodies are. Falls to a lower level are consistently the single largest cause of construction deaths, followed by struck-by incidents, electrocutions, and caught-in/between events. Structuring a site assessment around those four categories means the walk is organized by consequence, not by convenience — you are looking hardest at the hazards most likely to produce a fatality, in the order they occur. A frame of an active deck gets checked for edge protection and floor openings (falls), for what is stored or swinging above and beside it (struck-by), for pinch and crush points around equipment and material (caught-in/between), and for temporary power and overhead lines (electrocution).

That structure is also what makes the photo scan useful rather than gimmicky. Because the AI is reading each frame against the same four hazard groups every time, a large site walked by different supervisors comes back with hazards named consistently and mapped to the same 1926 references, scored on one scale. For a superintendent rolling up exposure across floors, buildings, or subcontractors, that uniformity is worth as much as the speed — and it feeds the corrective-action list and the 1910.132(d) certification without anyone re-keying notes from a clipboard.

A camera reads conditions, not systems. It can show you an unguarded edge, an open panel, or a trench with vertical walls — but it cannot tell you whether that trench soil is Type A or Type C, whether a circuit is energized, whether the swing radius is crossed twice an hour, or whether the competent person has already inspected the excavation today. It sees a single moment in one frame, so hazards behind the camera, below grade, or that only appear during an operation are outside its reach. And OSHA judges sites on actual conditions, not on how thorough the paperwork looks: a beautifully documented assessment of a fall hazard that was never guarded protects no one.

So use the scan for what it genuinely does: the fastest available first pass at the visible Focus Four hazards across a site, followed by a real walk. Photograph each area, read the flagged findings, verify every one in person, add what the camera cannot see — soil classification, energization status, atmospheric conditions, the site-specific judgments a competent person makes — and keep the dated record. Try that loop on a photo of your own site below; the scan is free and takes about a minute.