A formalized practice of systematic hazard detection: the structured process by which teams or individuals identify, catalog, and record potential sources of harm before they materialize. It operates through defined methods — hazard checklists, design reviews, job safety analysis, brainstorming sessions, and inspection protocols — and persists through documentation standards, regulatory frameworks, and institutional knowledge within organizations. Its parameters include: (1) the domain of application (workplace, product, process, environment), (2) the depth of scanning (surface-level screening vs. deep-systematic analysis), and (3) the formality of documentation (informal observation vs. structured registry). The persistence mechanism is institutional: records, checklists, and procedures that survive individual practitioners and are transmitted across generations of practitioners through training and regulation. [formal: notatio_periculi | substrate: behavior | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
hazard-identification
A formalized practice of systematic hazard detection: the structured process by which teams or individuals identify, catalog, and record potential sources of harm before they materialize. It operates through defined methods — hazard checkl…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made systematic process for detecting, recognizing, and documenting sources of potential harm in a system, environment, or activity. Built through methodological frameworks (checklists, walkthroughs, brainstorming techniques) that persist across industries and disciplines as a structured practice within occupational health, engineering, and risk management.
Names and aliases
- hazard-identificationen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cms81mqtv00jeh6s8s7t3j6hyINSTANCE_OF →
Hazard identification IS a specific kind of risk assessment activity — it is the first phase where potential sources of harm are systematically located and described. A competent speaker would call hazard identification 'a type of risk assessment.' Nearest kind: risk-assessment.
- cms8a929t007573fkafm8ap7iSERVES →
Hazard identification is built and maintained for the sake of risk management — it systematically locates and describes potential sources of harm so that risk management can analyze and evaluate those hazards. Law 8d: the servant (hazard-identification) points at the master (risk-management). Its designed purpose is to feed actionable data into the risk management process.
- cms883nr100351c4rlyyeywusSERVES →
Hazard identification exists for the sake of hazard-analysis. You identify hazards first so you can analyze them — the identification step serves the analytical step. Per Law 8d: the designed purpose of identifying hazards is to feed the analysis process.
- cms81mqtv00jeh6s8s7t3j6hySERVES →
hazard-identification is built and maintained for the sake of risk assessment. Law 8d: risk-assessment is the master, hazard-identification serves it. Hazard ID is the first step that feeds into the risk assessment process — by design.
- cms89fknp002773fkfmafs3brDEPENDS_ON →
Hazard identification identifies hazards — remove hazards and the identification procedure has nothing to identify, it stops operating. Hazard (epoch 0) is older/more foundational than hazard-identification (epoch 0.09). Direction: newer → older.
Relations to this entry
- cms8vp46t02bw73fk0i3zar8r← DERIVED_FROM
Which-came-first: hazard-identification (the practice of spotting potential harms) predates and feeds into hazard-assessment (systematically examining identified hazards for likelihood and severity). Assessment is the refinement step that comes after identification.
- cmsbt1x1k01ud3vv38hpeqfhk← DEPENDS_ON
Remove hazard identification and safety risk assessment has no hazards to assess — the procedure stops operating. Hazard ID is the prerequisite input to risk assessment.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 31, 2026, 3:35 AM UTC
- Content hash
- e9245632b7875cdf30dcda13ee0c3cf747ca813948c6b8fb6ded217486e413ff