The 18-section Activity Hazard Analysis worksheet federal-construction primes use to satisfy USACE EM 385-1-1, Section 01.A. Per-activity hazard breakdown, controls matrix, PPE-by-step, signature routing, and crew-briefing capture in one editable starting point.
Why this template exists
If you’re a federal prime working on a USACE, NAVFAC, AFCEC, or VA construction project, the Activity Hazard Analysis is the document that decides whether your crew breaks ground on Tuesday morning or stands around the staging area waiting for the SSHO to finish a rewrite. EM 385-1-1, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Safety and Health Requirements Manual, current revision dated 2024. Names the AHA explicitly in Section 01.A and requires one for every distinct activity on the project. The Site Safety and Health Plan (the program-level document) sets the framework; the AHA is the per-activity worksheet that turns that framework into something a foreman can brief the crew on in 12 minutes before work starts.
The practical problem: most contractors who win federal work treat the AHA as a copy-paste exercise. They pull a generic OSHA Job Hazard Analysis template off the internet, rename it, list five hazards, list five PPE items, and call it done. Then the USACE safety specialist reviews the AHA during the pre-mobilization meeting, returns it with comments referencing specific EM 385-1-1 sections, definable feature of work missing, principal steps not broken down, controls not tied to hazards, training requirements not stated, competent person not named, rescue plan absent, and the activity slips by a day or two while the safety officer rewrites the document. Multiply that across every distinct activity on a typical federal project (typically 15 to 40 AHAs over the life of the contract) and the AHA becomes a chronic friction point that nobody wants to own. EM 385-1-1’s AHA structure is deliberately different from a commercial OSHA-only Job Hazard Analysis. It explicitly requires a definable feature of work (DFOW) declaration, principal steps broken down sequentially, hazards tied to specific steps (not the activity in aggregate), controls categorized by the hierarchy (engineering > administrative > PPE), required PPE matrixed by step, named competent person, required training and inspections, applicable permits, equipment and equipment-inspection cadence, emergency procedures specific to the activity (including rescue plan where fall protection or confined space is involved), and signature routing through SSHO, superintendent, and foreman before the activity starts. A generic OSHA-construction JHA satisfies almost none of those requirements directly. The structures look similar at first glance but the USACE expectations sit a level deeper.
This template is the artifact a contracts admin or safety officer at a federal GC keeps on their machine and copies into every new federal activity. It walks through 18 sections that an AHA must address to be acceptable on a typical USACE or NAVFAC project, with operator-grade guidance under each section telling you what content goes there, why USACE asks for it, and what gets your AHA returned for rewrite if you skip it. The 18 sections are not exhaustive, every activity has site-specific hazards that require additional content (radiation work, marine work, demolition with chemical agents, energized utility work, etc.), but they cover the floor that almost every federal-construction AHA must clear before a crew can begin work.
What this template is NOT: it’s not a substitute for activity-specific hazard analysis, it’s not legal advice on whether your safety program meets your insurer’s standards, and it’s not a guarantee that your AHA will be accepted on first submission. The Contracting Officer’s authorized representative, usually a USACE safety specialist or NAVFAC Resident Officer in Charge of Construction (ROICC), has discretion to require additional content based on the activity’s risk profile. What this template gives you is the structural floor: the 18 sections any federal AHA needs, in the order USACE expects them, with the right citations, so you spend your prep time identifying real hazards instead of figuring out what content is missing.
Use this template before each new activity on any federal-construction contract that names EM 385-1-1 in the specifications. Refresh it whenever the activity scope changes, when site conditions change in a way that introduces new hazards, when a near-miss or accident exposes a gap, when new crew members rotate onto the activity, and when USACE issues a finding that requires AHA content updates. Keep the signed version in the project safety binder; brief the active version to the crew at the start of each shift; and capture the daily briefing acknowledgment so the audit trail is intact when the contracting officer asks.
Who uses this
- Federal general contractors preparing per-activity AHAs on USACE, NAVFAC, AFCEC, VA, or GSA construction contracts that reference EM 385-1-1
- 8(a) subcontractors drafting AHAs that integrate into the prime’s SSHP and AHA framework
- Site Safety and Health Officers (SSHOs) reviewing and approving AHAs before activity start
- Project superintendents signing AHAs and confirming they match planned work
- Foremen and crew leads briefing AHAs to crews and capturing the briefing acknowledgment
- Competent persons named on AHAs by hazard category (excavation, fall protection, scaffolding, confined space)
If you don’t yet have a program-level Site Safety and Health Plan in place, start with the Federal site safety plan (EM 385-1-1) template. The AHA is the per-activity document that flows out of the SSHP, and reviewers expect to see both.
What’s included. 18 AHA sections per EM 385-1-1
The template covers 18 sections every EM 385-1-1 Activity Hazard Analysis must address before a crew can begin work on a federal-construction project:
- Project, contract, and AHA-identifier header. Capture the contract number, project name, USACE district or NAVFAC FEAD office, project location, the EM 385-1-1 revision date being followed (currently 2024), the AHA sequence number for this project (e.g., AHA-014), and the prime contractor name. The Contracting Officer’s representative cross-references this header against the awarded contract and the SSHP. Mismatches at this level get the AHA rejected before reviewers even read the body.
- Activity name, scope, and definable feature of work (DFOW). State the activity name in plain English (e.g., “Concrete placement. Building 200 footings”), describe the scope in two to four sentences, and declare the definable feature of work the activity falls under per the project schedule. EM 385-1-1 ties AHAs to the project’s DFOW structure deliberately. Reviewers want to see that the contractor’s safety planning maps to the work-breakdown structure, not floating in isolation.
- Activity location, duration, and crew composition. Identify where on the site the activity occurs (building/area/elevation), planned start date, planned end date, expected crew size, named foreman, and any subcontractor crews involved. Site conditions and crew composition both shift the hazard profile. A four-person crew of seasoned ironworkers and a twelve-person mixed crew with apprentices need different AHA emphasis even on the same activity.
- Principal steps broken down sequentially. Decompose the activity into 6 to 15 principal steps in the order they will be performed. Each step is a discrete unit of work: “deliver and stage materials,” “prepare excavation area,” “set forms,” “place concrete,” “finish surface,” “strip forms,” etc. Generic step lists (“perform work safely”) are the most-cited deficiency on first-submission AHA reviews. Specificity is what makes the hazard-step linkage work in the next section.
- Hazards identified per step. For each principal step, list the specific hazards the step exposes the crew to. Concrete placement steps surface struck-by hazards from the boom, slip/trip hazards in the wet-zone, chemical-burn hazards from cement contact, vibration hazards from the screed, electrical hazards if pumps are involved, and noise hazards from the saw and pump. Most steps generate 3 to 8 hazards. Tying hazards to steps (rather than aggregating them at the activity level) is the single most-cited difference between an EM 385-1-1 AHA and a generic OSHA JHA.
- Controls matrix using the hierarchy of controls. For each hazard, list the controls that will be in place, categorized by the hierarchy of controls: elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative, and PPE. In that order of preference. EM 385-1-1 expects to see engineering and administrative controls before PPE on the page, not PPE listed as the only line of defense. “Wear gloves” is not an answer to a chemical-exposure hazard. Engineering controls (containment), administrative controls (limited exposure time), and PPE (chemical-resistant gloves matched to the chemical) all stack.
- PPE matrix by step. Build a sub-matrix that maps each principal step to the required PPE: hard hat, safety glasses or face shield, hearing protection (where step exceeds 85 dBA TWA), hand protection by hazard type, foot protection, fall protection (where step works above the EM 385-1-1 trigger height), respiratory protection by exposure, and high-visibility clothing class by zone. Don’t list PPE generically at the activity level. Tie each PPE item to the step that triggers the requirement so the crew knows what to wear when, and so reviewers see the PPE rationale.
- Required training and qualifications. List the training each crew member must hold before performing this activity: OSHA 10 (all workers), OSHA 30 (foremen and supervisors), EM 385-1-1 SSHO course (SSHO and alternate), competent-person training by hazard category (excavation, fall protection, scaffolding, confined space), equipment-specific training (forklift, aerial work platform, crane, etc.), first aid/CPR for designated responders, and any activity-specific OSHA standards (silica awareness, lead awareness, hexavalent chromium, etc.). Reviewers cross-check this list against training records on file.
- Competent person designation by hazard. Name the competent person on this activity by hazard category, with the qualification that establishes their competent-person status (training certificate, experience documentation, employer designation letter). EM 385-1-1 requires a competent person to be on-site whenever certain hazards are present (excavation, fall protection, scaffolding, confined space). Naming them on the AHA is how the project demonstrates the requirement is met during walks.
- Required inspections. Pre-task, during-task, post-task. Specify what gets inspected before work starts (e.g., excavation atmosphere, fall-protection anchor points, scaffold tags, equipment pre-use checklists), what gets inspected continuously or periodically during the work (e.g., excavation walls after weather events, atmospheric readings in confined space, scaffold integrity after impact), and what gets inspected at the end of the shift (e.g., excavation barricades, hot-work fire watch closure, equipment lockout). Capture inspection cadence and named inspector.
- Required permits and authorizations. List the permits this activity requires before work can begin: hot work permit, confined space entry permit, excavation permit (where USACE district requires), energized work permit, lockout/tagout authorization, crane lift plan signoff, fall-protection plan signoff for non-standard work, and any state or local permits (e.g., utility-locate ticket, traffic-control permit). State who issues each permit and the permit number once issued.
- Equipment list and inspection cadence. List the equipment required for the activity: heavy equipment (excavators, loaders, cranes, concrete pumps), powered hand tools, scaffolding, fall-protection equipment, atmospheric monitors, traffic-control devices, and PPE that requires periodic inspection (harnesses, lanyards, hard hats with documented date-stamps). Capture inspection cadence per item and the inspection log location.
- Emergency procedures specific to this activity. Document the emergency response plan for hazards specific to this activity: fall-protection rescue plan with 4-minute response capability where suspended-worker risk exists, confined-space rescue plan with continuous-attendant procedures, hot-work fire response plan with extinguisher location and fire-watch duration, atmospheric-event response for confined space, struck-by/struck-against response, and the project’s overall emergency action plan summary as it applies to this activity location. Emergency contacts list at the bottom: 911, USACE/NAVFAC duty officer, corporate safety, named occupational clinic.
- Pre-task safety meeting (PTSM) capture and crew briefing. The AHA isn’t complete until the foreman has briefed the crew on it before work starts. Capture the briefing date, briefing duration (target 10 to 20 minutes for routine activities; 20 to 45 for high-hazard), name of the foreman delivering the briefing, the language the briefing was delivered in (English, Spanish, or both), the questions asked by the crew, and the changes made to the AHA based on those questions. Crews catch real hazards in PTSMs that planners miss in the office.
- Crew acknowledgment signatures. Every crew member on the activity signs the AHA acknowledging they have been briefed, understand the hazards and controls, know the named competent person and how to reach them, know the emergency procedures, and confirm they are physically and mentally fit for the work. Capture printed name, signature, date, and crew-role. New crew members rotating onto the activity sign on the day they join the crew, not in advance.
- AHA preparation, review, and approval signatures. Capture the signatures of the preparer (typically a foreman, superintendent, or SSHO), the reviewer (typically the SSHO if not the preparer), the approver (typically the project superintendent), and the named USACE safety specialist or NAVFAC ROICC where the project requires Contracting Officer concurrence on the AHA itself. Each signature has printed name, title, date, and any required certification reference (CSP, CHST, OSHA 500, USACE 40-hour SSHO course).
- Lessons learned and near-miss capture from prior activities. Document any lessons learned from prior performance of this activity on this project or recent prior projects: what went wrong, what was the near-miss or actual incident, what corrective action was taken, and how this AHA reflects the corrective action. EM 385-1-1 expects safety planning to be evidence-driven, not first-principles only. Reviewers ask “what have you learned doing this work” during AHA reviews and expect the AHA to show it.
- Revision log and AHA review triggers. Maintain a revision log inside the AHA showing every change since first issuance: revision number, date, change summary, name of person making the change, and reason for the change. State the review triggers explicitly. Phase change, new crew rotation, weather event affecting work, near-miss, accident, USACE finding, scope change, or any condition that materially shifts the hazard profile. Routine review at minimum every 30 days during active work even if no trigger fires.
How to use the template
Use this template before starting any new activity on a federal-construction contract that references EM 385-1-1. For each new activity:
- Open the DOCX version and save an activity-specific copy to the project safety binder. Name it
-AHA- - -v01.docx. Walk through the 18 sections in order. Replace placeholder language with activity-specific content. Generic content is the #1 reason for first-submission AHA rejection. - Build the principal-steps breakdown first (Section 4). That’s the spine the rest of the document hangs on. If the steps are wrong, the hazard-step linkage and PPE-by-step matrix are wrong too.
- Walk the work area before finalizing. Site conditions surface hazards that the office walkthrough misses.
- Have the preparer sign, the SSHO sign as reviewer, and the project superintendent sign as approver. Submit to the USACE safety specialist or NAVFAC ROICC if the project requires Contracting Officer concurrence on the AHA.
- Brief the crew at the pre-task safety meeting before work starts. Capture the briefing in Section 14 and the crew acknowledgment signatures in Section 15. Refresh on every trigger event listed in Section 18. Maintain the revision log so the audit trail stays intact when the Contracting Officer asks for the file.
Stop chasing AHA approvals across email.
The 18 sections above take a federal SSHO 4 to 8 hours to draft per activity, and the routing, preparer to reviewer to approver to USACE specialist to crew briefing, typically eats another 2 to 4 days of calendar time before the activity can start. Multiply by 15 to 40 AHAs over the life of a single federal contract and the AHA cycle becomes a part-time job for your safety director. Except the routing happens in email, signatures live in scanned PDFs, and the revision log fragments across a folder of versioned attachments. Contracts Connected’s Approval Workflows route AHA drafts through the preparer, SSHO, superintendent, and named USACE liaison automatically, version every revision, capture electronic signatures from approvers and crew, and keep the audit-trail file ready for the contracting officer the moment they ask.
For educational purposes. These templates, checklists, and trackers are operator-built starting points designed to help you move faster on the kind of work that usually drowns construction admins in email chains. They are not legal, insurance, accounting, or tax advice. Each project, jurisdiction, and contract has its own quirks. Review the document, refine the language, and consult your attorney, broker, CPA, or compliance officer before relying on it for a live project decision.
Frequently asked questions about EM 385-1-1 AHAs
Is one AHA enough for the whole project, or do I need one per activity?
One per activity. EM 385-1-1 is explicit on this in Section 01.A. Every distinct activity on the project requires its own AHA. A typical federal-construction project has 15 to 40 AHAs over the life of the contract, depending on scope and how granularly the contractor breaks activities down. The SSHP sets the program-level framework; the AHAs sit underneath it as the per-activity worksheets. Reviewers expect the AHA inventory to roughly match the project schedule’s definable features of work.
How is an AHA different from an OSHA Job Hazard Analysis (JHA)?
An OSHA JHA and an EM 385-1-1 AHA look similar at first glance. Both decompose work into steps, identify hazards by step, and list controls. The differences sit a level deeper. EM 385-1-1 requires definable-feature-of-work declaration, the hierarchy-of-controls categorization, named competent person on the document, required inspections by phase (pre/during/post), required permits, emergency procedures specific to the activity (including rescue plan where applicable), and signature routing through SSHO, superintendent, and approver. Generic OSHA JHA templates almost never carry that structure. They look done but they get returned for rewrite.
When does the AHA need to be approved. Before or after the activity starts?
Before. EM 385-1-1 expects the AHA approved by the SSHO and superintendent (and the USACE safety specialist where the contract requires) before the crew begins the activity. On most USACE projects the Contracting Officer’s representative wants 24 to 48 hours of lead time on the AHA submission so reviewers can comment before mobilization on the activity. Building the AHA after the work starts is non-compliance and creates a stop-work risk if the safety walk catches it.
Who signs the AHA, and when?
Three signature tiers, plus the crew. The preparer (typically foreman or SSHO) signs when the AHA is drafted. The reviewer (typically the SSHO if not the preparer) signs when the AHA is reviewed. The approver (typically the project superintendent) signs when the AHA is approved for use. Where the project requires Contracting Officer concurrence on the AHA itself, the named USACE safety specialist or NAVFAC ROICC signs as the final approval. The crew signs at the pre-task safety meeting acknowledging they have been briefed. New crew members joining the activity sign on the day they join.
How often should I refresh the AHA on a long-running activity?
At minimum every 30 days during active work, on every revision trigger (phase change, new crew rotation, weather event affecting work, near-miss, accident, USACE finding, scope change), and whenever conditions materially shift the hazard profile. Maintain the revision log inside the document so reviewers can see the change history. AHAs that get marked “no changes” for 90 days on an active high-hazard activity are a USACE-walk red flag. Reviewers expect safety planning to evolve as the work evolves.
What happens if the AHA is rejected on first submission?
Standard outcome. Most AHAs get returned with comments on first review. The USACE safety specialist or NAVFAC ROICC sends back a marked-up document referencing specific EM 385-1-1 sections you missed. Address each comment, document the changes in the revision log inside the document, and resubmit. One to two review cycles are common before approval. Build the review cycles into your activity-start schedule. Assume 3 to 5 working days from first submission to final approval on a routine activity, longer on high-complexity or high-hazard work.