Entrances Storefronts and Curtain Walls AHA (Activity Hazard Analysis / Job Hazard Analysis)

Updated 2026-06-23

An Entrances Storefronts and Curtain Walls AHA (Activity Hazard Analysis / Job Hazard Analysis) heads the glazed- facade family — the aluminum-framed entrances, storefronts, and curtain walls that form the glass skin of a building — and it exists to establish the three hazards that run through every product in it: glass, height, and heavy lifts. This AHA is the facade-glazing overview the detailed entrance, storefront, and curtain-wall AHAs build on.

Why entrances storefronts and curtain walls needs its own AHA

Entrances, storefronts, and curtain walls are the glazed exterior systems of a building — framed (usually aluminum) assemblies filled with glass, ranging from a ground-level storefront and entrance to a multi-story curtain wall that hangs off the structure as the building's skin. What unites them for safety, and what this heading AHA establishes, is a shared hazard family that differs sharply from the solid-door work before it. First, glass: every product in the group is filled with glass, and glass handling is a serious cut and breakage hazard — glass edges lacerate, and a dropped or broken lite shatters into dangerous shards, worse at height where fragments fall on people below. Second, height: storefronts start at grade but curtain walls climb the full face of the building, so the group spans from ground-level work to full-facade work at significant height, off scaffolds, swing stages, and lifts, often at the building edge. Third, heavy lifts: the aluminum framing members and especially the glass lites and curtain-wall units are heavy and awkward, and large glass or unitized curtain-wall panels are mechanical lifts, sometimes crane picks. So the defining hazards are glass handling and breakage, work at height on the facade, and the heavy framing and glass-unit lifts. The detailed AHAs cover each product; this one names the family's shared dangers.

Breaking entrances storefronts and curtain walls into steps

The steps are the general facade-glazing sequence:

• Confirm the system type, framing and glass weights, and facade heights from the submittal
• Establish safe facade access (scaffold, swing stage, or lift) and edge fall protection
• Install and anchor the aluminum framing to the structure
• Handle and set the glass lites or unitized panels (glass/lift control)
• Glaze, seal, and finish the assembly
• Verify anchorage, glazing, and weatherseal

The hazards step by step

Glass handling and breakage

Every product in this group is glazed, and glass is the family's signature hazard. Glass lites have sharp edges that lacerate, glass is heavy for its size, and a dropped or struck lite shatters into shards — a cut hazard to the handler and, at height, a falling-glass hazard to everyone below. The controls are safe glass handling throughout: glazing suction cups and glass-handling equipment for lites beyond a safe hand-carry, cut-rated gloves and arm protection when handling glass, controlled movement so a lite isn't dropped or struck, and — critically at height — protecting the area below from falling glass and cleaning up broken glass immediately. Glass sets the tone for the whole group: it's heavy, sharp, and shatters, and it's handled at every step.

Work at height on the facade

The group spans grade-level storefronts to full-height curtain walls, so facade work at height is central. Curtain- wall and upper-storefront work happens off scaffolds, swing stages (suspended platforms), and boom or mast-climbing lifts, frequently right at the building edge with an open drop. The controls are the facade-access fundamentals: the right access equipment for the height and reach, edge fall protection and personal fall arrest where working at or near the open building edge, stable and rated platforms, and coordination of the vertical work zones so crews and materials aren't above one another unprotected. The higher the facade, the more the height hazard dominates — a curtain wall is high-rise exterior work.

Heavy framing and glass-unit lifts

The aluminum framing members are long and awkward, and the glass lites and especially unitized curtain-wall panels are heavy — large lites and factory-assembled curtain-wall units are mechanical lifts, sometimes crane picks up the face of the building. The controls are matching the lift to the documented weight (glazing equipment, hoists, or cranes for the heavy units), rigging the units properly for the pick, and controlling the load as it's maneuvered into place at height in wind. A unitized panel swinging on a crane up a building face is a rigging-and-wind operation, not a hand-set.

Sealants, eye, and weather work

Glazing and weathersealing bring sealant chemistry (some solvent-based — the sealant cautions), all the metalwork and glass throw debris (eye protection), and facade work is exposed to wind and weather that affect both glass handling and height safety.

A simple Entrances Storefronts and Curtain Walls AHA structure

Where glass, height, and the heavy lift converge

The three defining hazards meet in the signature facade operation: setting a heavy glass lite or curtain-wall unit at height. That single act combines all three — a heavy lift, of fragile sharp glass, at height at the building edge — which is why the facade-glazing family is more than the sum of ordinary handling and height work. The control mindset that unifies them is protecting the vertical zone: the glass is handled and lifted with the area below protected from a dropped or shattered lite, the crew is tied off at the edge, and the lift is controlled against wind. Get the setting-glass-at-height operation right — the lift, the fall protection, and the falling-glass protection together — and the family's core risk is managed.

From the field: what actually goes wrong

The facade-glazing family's failures cluster on glass and height together. The falling-glass one: a lite is dropped or breaks during handling at height, and shards rain down on the area below — a laceration hazard to the handler and a falling-object hazard to anyone underneath who wasn't protected. The height one: crews on swing stages or at the building edge setting framing and glass without adequate edge fall protection, one hand on a heavy lite and no free hand to catch themselves. And the lift one: a large glass unit or curtain-wall panel maneuvered at height in wind gets away or swings into the structure. All three are facets of the same work — heavy fragile glass, at height, in wind — and the detailed entrance, storefront, and curtain-wall AHAs each carry the version that fits their product. This heading AHA's job is to make sure the crew sees the family's shared dangers before the specifics.

The bottom line

An Entrances Storefronts and Curtain Walls AHA is the facade-glazing family overview. Every product is glazed (glass handling and breakage), the group spans grade to full facade (work at height on the building face), and the framing and glass units are heavy (mechanical and crane lifts) — so the controls are safe glass handling with the area below protected, facade access with edge and personal fall protection, and lifts matched and rigged to the unit weight and controlled in wind. The detailed AHAs cover entrances, storefronts, and curtain walls each; this one establishes that glass, height, and heavy lifts define them all.

Frequently asked questions

What hazards do all these glazed-facade systems share?

Three. Glass — every product is glazed, and glass handling is a serious cut and breakage hazard, worse at height where a dropped lite rains shards on people below. Height — the group spans grade-level storefronts to full-height curtain walls, so facade work at significant height off scaffolds, swing stages, and lifts at the building edge is central. And heavy lifts — the aluminum framing and especially the glass lites and unitized curtain-wall panels are heavy, mechanical or crane lifts. Those three run through every entrance, storefront, and curtain-wall AHA.

Why is glass handling treated so seriously?

Because glass is heavy, sharp, and shatters. Lite edges lacerate, glass is heavy for its size (large lites need glazing suction cups and handling equipment), and a dropped or struck lite breaks into dangerous shards — a cut hazard to the handler and, at height, a falling-glass hazard to everyone below. Handle glass with glazing equipment beyond a safe hand-carry, wear cut protection, protect the area below at height, and clean up broken glass immediately.

What's the fall hazard in facade glazing?

The work climbs the building face — curtain walls run the full height, and upper storefront work is elevated — so crews work off scaffolds, swing stages, and lifts, often right at the open building edge. That demands facade-access discipline: the right equipment for the height, edge fall protection and personal fall arrest at the building edge, rated stable platforms, and separating vertical work zones so crews and materials aren't unprotected above one another.

How is this different from the individual entrance and storefront AHAs?

This is the family heading — its job is establishing the shared glass/height/heavy-lift hazards before the specifics. The detailed AHAs (entrances, storefronts, aluminum-framed systems, automatic entrances, curtain walls) each carry the version of these hazards that fits their product — an automatic entrance adds the powered operator, a curtain wall adds the full high-rise facade and unitized crane picks. Start here for the family view, then the specific AHA for the product.

Related AHAs and JHAs

• Entrances and Storefronts AHA — the entrance and storefront detail
• Aluminum-Framed Entrances and Storefronts AHA — the aluminum-framed systems
• Storefronts AHA — the storefront detail
• Curtain Wall Installation JHA — the curtain-wall facade fundamentals

Written by Mustafa Tok, CSP, ASP, CHST — OSHA Authorized Outreach Trainer with 14+ years of international construction safety experience across federal, heavy civil, and industrial projects.