WHAT IS A NEAR-MISS
• A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage - but had the potential to do so.
• Can be describe as an unplanned event or incident where no property was damaged and no personal injury was sustained but where given a slight different circumstances, injury to people, damage to property or process or harm to the environment could occurred.
• Unsafe actions of people which in different circumstances could cause an accident, property damage, process interruption or create an environmental hazard.
There are many ways to describe a near miss, close call, or near hit.
• A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage - but had the potential to do so.
• Can be describe as an unplanned event or incident where no property was damaged and no personal injury was sustained but where given a slight different circumstances, injury to people, damage to property or process or harm to the environment could occurred.
• Unsafe actions of people which in different circumstances could cause an accident, property damage, process interruption or create an environmental hazard.
There are many ways to describe a near miss, close call, or near hit.
WHY REPORTING NEAR MISS
Incidents occur every day at the workplace, at home and around the community that could result in a serious injury or damage thats why a near-miss program may help prevent
future incidents.
Reporting and recording are legal requirements. The report tells the enforcing authorities for
occupational health and safety (HSE and local authorities) about serious incidents and cases
of disease. This means they can identify where and how risks arise and whether they need to
be investigated. It also allows HSE and local authorities to target their work and provide
advice on how to avoid work-related deaths, injuries, ill health and accidental loss.
Information on accidents, incidents and ill health can be used as an aid to risk assessment,
helping to develop solutions to potential risks. Records also help to prevent injuries and ill
health, and control costs from accidental loss.
HOW DO REPORTING NEAR MISS SYSTEM PREVENT FUTURE INCIDENTS
Many safety activities are
reactive and not proactive, and some organizations wait for losses to occur
before taking steps to prevent a recurrence. Near miss incidents often precede
loss producing events but may be overlooked as there was no harm (no injury,
damage or loss).
An organization may not
have a reporting culture where employees are encouraged to report these close calls. Thus,
many opportunities to prevent the incidents are lost. History has shown repeatedly that most loss
producing events (incidents), both serious and catastrophic, were preceded by warnings or
near miss incidents. Recognizing and reporting near miss incidents can significantly improve everyone's safety and enhance an organization’s and community safety culture.
The HSE committee is one method to engage employees, community, management and
leaders in supporting first-line supervision in identifying and correcting unsafe conditions,
coordinating the facility HSE process, and promoting HSE awareness in the facility with the
objective of incident prevention.
