As safety professionals, we know the value of actionable information. We gather and use hazard assessments, injury, illness and workers' compensation cost data. And we base our prevention strategies on this data. But there's a frequent blind spot in our analysis: Near misses. It's not enough to review injuries that have occurred; we must also consider injuries that have almost occurred. Unfortunately, near miss data is hard to capture. I would like to tell you about some of the things our company is doing to solve this problem.

Near Misses Are Prevention Opportunities Lost

In the course of conducting an injury investigation, nothing is more frustrating than to learn that the same circumstances that led to an injury resulted in prior incidents that went unreported because accidents were narrowly missed and nobody got hurt. You hear: "That guard has been loose for two weeks;" or, "I slipped on that same spot yesterday;" or, "that's been malfunctioning for three days."

It just makes you want to scream. If only the people working in and around the area who knew of the danger had said something to you, action would have been taken and the injury could have been prevented!

Why Near Misses Go Unreported

Employees (and others involved) could do themselves and their co-workers a world of good by reporting near misses to the safety officer. So, why don't they? There are several reasons:

• They don't recognize the event (incident) as a near miss that needs to be reported. "I didn't get hurt – so nothing actually happened," the thinking goes.
• The employees involved fear discipline for causing the incident and don't want to "turn themselves (or a co-worker) in."
• Reporting takes time – time that no one has. "I have to write a report for this?"
• Employees don't know how to report near misses. "Who do I tell?"

Overcoming Reluctance

Everyone – managers, supervisors, and especially the folks working on the floor – needs to be educated so that a red light goes off in their heads when they witness a near miss. They need to understand that the same conditions, unless addressed, are likely to result in future incidents and that the next time it might lead to actual amputations, broken bones, head injuries or even fatalities. And they need to understand that the situation might not be addressed, unless they report it.

Supervisors play a key role in education and awareness building efforts. They need to instill the urgency of reporting the near miss into everyone.

5 Ways to Get Employees to Report Near Misses

Here are 5 steps you can take to obtain this valuable information:

1. Require that all incidents be reported immediately.
2. Expand the definition of incident to include not only injuries and illnesses but also near misses and hazards.
3. Educate employees about what constitutes a near miss and why they're to be reported. Employees need to know that reporting a near miss is a Good Thing!
4. Make it easy for employees to report a near miss.
5. When an employee reports a near miss, thank them and use their input to remedy the situation.

Conclusion

Next week, I will describe in more detail the efforts my organization has made to build near miss awareness and get employees and others to overcome their reluctance to report near misses.

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