Near misses are generally defined as an accident or issue that did not cause injury or damage, even though things could have gone completely differently and someone could have been injured and something could have suffered some type of damage. While some people call these things near misses, you may also hear them called good catches, close calls, and close calls.
No matter what you call them, that's fine, but did you know that you should always report them? Yes, you really should report these incidents, because although you were lucky this time, you, or someone or something else, may not be so lucky in the future.
By taking the time to report a near miss, you ensure that others will be aware of what happened and will take extra care when dealing with similar scenarios in the future. It also ensures that some future injuries and accidents will be avoided. Of course, by reducing future near misses, you also reduce the amount of money your company will spend on:
- Medical expenses
- Time lost due to injuries
- Workers' Compensation Payments
- Investigation costs
- Equipment replacement costs
Most of the time, you may not even be aware that these near misses are happening because employees are often afraid to report them. They may be afraid of being fired or they may be a little embarrassed that something like this happened to them. Sometimes peer pressure is enough to keep a person quiet, especially if a company rewards its employees for their excellent safety record. After all, no one wants to be the person who causes everyone to miss out on a bonus!
Therefore, it is very important that you make everyone understand how important it is to report near misses.
5 Ways to Ensure Near Misses Are Always Reported
1. Act like a leader
As a leader, you must ensure that all employees understand the importance of reporting near misses. Walk around and look for hazards, then report them yourself to show everyone that you are serious when it comes to creating a safer workplace.
2. Understand why it is necessary to report near misses
When talking to your employees, make sure they understand why it is so important to report any near misses they have. This can often be done through adequate training and the provision of educational resources.
3. Provide ways for people to report and remain anonymous
No one wants to deal with the results of near miss reports, which is why we recommend allowing people to do so anonymously. You can get the details you need, while those reporting don't have to worry about reprisal from coworkers.
4. Investigate every reported near miss
It is important to investigate each reported near miss, as this shows everyone that each one is being considered serious.
5. Use the results of each investigation to prevent future near misses
Preventing future near misses is as easy as sharing information collected during previous investigations. You can also use these results to make changes to ensure worker safety in the future.
Benefits of having a near miss reporting system in place
Once you create a culture of near miss reporting, you will begin to see multiple benefits across your company. And these benefits are slightly different from the cost-saving benefits mentioned above.
- Prevent tragic accidents or costly incidents from happening in the future
- Allows all employees to be involved in resolving potential issues for each issue and issue
- Strengthens the self-esteem of all employees and restores your ownership when it comes to safety
- Shares valuable information that would not have been discussed otherwise
- Creates a positive attitude when it comes to workplace safety
Create a near miss form
While you have many options when it comes to how you want people to report their near misses, we think it's best to have one form for everyone to fill out. There are many different types of near miss forms, so you can use one of these or create your own. No matter what type of near miss form you use, make sure it contains the following information:
- The date and time of the near miss
- The location of the near miss
- Who was involved in the near accident
- Who witnessed the near accident
- What caused the near accident?
- What factors contributed to the near miss?
As the near miss forms are filled out, you can easily compare them to track and analyze the near misses that are occurring. The ones you see happening the most should be the ones you focus on first, while the ones that only happened once can be left to be worked on in a few weeks.
Near misses should be reported the same day they occur so that they are not forgotten or happen to someone else again. If you want to make sure everyone is reporting their near misses, especially when this is a new process, you should hold a meeting to discuss what happened that day. If you can't do this later in the day, try scheduling the meeting before work starts the next morning.
Everyone may complain about these meetings at first, but once they see how useful they are and how many near misses they can prevent, they will change their minds.
While you can easily review and keep track of all those nearly missed forms manually, there are also many software programs that can do this for you. Therefore, you may want to consider all of your options before deciding which method will best suit your needs. We generally recommend using a program as it ensures you don't miss anything that's trending. Plus, it gets the job done much faster and you won't put it off until you have more time.
If you don't already use near miss forms or know that your employees aren't reporting all of them, you'll want to use this information to implement this practice at your company. We guarantee that the results will only help you improve your business, as well as the safety of your employees.
