How near a miss must a near miss miss for the near miss to not be missed?
The regular reviewing and updating of safety procedures and processes is one of the most practical ways that workers can be protected from the risks that are known to exist at workplaces.
One of the best ways of doing this is being able to identify areas where the existing safety systems are inadequate or do not cover areas where accidents can potentially occur.
Reporting of near misses is one of the best ways to identify where these areas are. However, a combination of the inherent nature of near misses and a worker’s fear of being reprimanded can combine to mean that these critical issues can be missed or under-reported.
What is a near miss?
A near miss is any situation where an accident came close to occurring but, through either chance or timely intervention, did not.
What might constitute a near miss in any given workplace will depend on the type of risks present.
Catching your balance when losing footing on a slippery fall would be a near miss. Any situation where the immediate response is “phew, that was close” or “I could have really hurt myself” was probably a near miss.
Near misses occur all the time. Sometimes they are recognised as that, but a lot of time they can go past without being acknowledged.
And it’s when near misses are not acknowledged that they can turn into accidents which can injure workers.
The importance of identifying near misses
Sometimes a near miss is easy to identify. But a lot of the time they can pass by unnoticed.
Being able to identify a near miss requires a worker or supervisor be able to quickly spot when a step in a procedure or process has not gone as it should have. It might be that the procedure which appeared correct when written down has unintended consequences when applied in practice. Or perhaps there was a misinterpretation of an instruction that has led to a deviation from the expected outcome.
The cause of a near miss can also be environmental. This is especially the case in workplaces like building and construction sites. These sites by their very nature are places where there are many different types of safety risk. These risks can also change over time and temporary structures are installed or removed, and as the final structure takes shape.
It is important in these situations and in these environments that near misses are identified and action to mitigate their reoccurring quickly taken. While the first-time a near miss occurs it probably didn’t injure anyone, the same may not be true if it were to reoccur.
Under-reporting of near misses
While not reporting a near miss through lack of identifying it has the potential to lead to harm should the same incident reoccur, not reporting a near miss by choice almost certainly ensures that there will be an injury or worse result from a later accident.
Workers not reporting known near misses can be influenced by many factors, the main ones being a poor culture of accepting such suggestions from workers or workers having a fear of reprisals for being perceived to have done the wrong thing.
Regardless of the cause, there are two main outcomes that stem from a lack of near miss reporting.
The first is that risks cannot be mitigated if they are not identified. Near misses show that a risk is present that has not been mitigated. If a near miss occurs but is not reported, the process of updating or refining safety processes is being done without knowing all relevant information.
Secondly, a lack of reporting can build a false picture of a workplace’s safety. The under-reporting of incidents can lead workers, supervisors, employers and others to believe that a workplace is safer than it may be.
Under-reporting of near misses can also instil in workers the idea that the work they are undertaking carries with it less risk than it actually does. This can in turn lead to their reducing the amount of effort they put into their own protection, which will then lead to their being exposed to increases likelihood of an accident.
On a broader scale, it is very hard to build policy and industry-level guidance about risk management if the picture being painted of the workplace risk landscape is not clear or accurate.
Culture of safety
Improving the rates of identification and reporting of near misses is best accomplished through a strong culture of safety.
Fostering this culture requires active participation from every level – the owner and employer down to the individual worker and all the managers and supervisors in between.
Strong cultures of safety encourage workers to speak up when near misses happen. They create an environment where everyone looks out for everyone else, which means fewer near misses go unidentified.
Partners in protecting people
Height Safety Engineers have been protecting people working at heights and in high-risk environments for over 20 years now.
From fall protection system design, installation, inspections and maintenance, our team have the expertise and know-how to make sure your team is protected.
Start your safety journey with us today by calling 1300 884 978, emailing enquiries@heightsafety.net or you can just click here to drop us a line.
