EH&S Insider Blog

Near Miss Reporting - the Achilles Heel of the Safety Program  A near miss is a narrowly-avoided accident. Though it didn't result in injury or property damage, it may have if circumstances had been slightly different. According to OSHA, these close calls should be reported and investigated. Unfortunately, employees (and managers) often avoid reporting for a variety of reasons. They may feel pressured by their co-workers to keep working or they're afraid they'll be blamed for the close call if they mention it to their superiors. A difficult, complicated reporting process will also discourage people from reporting near misses.

Near miss reporting provides a company with invaluable insight about potential hazards as well as important data for risk calculations. However, when workers don't report near misses for whatever the reason, the total value of the information collected becomes less credible and can leave gaping holes in the data collection process. Here are 8 reasons why near misses are not getting reported:

There are many possible stumbling blocks to having a successful Near Miss Reporting System. Getting employees, supervisors, and management all to take part in a proactive reporting system is easier said than done. To learn more about why near misses do not get reported, see our article, "8 Reasons Near Misses Do Not Get Reported." Methods to help resolve common near miss reporting issues will be discussed in this article.

What is a Near Miss? OSHA defines a near miss as an incident where no property was damaged and no personal injury was sustained, but where given a slight shift in time or position damage and/or injury easily could have occurred. Merriam-Webster's definition is "an accident that is just barely avoided."  Near miss incidents occur every day in the workplace and can be anything from a simple stumble over an electrical cord to a hand narrowly escaping amputation.