A “near miss” or accident without injury is easy to shrug off and forget. But there is a danger in brushing off accidents that don’t hurt, harm, or damage. When a “near miss” happens, it should immediately send up a red warning flag that something was wrong, unplanned, unexpected, and could happen again. The next time it happens, it could result in serious damage, injury, or death.
A worker received an electric shock on a piece of equipment he was using. He was not injured, and he did not report the incident. A few days later another
worker also received a shock from the same defective equipment and again did not report the problem. Within days a third worker also received an electrical shock, which killed him.
One of the biggest problems with near misses is that employees tend not to report them. They should be taken seriously and reported immediately
Near Misses:
- Most accidents can be predicted by near misses.
- Studies shows that for every injury or accident at a workplace there are usually about 189 near misses.
- The difference between a near miss and a serious injury might be a fraction of an inch or a split second of time.
- Near misses are a red flag–a warning that something is very wrong and requires immediate attention.
The few minutes spent reporting and investigating near-miss incidents can help prevent similar incidents, and even severe injuries.
A NEAR MISS SHOULD BECOME A LESSON LEARNED!!
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