Safety Management: Near Miss Best Practices

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has described near misses as incidents where no property was damaged and no personal injury sustained, but where, given a slight shift in time or position, damage and/or injury easily could have occurred. It has been shown that injury and damage-producing events are frequently preceded by warning signs or near miss incidents. For this reason, a program designed to identify, record, and address near miss incidents will improve worker safety and the safety culture of an organization.

• Define the terms “near miss,” “incident,” “best practice,” “root cause,” and “controls” • Identify near miss incidents • List items that should be included in all near miss reports • List best practices for near miss programs • Identify the roles of workers, supervisors, and management in near miss programs • List the benefits of the proactive safety improvements generated by near miss programs • Identify ways to improve participation in near miss programs