There are different definitions of the term “near miss”, but the easiest one to understand is “a near miss is an event or situation that could have resulted in injury, damage or loss but did not do so due to chance”. Please take a look at the image above for a graphic explanation.
- Image 2: This is a near miss because the unsafe condition was not identified, an incident happened but no one was injured and it did not get reported.
- Image 3: This is an incident, because the unsafe condition was not identified and the near miss was not reported someone got injured.
When a near miss has been reported it is important to investigate the near miss in an effort to prevent future incidents.
Action 1 – If an unsafe condition has been identified, report it to your line manager so that it can be dealt with (made safe).
Action 2 – All near miss reports to be actioned immediately, i.e. within 24 hours.
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