What it means
A near miss is something that went wrong, or almost did, where nobody got hurt and nothing was broken. A load that slipped and landed where no one stood. A forklift that stopped a few feet short of a walker.
It's the same chain of events as an injury, minus the last link. That's why near misses are worth the time. The conditions that cause them are usually the conditions that cause injuries.
A near miss isn't a hazard report on its own. A hazard is something you see before anything happens. A near miss is something that already happened and got away with it.
Why it matters
Near misses are free warnings. Many sites have more of them than injuries, and workers usually see them first. If people feel safe reporting them, the lead gets to fix the cause before someone gets hurt.
What it looks like on a site
- A worker tells the foreman about the load that slipped, and the foreman writes it down the same shift.
- The crew talks about it at the next toolbox talk, with no names and no blame.
- The lead checks whether the same cause shows up in other reports.
- The fix and the person who owns it are written down and followed up.
- Reports get a visible answer, so people keep making them.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check the current rule and your own procedures. Back to the glossary