Near Misses
March 01, 2022
A “Near Miss” is an event that could have caused serious injury or illness—but didn’t.
Example: A forklift operator drives too fast and drops the load, almost hitting another worker.
How to react in the event of a “Near Miss”
- Acknowledge the near miss and how the situation could have ended much worse
- Alert supervisor of the near miss so that everyone can be aware to prevent accidents (posting maybe made for our lunch room)
- Talk to your supervisor about what can be done to inform and solve the cause of the near miss so that the workplace can be safer.
- Understand that reporting a near miss will not get you in trouble since it is better to report a near miss before an accident actually happens and someone gets hurt.