Why near-miss reporting is vital for preventing future accidents.

The shock and elevated heart rate that occurs as a result of a ‘near-miss’ usually has most employees wondering what the outcome could have been if it wasn’t a miss! This thought process is critical to ensure action is taken to avoid future near-misses and actual accidents.

The first thing we should address is what is a near-miss?

A near-miss is classed as an event that when occurred didn’t cause harm, however under slightly different circumstances, could cause serious injury, illness or even death.

So even though near-miss reporting isn’t a legal requirement (unless the incident falls under RIDDOR), most of us can see how near-miss reporting and changing procedures within a company to avoid a future near-miss or accident (no matter how small or insignificant it may seem), is paramount to ensure the health and safety of your staff in the future.

 

An example of how something that seems so trivial could result in a serious incident:

‘A mat in an office corridor keeps getting caught on employees’ shoes, causing them to slightly stumble as the edging has come away from the matting.
In the event of a fire, as employees quickly file towards the fire exit at the end of the corridor, one trips on the mat edging, falls to the floor and is tumbled over by other employees trying to escape from the building, causing injury to those who fall, potential crushing and risk of death as the exit pathway is blocked to escape from the fire.’

This example (though extreme) shows how something so simple could have catastrophic consequences if no one addresses the issue or takes responsibility to rectify the hazard, this incident would easily be avoided if a near-miss reporting procedure was in place.

Having a recognised procedure within your company to allow each and every employee to take responsibility to report and start the process of making these vital changes for health and safety near-misses can be a task in itself. Here at Be-Safe Technologies we’ve developed the Compliance Genie, an all-in-one health and safety app that can be access via any iOS and Android mobile device, tablet or desktop, to store documentation, risk assessments, and record and manage incidents and near-misses, so you can prevent accidents from happening in the first instance.

To learn more about how the Compliance Genie can help health and safety in your company, please get in touch with our friendly and efficient team.