The term “near miss” has always been an interesting one – it would seem to say that someone was “nearly missed” or that the company “nearly missed” having to pay out an insurance and medical claim.

 

A near miss is a series of events that almost result in property damage, serious injury, or worse, but which by some fortunate happenstance did not produce a more serious result. A near miss has been defined as “an unplanned event that had the potential to result in an injury or physical damage.”

 

Most of us also think of near misses as near hits, close calls, or a lucky break. Near misses serve as a wakeup call to alert us to a potential problem with the chance to correct it before something more serious happens – a “do-over” if you will.

 

Such events usually come back, in one way or another, to the human factor. An employee did or did not do something to cause or contribute to the chain of events. However, near misses can also be attributed to a faulty process, a suspect system, or lack of procedure.

 

As safety professionals, we need to look at all of the contributing factors, and determine what we can improve or change with an eye toward preventing a similar occurrence in the future.

 

Use KOL's tools

The newest entry in the editor's blog, the Think Tank, addresses this very issue. The blog is called 'Softball – near miss.' You can find the Think Tank in the Member Discussions area.

 

That's not all ... regardless of the nature of the near miss, there are a variety of tools in KellerOnline that can help you.

 

·        Track your near misses. Within the Interactive Tools, the Incidents (Form 300/301) feature allows you to list an incident as a Near Miss, First-Aid, or Other. By using these categories for incidents that are not recordable, you can track trends in your workplace that can help you to prevent a recordable and keep a minor incident from becoming a costly injury.

 

·        Audit your facility. Performing audits of your workplace can help you to identify potential issues before they become problems. KOL provides you with a variety of Audit Checklists covering 600 topics – or you can customize or create your own checklists.

 

·        See how others are doing. Use the Benchmarking feature to see how you and your company compare to others within your industry or how you compare to companies of the same size. This can help you to determine how effectively you are spending your safety dollars.

 

·        Ask your peers. With the idea that two heads are better than one, you can ask questions in the KOL Member Discussion area. Put your safety questions to the group – often someone has an idea or experience that can help you – and they don't expect your money for helping.

 

·        My Safety Program. Don't forget about one of the most effective programs offered on KOL, My Safety Program. This area provides you with the ability to assess your safety and health program, plan on what changes to make, implement your changes and plans, and then review the processes to make sure that you are in compliance and that things are working as planned.