What is the test for a near miss?
Ask two questions. Did something unplanned happen? Would a small change in timing, position or luck have caused injury, illness or damage? If both answers are yes, it is a near miss, whether or not anyone noticed at the time.
What are examples of a near miss in safety?
| Workplace | Near miss |
|---|---|
| Warehouse | A forklift stops half a metre from a pedestrian who stepped out of an aisle |
| Manufacturing | A guard is found missing on a running conveyor, and nobody was near it |
| Construction | A hand tool falls from a platform and lands in an exclusion zone |
| Food plant | A wet floor causes a slip that is stopped by a handrail |
| Office | A trailing cable catches a foot, but the person stays upright |
What about the grey areas?
- Unsafe condition with no event. A spill nobody has slipped on is a hazard, not a near miss. Report it as a hazard.
- Unsafe act with no consequence. Skipping lockout on a quick job and getting away with it is a near miss if an uncontrolled release of energy was possible.
- First aid or damage. If anyone was hurt or anything was damaged, it is an incident, even a minor one.
What should happen after a near miss is reported?
- Make the area safe straight away.
- Rate the worst credible outcome, not the actual one.
- Find the cause and fix the condition, not just remind people.
- Tell the person who reported it what was done.
Reports that never lead to a visible fix soon stop coming, so the feedback step matters as much as the form.