That Was Close! – 6/20/22

Safety E-QuickTips

U.S. Compliance Systems, Inc.

Monday Jun 20, 2022

That Was Close …

Over the years I’ve heard some unbelievable stories from employees and management about near miss incidents that could have easily resulted in a serious injury or even death. As I listen to these stories, I often think about other stories that I’ve heard that, although they started off the same, they ended much differently with someone getting seriously injured or even killed.

Almost all accidents that result in personal injury start with a cause and end with an effect – the injury itself. Near miss incidents also start with a cause, but because of lucky chance, they end with no injury. No harm, no foul. No need to pursue the issue any further, right? Wrong!

A near miss incident does not result in personal injury only by chance. If you had been located a foot this way or that, if the projectile had been a fraction of an inch this way or that, if you hadn’t been able to grab something stable at the last moment, if the power hadn’t shut off at that instant, if something hadn’t caught your attention at the last moment . . . if, if, if!

If any of these or other “ifs” hadn’t happened, you would have been injured. It is important to learn from near miss incidents — learn what you did wrong and learn how to ensure those behaviors are not repeated.

How many times have you heard from your fellow workers: “One more second, and I’d have been a goner,” or “It came that close — it just missed me,” or “Boy was I lucky, one more inch and I’d be toast?”

If a near miss incident is the result of something you did, you know you did it, and it was a violation of an obvious safety rule or procedure, consider yourself lucky. Learn from your mistake and be more careful in the future. If you don’t, it could cost you your life.

If the near miss incident was totally unexpected and really should not have happened, you should report it to your supervisor so the mishap may be investigated, and a plan of action developed to prevent a reoccurrence. Either you, or others, were not taught the proper method to perform that task. Or a set of safety procedures must be researched, developed and, more importantly, conveyed to all employees to prevent a reoccurrence.

You should be open about near miss incidents — they provide a great teaching tool to prevent injury to others. They drive home the importance of safety without having to suffer the immediate consequences of a real personal injury accident. In a way, they are a blessing because they point out hazards of construction work in a meaningful way that is easily understood by all.

A note of caution. Some injuries are caused by an employee showing another employee what he did to initiate a near miss incident and the second time around he is actually injured. Treat near miss incidents as if they were accidents. Determine the cause and ensure that it can’t happen a second time.

Employee QuickTip

As you have read, a near miss is a warning that you are doing something wrong, and the result could end in an injury or even death.Heed the warning and protect yourself and those you work with.

Employer/Management QuickTip

Ask your employees to report all near miss situations so you can learn from them and prevent future accidents. 

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Thanks for Reading and Please – Stay Healthy and Work Safe.