A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or
damage – but had the potential to do so. Only a fortunate break in the
chain of events prevented an injury, fatality, or damage; in other words, a
miss that was, nonetheless, very near. Other familiar terms for these events is a “close call”, or in the case of moving objects, “near collision” or a near hit.

• An employee trips over an extension cord that lies across the floor but avoids a fall by grabbing the corner of a desk.
• An outward-opening door nearly hits a worker who jumps back just in time to avoid mishap.
• Instead of using a ladder, an employee puts a box on top of a drum,
  loses balance and stumbles to the ground. Although the employee is
  shaken, there is no injury.

Fast Facts:

• In terms of human lives and property damage, near misses are cheaper, zero cost learning opportunities (compared to learning from actual injury or property loss events).
• Thoroughly investigating and sharing near misses…”will find the causal factors and root causes of potential future accidents, resulting in about 95% reduction in actual losses.”
• A key to any near miss report is the “lesson learned.” Near miss reporters can describe what they observed at the beginning of the event and the factors that prevented loss from occurring.
• To report a near miss, go to SSOE Intranet_Team_Safety_Incident Reporting or go to the new SSOE app on your phone; download the app from the App Store on your Apple device or from Google Play on Android. Search for SSOE. Once you have the app installed, login using your employee ID and password. (Apple users, you will have to click on “Employee Portal” to login for the first time.)

Safety Helpline: 567.218.2522