Near Miss Prevention - How Can Workplace Hazards Be Avoided?
Near misses and hazards can cause severe damage to people, processes, and the environment. They can lead to costly workplace injuries or illnesses, product or property damage, or financial losses.
You cannot remove every risk in the workplace. Proactive safety measures help you spot hazards early and deal with them before they cause harm.
Every stakeholder, from management to employees, must understand the risks. This guide will share simple steps to avoid incidents and create a safer workplace. First, we’ll explain what near misses and hazards are.
What is a Near Miss in the Workplace?
Near misses are incidents that had the potential to cause harm, but didn’t - either due to chance or preventive actions. These events don’t result in serious injuries or damage but still represent serious warning signs.
Even though there were no immediate consequences of these events, they still indicate potential hazards that need attention to prevent actual accidents in the workplace.
Call it a close call or a lucky escape, it’s important for environment, health and safety (EHS) teams to recognize the value of near miss reporting, and what benefits they can get from identifying them.
Can Near Misses Prevent Future Incidents?
Tracking these hazards helps identify patterns that could result in future workplace accidents or injuries. For example, repeated near misses involving a particular piece of machinery might signal a problem that needs fixing before someone gets hurt.
However, the problem usually arises when there’s no defined system in place for near-miss reporting. Often, these events are overlooked because no one was injured. But even without harm, near misses are signs that something could go wrong.
Investigating them helps uncover the causes and supports corrective action to prevent it from happening again. Proactively identifying and addressing potential risks before they cause harm also saves your company time and money down the line.
Common Examples of Near Misses
Near miss can happen anywhere, from the production floor to office spaces. Here are some common examples:
- An employee trips over a loose wire but catches themselves before falling.
- A machine jams and stops running just before it could have caused serious harm.
- An employee almost hits their head on an overhead beam but ducks just in time.
- A piece of heavy equipment malfunctions but does not cause any injury or damage.
There are countless other examples of near misses that could occur in different workplaces. What matters most is staying alert to potential risks and acting early to stop them.
Why are Near Misses Important?
Near misses reveal weaknesses in safety systems or procedures and can help with accident prevention. They give EHS teams a chance to fix issues before they escalate.
For example, if workers are constantly forgetting their safety glasses when entering a specific area, an EHS team should investigate gaps in worker training, safety compliance, or policy enforcement.
This process is called Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and helps identify possible solutions to eliminate any risks associated with similar types of near-miss incidents in the future.
What are Workplace Hazards?
A hazard is defined as something that can cause harm or damage, either directly or indirectly. In occupational safety and health, these hazards generally fall into categories such as physical, psychosocial, chemical, or ergonomic.
Chemical hazards include the following:
- Flammable liquids
- Asbestos particles
- Toxic fumes and dusts
- Solvents
- Combustible dusts
The terms "hazard" and "risk" are often used interchangeably, but they mean different things. A hazard is something that can cause harm. A risk, on the other hand, refers to the likelihood and severity of that harm happening.
3 Most Common Types of Workplace Hazards
While there are many types of hazards (generally depending on the nature of work involved), most can be grouped into the following categories:
- Physical Hazards
Physical hazards include anything that could potentially cause physical harm to an employee. This may involve:
- Heavy machinery
- Electrical equipment
- Heights
- Confined spaces
- Noise
- Radiation
- Sharp objects
- Slippery surfaces
- Extreme temperatures
Risk assessment is important for employers. They can create safety protocols to prevent employees from coming into contact with them, which includes providing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves or face shields.
Employers should provide training on how to safely use dangerous equipment and handle hazardous materials. Following OSHA guidelines and collaborating with the National Safety Council can also support effective incident prevention strategies.
- Ergonomic Hazards
Ergonomic hazards refer to any type of risk associated with body posture or repetitive motion that can lead to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
Common ergonomic risks include poor lighting, uncomfortable furniture or tools, repetitive motions (such as typing), lifting heavy objects without assistance from colleagues or machines, and sitting for long periods of time without breaks.
To reduce the risks, employers should:
- Provide ergonomic assessments for new hires as well as regular assessments for existing staff members.
- Implement ergonomically-friendly workstations such as adjustable chairs or standing desks, which give employees the option to stand while they work if they wish.
- Encourage regular breaks throughout the day so that employees don't stay in one position for too long at a time.
- Psychological Hazards
Psychological hazards are becoming more common in fast-paced and high-pressure work environments
These types of hazards refer to anything that negatively impacts an employee’s mental health, such as:
- Bullying from fellow coworkers or supervisors
- Unhealthy work/life balance
- Difficult deadlines
- Excessive workloads
- Lack of feedback
- Job insecurity
To help mitigate these risks, employers should have clear, enforced policies around bullying or harassment.
Implementing a real-time incident reporting system can also help ensure that all workplace incidents are documented and addressed promptly.
How to Prevent Near Misses and Hazards in the Workplace
Now that you understand what near misses and hazards are, here are some simple strategies that you can use to prevent them in the workplace.
- Create a Positive Environment to Encourage Reporting
The first step is to create an environment where employees feel comfortable reporting a near miss—even if no incident actually occurs. This involves:
- Setting up anonymous reporting systems so employees don’t feel like they need to keep quiet about potential hazards out of fear of retribution or punishment.
- Ensuring all employees receive adequate training to know how and when to report hazards or near misses.
- Regularly reviewing reports and keeping track of trends so that your team can address underlying safety issues before they become bigger problems.
- Carry Out Thorough Investigations
EHS teams should also utilize proper investigative techniques when looking into near-miss incident reports, such as conducting a root cause analysis (RCA).
RCA helps uncover any underlying factors that led up to it—like organizational structure, communication breakdowns, inadequate training, etc.—and then developing solutions based on those findings.
This process also provides accurate data on which interventions will be most successful at preventing similar incidents in the future. It’s an essential part of any effective incident management and workplace safety program.
- Develop a Hazard Identification and Management System
A hazard management system is a comprehensive process used to identify, assess, control, monitor, and review workplace risks. This should include hazard analysis that looks for any potential risk factors and evaluates how likely they are to occur.
Once identified, these risks should be managed through safety measures like employee training or process updates. It's also important to monitor the effectiveness of these controls and review them regularly to ensure they are up to date.
Using an workplace safety AI solution such as Protex AI makes this process easier. With AI hazard detection, EHS teams can capture unsafe events and access the data they need to build effective safety plans and make informed decisions.
- Regularly Conduct Safety Training Programs
Safety training programs are essential to help employees understand how to use equipment correctly and recognize hazards in their environment. Training should also cover the steps to take if an incident occurs.
Safety training programs should also include regular refresher courses so everyone remains aware of all applicable safety policies and procedures. This will help avoid any misunderstandings or mistakes that could lead to a hazard or near-miss situation.
- Encourage Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is vital when it comes to preventing near misses and hazards in your work environment. Employees should be encouraged to actively participate in discussions about safety regulations at team meetings or other open forums.
Employees should also feel empowered to raise any safety concerns. Creating this kind of open environment helps build trust, improves communication, and lowers the risk of safety incidents caused by misunderstanding or neglect.
Use Protex AI to Improve Workplace Safety
Protex AI is an advanced monitoring solution that plugs into your company’s existing CCTV infrastructure. It uses AI safety software to automatically detect near misses or unsafe events, allowing EHS teams access to important video evidence for safety decisions.
It helps EHS managers identify and address extreme hazards without needing constant supervision. Businesses can configure the rules based on their definition of risk, making it easier for organizations to ensure that each employee follows accepted protocols, resulting in a safer work environment.
To see how Protex AI can help you prevent workplace hazards and ensure compliance, watch our demo.
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