Near Miss?
Sep
5
Written by:
9/5/2011
Near Miss?
I have to agree with George Carlin. The term seems like it should be “near hit” since it is describing an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage – but had the potential to do so. I did some research, and the following is from Wikipedia:
“The often misunderstood phrase is so-called to stress that not only had things gone remotely off course towards danger, but they had actually only "barely missed" catastrophe. For instance, commercial airliners are considered dangerously close if they are less than 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) apart. If they pass at a quarter mile apart or less, this is a "near miss" because they were extraordinarily near each other when they missed collision.”
This definition still seems like a stretch, but the reason I point it out is because most Injury and Illness Prevention Programs indicate investigations are completed for near miss incidents. The interesting aspect is I rarely see investigations for near misses, but I know they are common in the workplace. I suspect most cases are never reported because employees either fear there might be punitive consequences, or they think it is too much to complete the paperwork for something that never happened. This is a shame, because a lot can be learned from close calls that could have been catastrophic. Check out the investigation for a recent near miss where a stage blew over in Canada. Talk about a situation that could have been catastrophic!
The next time you see a close call, take the time to report it and investigate it. You may be able to prevent a catastrophe in your workplace!