According to training notes and memory a Dangerous Occurrence (DO) is a notifiable event as specified in Schedule 2 of RIDDOR, specifically listed there. A 'Near Miss' is an incident which did not realise its potential for injury or damage. The difference being that some near misses are not DO because they are not in Schedule 2 for reporting under RIDDOR, but those inside the scope are. Under RIDDOR a DO is reportable, but a near miss outside the scope of the Schedule is not. A scaffold collapsing is a DO, a spanner being dropped from a scaffold is likely to be near miss Hope it helps! Regards, S

Jamie, completely agree with SNS re difference between DO's and Near Misses - you can also package a near miss as an unsafe act or unsafe condition which can help people get their minds around the difference. From past expierence and promoting the reporting of near misses (or near hits as we call them) we want people to tell us about any type of near hit (act or conditiono) so we are told of a wide range of things from unsafe building access, cords trailing over floors, boxes stacked unsafely to unsafe working practices of 3rd party contractors being observed. Just another suggestion so give you some pondering material. :) Regards Carolynn