Posted By Tyler
Does anyone know how I can encourage the reporting of near misses.

When compared as a ratio to the number of accidents on site it appears we are drammatically under reproting near misses.

I know we will never get to the classic Bird Accident Triangle Ratios but something more relaistic is the objective.

Any Ideas?

One Idea so far is to link Near Miss Reporting with an incentive scheme (with 7 other criteria), in that failure to report a target level of near misses (the target is ased on historical accident stats)means that a proportion of the incentive is not paid (so they still get some of the incentive just not all). There is no penalty for reporting of accidents (so as not to discourage the reporting of accidents.)

What do you think?

Any better ideas or can you see any pit falls with this system?

Thanks in advance,

Tyler

Posted By Carol Ives
Hi Tyler,

I concur with the comments and suggestions already
made, however, it appears that there may be some
requirement for training in order that employees
fully understand firstly, what is a near miss, and
secondly the importance of reporting these to prevent
a future serious accident. Secondly, could there be
a culture problem, are employees not reporting these
because they perceive there to be a "blame culture"
- if this is the case, they will be very reluctant
to report a "near miss" to avoid disciplinary action.
Positive encouragement as opposed to reactive actions,
is likely to be more successful.
Carol Ives

Posted By Barry Cooper
If some one comes up with a successful idea, please let us all know.

My company has tried several ideas. We even asked employees to report one near miss, or unsafe condition per quarter (3months) and they would receive £25. We have approx 120 emloyees. First quarter response was 46 reports, this dropped to 11 in the fourth quarter. We gave awareness training, feedback on their reports etc. etc.

Some even told me they couldn't be bothered.

So again, if you have a good idea that works let me know

Barry

Posted By Sean Fraser
Incentive schemes seldom work the way you anticipate. In the scenario you have outlined, it will soon encourage false reporting as there may not be the "right" number of near-miss incidents to report, so instead of being acknowledged they will be punished. Solution - make them up. This has already happened in the offshore industry where STOP and various similar schemes were in place. Tinkering with the targets and the incentives won't work either - it is usually the incentive scheme philisophy that is inherently at fault, not the mechanics involved. My advice would be to drop that aspect altogether.

Along with the training and awareness campaign you have developed, ensure that there is a fair culture in place to promptly assess the causes of any near-misses and then take approriate and reasonable action to address it. Trumpet your successes. If you buy something to make some aspect of the work safer, let everyone know - and let them know why it was deemed necessary to buy it. Same goes for any minor changes you might make. That will encourage the relevant behaviour and reinforce it. But make sure that you don't build up expectations unrealistically, or it will fail when people see that the rhetoric has not been supported by action. And be aware of the fact that this may happen through one or two people anyway, who might make unrealistic demands in response to a near-miss and then loudly criticise your efforts when something doesn't happen according to their wants - be prepared to explain your decisions.

Don't be over-reliant on records either. If you have effective communications, you will already be addressing near-misses albeit through a different means (meetings, inspections/audits, general chats) and may or may not be recording it. Is that so bad, if the result is a safer workplace? Measure your success on how well your people operate, not on statistics or written reports. It is more about the philiosphy and action of the management than the records produced. After all, a written Risk Assessment does NOT make you safe.

Posted By Tyler
Further to the responses so far.

I had thought about the 'making a near miss up' to attain the 'target' figure. However, how can someone make a near miss up if there is no hazard? In other words, to make up a near miss means that hazard is still being reported! So the end justifies the means.

Once reported it is very difficult to ignore (as may be the case with a production blinkered approach to management).

I am also aware that a lot of near misses (especially the minor ones) are currently being 'reported' in chats with engineers etc and that is to be encouraged, the only improvement is to collect a statistic of this action.

The real gain is the near miss that could have caused a fatality such as (and this is a real case at my previous employment) a ladder is very slippy and a person loses their footing but manages to regain a hold and climb the ladder. No report is made. Next week the ladder is climbed again by another person, unaware of the slippy hazard and unfortunately does not manage to regain a footing.

I like the idea of a 'lucky reporter' / lottery idea to encourage reports.

Obviously, the incentive scheme is only a part of the whole strategy, which includes training, awareness, encouragement and leadership as people have already mentioned.

Thanks for all your help so far.

Any more would be much welcome.

Tyler

Posted By Paul Phillips
I can send you posters but cant access your 'e' mail adrress

Posted By Pete Knowles
Paul could you e-mail me the posters as well . PeterKnowles@marstair.com
We are having a similar problem of near misses not being recorded.
Our problem is more to do with the documentation side.
Misses are being reported but not recorded properly.

Thanks
Pete

Posted By Tom Queshman
I have implemented a number of successful near miss report programmes and you do have to seriously consider what motivates people to take action. You would be suprised that money is not necessarily the main motivator in some circumstances. Mostly a letter form the Board thanking them for assisstance, or a photo in the company newsletter or just the fact they have made a significant differnece to a campany and can say, I did that. Systems that I have used basically use a wider scope of near miss and ideas reporting. Most ideas are usually worded along the lines, "I think we should do ........ because last week this happened...........". Hidden as a suggestion you get the near miss. Have the report a very simple card or form in a secure place only accessable by people trusted by the employees. If you have a safety committee they are ideal for this. Get them to decide what reports are bogus and which are "real issues". Feedback every item in a chart or speadsheet showing closeout and progress towards closeout so people don't think it's being forgotten. I have also found you need to think what you are going to do with the reports when you get them. I have seen loads fail as they are not responded to correctly or fast enough and the emphaisis is lost quickly. The best ones are quick and open systems and tried to management effectiveness, why not have a hazard spot for 5 minutes every day. A hazard is a pre-cursor to a near miss anyway. If you want more details email, as I have a lot more than what can be posted on this forum.