Wouldn't it be great to have some sort of system in place to stop workplace injuries, fatalities and equipment damage situations before they occurred? If your company created a near-miss (close call) reporting culture, it would move a long way toward achieving that goal.
There are several benefits to having a near-miss reporting culture in place, including these:
- It enables companies to pro-actively resolve hazards before a tragic or costly incident occurs.
- It engages the workforce (all workers at all levels) in solving problems.
- It increases safety ownership and reinforces workers' self-esteem.
- It exposes valuable information that otherwise might not be discussed.
- It develops a positive and necessary attitude surrounding safety.
When it comes to creating a near-miss reporting culture, supervisors play a key role in education and awareness building efforts.
Make Reporting a Daily Event
Many employees are either reluctant to report near-misses, are unaware of the importance of doing so, or simply don't know the reporting process. So how do you encourage the reporting habit? Here's a good tip from John Brengosz, Loss Control Representative, from R&R Insurance Services, and a current manufacturing client:
We're a manufacturing plant working with fabricated metal. We have a pre-shift at the beginning of each shift to review the daily schedule and line assignments and ask if there were any near misses the day before. These are written on a dry erase board with the date and Production Line number:
