According to the National Safety Council, warning signs, or near miss incidents precedes most loss-producing events in the workplace. Is your organization paying attention to those warning signs? Are your safety managers adjusting processes and procedures, systems and setups to prevent those “narrow escapes” from becoming tragic consequences or costly mistakes?

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Reporting, Tracking and Resolving Near Misses
Prevents Injuries, Saves Lives And Reduces Costs
How trend data can help predict your organization’s next accident.
According to the National Safety Council, warning signs, or near miss incidents precedes most loss-
producing events in the workplace. Is your organization paying attention to those warning signs? Are
your safety managers adjusting processes and procedures, systems and setups to prevent those
“narrow escapes” from becoming tragic consequences or costly mistakes?
Consider these facts: Along with worker injuries and the disruption in operations, workplace
accidents incur significant costs, including medical bills, property damage, workers’ compensation,
overtime pay, fines and litigation. Workers’ compensation claims alone average about $5,000. Most
OSHA fines average about $10,000 although some can total hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Accidents are expensive. Near miss reporting is predictive and reduces risk.
Reporting and tracking near misses is a cost-effective way to keep employees safer and limit
expensive accidents. A robust system of capturing details about every near miss allows safety
managers to see trends that help predict when, where and why the next accident will happen and take
swift action to mitigate the risk.
For example, what if trend data showed that workers were occasionally dropping metal panels?
Safety managers could find out what’s happening and why before someone gets seriously hurt. Do
the workers have the wrong type of gloves? Do they need special equipment to help move the panels
into position? Do their workstations need to be redesigned to be safer?
Armed with the right information, supervisors and safety managers can identify unsafe areas and
provide needed training, better tools or safety gear, repair or replacement of defective equipment, or
take other actions to engineer out safety hazards.
More data provides more insight and helps prevent more accidents.
Organizations with the best results develop a proactive safety culture by training their employees on
how, why and when to report near misses, as well as encourage them to report issues throughout the
day, every day. With the WorkplaceAware mobile app, it only takes a minute to snap a picture and
send in a report. From a slippery floor that doesn’t cause a fall, to a glove torn by jagged metal, to a
forklift driver bumping into a post, these are examples of near miss incidents that can be reported,
tracked and resolved while valuable safety lessons are learned.
Keys to capturing valuable near miss data:
• Develop an organizational culture that encourages and supports workplace safety
• Provide on-going training on how, when and why it’s important to report near miss occurrences
• Give employees a comprehensive tool that makes near miss reporting quick, easy and convenient
• Offer constant support and incentives to employees for capturing every near miss

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By emphasizing worker safety and creating a quick and easy way to report near misses, organizations
can gain insight into safety issues before they turn dangerous and costly. If an accident does happen,
an organization with an established reporting and tracking system in place may be able to save
thousands of dollars in OSHA fines.
Organizations with an established safety reporting system
may qualify for up to a 15% reduction in OSHA fines.
Easy and inexpensive, tracking near misses also helps identify inefficient processes and poorly
designed workstations as well as the potential for accidents and injuries. Making changes can save
thousands of dollars and ensure employees go home safely each day to their loved ones.
CASE STUDY
Rehrig Pacific Company
De Soto, Kansas
At Rehrig Pacific Company, near miss reporting is on the rise and managers are happy about it.
“We never see a near miss as negative. It’s an opportunity to make an improvement before anything
serious occurs,” said Chris Gab, engineering manager for Rehrig Pacific Company, which
manufactures a variety of supply chain products, including reusable crates, pallets, and waste and
recycling carts. “It’s far more productive to implement near miss corrective actions than deal with an
accident where employees are injured or equipment is damaged.”
Before, Rehrig Pacific used paper reports and some computerized forms, a system that was limited
and inefficient. The widespread use of smart phones allowed the company to switch to a modern
reporting and tracking system – WorkplaceAware, an app for smart phones and tablets, and an online
Enterprise Dashboard to manage all data.
“Like many manufacturers, we have a large and complex facility, and knowing is half the battle,” said
Gab, who has 14 years experience in implementing safety programs. “Near misses are leading
indicators of safety improvement opportunities. In order to take full advantage of those indicators in a
24x7 plant environment, we engage associates at all levels of the organization. Those doing the work
are the foremost experts in how the work is done and the risks in that work. With WorkplaceAware,
incident reporting, tracking, tracing, and analyzing is faster, better, and easier than ever before.”
www.workplaceaware.com