Whenever I talk about safety with management or a supervisor, I always talk about the “Near Miss Factor.”  Today as the safety departments gets leaner we tend to think less about near misses and more about incidents and lost workdays.  But reporting, tracking and analyzing a near miss can have a dramatic effect on reducing lost workdays and serve incidents. 
 

What is a Near Miss?

A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage - but had the potential to do so. Only a fortunate break in the chain of events prevented an injury, fatality or damage. Although human error is commonly an initiating event, a faulty process or system invariably permits or compounds the harm, and is the focus of improvement. Other familiar terms for these events is a “close call”, or in the case of moving objects, “near collision”.

Reporting, Analysis and Prevention
An ideal near miss event report system includes both mandatory (for incidents with high loss potential) and voluntary, non-punitive reporting by witnesses.  A key to any near miss report is the “lesson learned”.  Near miss reporters are in a position to describe what observe about genesis of the event, and the factors that prevented loss from occurring.

The events that caused the near miss are subjected to root cause analysis to identify the defect in the system that resulted in the error and factors that may either amplify or ameliorate the result.

To prevent the near miss from happening again, the organization must institute teamwork training, feedback on performance and a commitment to continued data collection and analysis, a process call continuous improvement.
In 1932 Heineich issued what is known in the industry as the accident triangle.

1 Major Injury, 29 Minor Injuries, 300 No Inury Accidents
__________________________________________________

 In 1969 Bird revised the triangle to look like this.

1 serious or disabling injury, 10 minor injury, 30 property damage,
600 accidents with not visible injury of damage
Understanding the “Near Miss” and what it signifies can help safety managers and safety teams to lower the more serious incidents.  Identifying the “Near Miss” also makes everyone more aware of safety.  Being aware of safety and best practices will help make the workplace a safer environment

Happy New to all.  The Compliance Resource Center hopes you all had a wonderful and SAFE holiday season.   And now it is time to get back to work.
The beginning of a new year is a great time to do an annual assessment of your facility.  I always consider 4 parts to an assessment;

• Observation
• Conversation
• Compliance
• Evaluation 

OBSERVATION
I always to target 5 major areas that I am evaluating, during an assessment.  I start by looking and making notes with particular regards to these areas, but also notice if there are any other major concerns.  If time permits, I walk through the facility watching employee’s work and the equipment they are using.  I will often bring a camera and take pictures to support my findings.
CONVERSATION
Part of the assessment process should be talking with some of the employees.  This can give you a better understanding of employee’s opinion and understanding of the safety policies/procedures and their training.  Often the employees will tell a consultant some thing they would not tell their supervisor.
COMPLIANCE
My assessment is always based on compliance with OSHA regulations found in 49CFR.  If you are the safety person at your company, you should have a current 49CFR on your shelf.  This book is your bible for OSHA regulations and compliance.  Any assessment should follow these standards with regards to this manual.  Remember that OSHA standards are written for many industries.  You can also look at best practices to achieve a higher standard.  This is up to the individual company and location.
EVALUATION
After I stop, look and listen, I fill out an assessment tool that rates each area I observe.  This helps me keep my focus on facility and the good things they do and where they need improvement.  The final report is sent to my contact.  I follow-up in a few weeks to help the safety person develop a plan of action using the assessment made.  Finally, I check back every couple of months to see what progress is being made on the action plan.
So now you know some of the tricks of the trade; observe, converse, compliance and evaluate.  Have A SAFE NEW YEAR!

LANSING, MI — A recent EPIC-MRA poll of business owners, operators and managers across Michigan shows “lack of time” as the top reason companies are not teaching their employees about workplace safety.

This surprising data comes forward at a time when other studies show business owners ranking “health care insurance costs” at the top of lists of what is most difficult for businesses to pay.
“Fewer accidents and healthier employees would mean lower insurance costs for Michigan businesses,” said Ed Sarpolus, vice-president of EPIC-MRA. “If the owners/managers have no focus on workplace safety and preventive health education, they cannot expect to have these healthier employees or fewer accidents.”

The survey of 700 business owners/operators/managers was conducted April 26 to May 8, 2006, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.0 percent. The workplace safety and health education questions were developed by survey sponsor Accident Fund Insurance Company of America as part of an ongoing workplace safety awareness program.
Respondents were asked which of a list of reasons they would cite as “the greatest barriers to teaching your employees about workplace safety”:

The lack of time               25%
High employee turnover    11%
Availability of information    7%
The cost of training            7%
Other reasons                  11%
Undecided                        38%

In another question, survey respondents were asked to what extent their company had increased its focus on educating employees about health and wellness in the past 12 months. Only about one-quarter of respondents (26 percent), reported any such increase, while the great majority (61 percent), reported “little” or “no” increase at all.
Sarpolus pointed to a study conducted by researchers from Brigham Young University (published in Preventive Medicine, April 2005) that shows health promotion in the workplace to return a dollar-for-dollar cost-saving of almost 16-to-1 in the area of decreased absenteeism.  “Keeping employees healthy and accident-free means the business is not paying for absent employees,” Sarpolus said. “In Michigan’s tight economy, our businesses’ interests should not be ignoring any way to improve their bottom lines.”
 

People live more of their time off-work than on – though some may not feel that way – so why don’t most companies have focused and strong at-home safety interventions?          
You already know that safety is not only for the workplace. An injury suffered off the job keeps an employee away from work as surely as one suffered at work, so wise employers expand the focus of their safety programs to include the hours when employees are away from work.

While no article can replace specific planning and implementation customized to your workforce, culture and exposures, I’ll provide proven guidelines for boosting off-work safety lifestyles.

When you’re trying to create change, it’s always good strategy to:

1. Identify the real blockages to desired new actions so you can plan to minimize these obstacles;
2. Determine and communicate benefits to draw people to adopt new behaviors; and
3. Create a structure to support the changes, including reinforcers. Follow these basic guidelines to develop around-the-clock safety thinking and actions. (more…)