Reviewing a near miss

Purpose: a near miss is a free warning: nothing happened this time, but it shows where something could. Reviewing it means deciding whether it points to something that must be changed. If it does, a corrective action is created, and the warning leads to a fix instead of being forgotten.

Who: Supervisors, Safety Managers and Org Admins (the right to review). The reporter can see their own near miss and correct it until it is reviewed. See Reporting a near miss.

1. The steps

A near miss moves through Reported → Review → Closed. The page shows the steps and says what to do next. Statuses: Submitted, Reviewed, Closed, Void.

2. Find what to review

• The dashboard tile Near misses to review, or Near misses in the navigation, where reviewers see every near miss and can search by reference, description or the action taken, and filter.
• A reviewer sees reports from every site; a Worker sees only their own.

3. Review it

1. Open the near miss. Read what happened, what could have happened, the hazard, the site and the photos.
2. Under Overview → Review this near miss, choose:
   • Corrective action needed, or
   • No corrective action needed.
3. Add a comment (optional): why you decided that.
4. Select Record review.

4. If an action is needed

The page says “This near miss needs a corrective action. Create one, then close it.” Use Go to its actions and create the action, see Corrective actions. The near miss cannot be closed until an action has been given, and the review’s “asked for a corrective action” note stays on the page until one exists.

5. Close or void

• Close when nothing more is to be done. A near miss that needed an action is closed once an action has been given.
• Void… with a reason, when the report should not count, for example it was made twice. The reason is kept under Activity.

6. Correcting a report

Before the review, the reporter or a reviewer can use Correct this report to fix what the report says. After the review it is no longer possible.

7. Why it matters

Companies that find hazards from near misses have fewer injuries. The dashboard shows near misses per incident: a rising number is good, because it means people are reporting. See The dashboard.