The information in today’s Advisor is adapted from BLR’s 7-Minute Safety Trainer session “Near MissesHow to Identify, Report, and Prevent.”
Why Do Near Misses Have to Be Investigated?
Every near miss must be examined to find out what happened and why. Only by identifying root causes of near misses can similar incidents be prevented in the future.
If you are involved in a near miss, cooperate in the investigation and think about the circumstances that might have contributed to the incident. For example:
- Was it associated with a particular time, place, material, or piece of equipment?
- Was a safety precaution overlooked, or did someone take a shortcut to save time?
What Can You Do to Prevent Near Misses?
You can:
- Keep alert for hazards while you work and as you move around the workplace.
- Follow safety rules and wear required personal protective equipment.
- Report any hazards you see anywhere in the workplace to a supervisor right away.
- If you can do so safely, remove the hazardbut still report it.
- Participate in safety training and use the information and skills you learn on the job.
- Cooperate with coworkers to keep your work area clean, neat, and safe.
- Speak up if you see a coworker taking risks; don’t accept unsafe behavior.
- Make safetyyours and your coworkers’a priority every workday.
Think you have no time to train? Think again. BLR’s 7-Minute Safety Trainer helps you fulfill key OSHA-required training tasks in as little as 7 minutes. Try it at no cost and see!
Training Tip
Lead a discussion about near misses that have occurred in areas where participants work. What happened? How could the near miss have been prevented? What can be done to make sure there is no accident in the future?
Conclusion: Near Misses Are Accidents Waiting to Happen
Identifying and reporting near misses means that they can be investigated and the hazards that caused them can be corrected to prevent more near misses or a future accident or injury.
Need more quick-and-easy training on dozens of other safety topics? BLR has just the solution for you with 7-Minute Safety Trainer.
Effective Safety Training in Just 7 Minutes!
All told, this “trainer’s bible” contains 50 prewritten meetings covering almost every aspect of safety you’d want or need to train on, in a format designed to be taught in as little as 7 minutes. All of them are perfect for getting new employees off to a safe start, as well as keeping veteran workers alert and up to date on all your safety concerns.
Major topics in the 7-Minute Safety Trainer include:
- Confined spaces
- Electrical safety
- Fire safety and emergency response
- HazCom
- Machine guarding and lockout/tagout
- Material handling
- PPE use and care
- Housekeeping/slips, trips, and falls
- And dozens more
Just make as many copies as you need of the included handouts and quizzes, and you’re ready to train.
Effective, 7-minute sessions providing comprehensive safety training at an average cost of $1 a day. Get the details.
Equally important is that the program ships new meetings every quarter to respond to new and changed regulations. This service is included in the program price, which averages just over $1 a working day. In fact, this is one of BLR’s most popular safety programs.
If you’d like to personally evaluate 7-Minute Safety Trainer and see how it can build safety awareness, we’ll be happy to send it to you for 30 days on a no-cost, no-obligation trial basis. Just let us know, and we’ll arrange it.