Near Miss Reporting

[Tiny]

Company I work is part of a big conglomerate of construction outfits . Corporate wise they have had a "Near Miss Reporting Policy " . Which means if you saw something that was a close call you need to report it .

Example I read , "Dump truck was observed spreading gravel . Bed looked like it was higher than the power lines . I stopped the driver and informed him that he was close to the lines . Decided it was better to dump the rest of the load and spread with a skid steer ".

That don't seem to bad and kinda mundane . My worry is that this reporting will be recorded and names put with it to be used against you or someone else a a later date . History proves they have no problem going back 3 years to dig something up to beat on you with .

I think my boss is getting pressure from above ,About the lack of near miss cards turned in . He stated Thursday that we are behind in miss reporting and I have never received anything from a driver (while looking straight at me) .

I'm really looking for opinions . As I find it hard to want to narc on someone or myself . Has anyone been hurt or canned over a near miss report ??

 

[mitch504]

It'd sure make me nervous.

 

[digger242j]

First, as a disclaimer, I've never worked for an employer so big that I didn't know the owner by his first name, so any "corporate" kind of behavior isn't really part of my experience.

I'm passingly familiar with some similar programs as they're excercised in the aviation field though, and information is easy enough to find online.

Here's ATSAP, which is the one the FAA has for air traffic controllers. It's stated purpose is:

ATSAP is modeled after the airlines ASAP (Aviation Safety Action Program). The program is non-punitive, and serves as one leg of a good Safety Management System. ATSAP also helps develop a strong safety culture. The intent is to identify and report all events that may or did lead to a breakdown in safety, or increase risk to our operation. If we want to mitigate all safety risks, we need to identify and study the thousands of unreported events that may reveal the one critical safety event that could result in disaster.

ATSAP reporting must be non-punitive. An employee cannot be decertified nor can any credentialing action take place if an employee reports an event to the ATSAP program. ATSAP provides a systematic approach for Controllers and others providing or supporting the provision of air traffic services (per MOU with NATCA) including Air Traffic Assistants and Flight Data Communications specialists (per MOU with NAGE)as well as managers when engaged in providing air traffic control services. Through self-reporting of safety events and cooperative follow-up, appropriate actions can be taken to improve flight safety.

(Bold added for emphasis.)

In other words, the way it works in practice is that, if you screw up, and you're not sure whether anybody else knows you did, the best way to protect yourself is to be the one to file a report. It provides the incentive to not try and cover up your mistakes.

The program you're under, Tiny, doesn't sound like it provides any such incentive. Quite the opposite actually...

 

[Blmreject]

I go both ways on it. If someone is having a bunch of near misses that other people are catching and saving his but, then he isn't worth keeping around. That's how my finger got ripped off. We kept his loader op on even though she wasn't any good and constantly ignored signals. then one day she swung the machine while we were rigging because she thought it's what we needed. I was holding a chain up with one hand and making the shackle with the other. It didn't end well.

on the other hand, sometimes a guy has a good run of bad luck. I think that every so often the slate should be wiped clean. Say you go a year, maybe sixteen months, with no issues everything goes back to zero.

 

[Dualie]

while not directly at jeopardy from being fired (im the owner) i find the process to be decent to good. If they are requiring you turn something tell them you almost spilled your water on the floor of the truck but caught is just in time.

 

[rare ss]

Gee wizz, you guys never want to head to the mines down under!

near miss reporting has been par for the course for years, there is a a formula the safety god's have come up with regarding them by historical records, for every X many SPI's (significant potensional incidents) you will have an incident, for every X incidents you will have an accident and every X many accidents you will have a fatality

main reason for the high level of safety systems is that large multi-national companys are self insured

 

[JGS Parts]

We do near miss reports in my factory .

might not be the same but we do it so we can see if it is a safty issue we should correct or if it is a worker and he should be moved to a position where he cant endanger anyone. it was hard at first to get people on board with this but after a while it was very good to have them as you could learn a lot from them as you cant always have eyes on the factory floor

 

[Tiny]

The Near Miss reporting was introduced about 3 years ago . I have not heard of anyone being fired because of but I have very little interaction with the other companies . It was announced thru a weekly safety letter and no promise of remaining anonymous was made .

The fact is , There is no real incentive to do this . If you do report and the safety guys come asking questions then you have them to deal with along with the work your suppose to be doing is stopped dead .

I do understand managements view , Your catching a problem before it get's someone hurt or killed . I'm worried that it could be abused .

 

[rare ss]

The Near Miss reporting was introduced about 3 years ago . I have not heard of anyone being fired because of but I have very little interaction with the other companies . It was announced thru a weekly safety letter and no promise of remaining anonymous was made .

The fact is , There is no real incentive to do this . If you do report and the safety guys come asking questions then you have them to deal with along with the work your suppose to be doing is stopped dead .

I do understand managements view , Your catching a problem before it get's someone hurt or killed . I'm worried that it could be abused .

generally all reporting either near miss or incident no referance to names or contractor companies are made, if you string people up then no reporting will be done

 

[Turbo21835]

As far as near miss reporting goes, it depends on the company. A lot of the time I find it to be a joke. As supervisor, the bosses say I should have at least one recordable near miss a week. Ive come up with stuff like Joe Dump truck driver not having his tailgate latched at the time of loading. They say its a software kind of thing that lets them track trends. Ive been told that the near miss does not have to happen on the job. It be as simple as being cut off in traffic on the way to the job. This is about the same time I stopped playing the game of reporting something just to have something report. If I Find something to be a true near miss, I will report it. If i have to report something i come across in traffic, I dont waste the time.

 

[John C.]

I've seen this at a couple of places and had to wonder how many people were reporting near misses just to enhance their positions with the management.

Safety is one of my hot buttons on both sides. I had a co-worker at one of the fine establishments I worked at in the past who would scream safety to the hills every time a job came up that he didn't want to do. It became his personal crusade to monitor everyone's business and not get his done in a credible time frame. I came to believe that he thought that the only way he could make himself look good was to make every one else look bad. As far as I was concerned, this guy did more to make the environment unsafe as anything the company did.

I left the company before he was let go. As far as I know they didn't require people to submit near misses after that.

 

[DirtHauler]

When I worked at Kiewit they had a near miss policy too. We utilized it with pretty good success. All things reported were discussed at the daily tool box safety brief and it was a great way to start dialog about different ways to perform work. Sometimes things were done to truly make things better. I only heard of the "near miss reporting system" biting someone during discipline once and it was because the employee had NOT reported a near miss and later actually hit something.

The higher ups would take the most impressive near misses to the weekly division meetings and discuss if others had similar experiences and how they were mitigated. It is a good process that I do believe in when it works properly and if there is a true commitment to safety and willingness to spend the money and time to make it a priority. I will say thou, Kiewit was the exception to the rule, they actually talked the talk and walked the walk. Almost every other place I have worked has been frowned upon to report anything I always feared it being used against me or others later. I say use it to your advantage, if something would make your job safer and easier, report the real near misses.

 

[Dozerboy]

Near miss reporting plays a big roll in all the projects we do. And we always put names to it. Sometimes I have to have so many per day personally. Like "I was walking and noticed some scrub brush that could trip me so I replanned my rout around it." They should never be use against an employee, but that is up to your employer. If your nervous about them teach your guys to make them more positive like my example. And try and make them legitimate too. After realizing I have no choice but to get with the program it pretty easy for me to pick one thing out a day that is a good example.

As we started a lift I realized I my be to close if the load was to fall so I took a few steps back.

Getting into my truck I realized my boots where slick with mud so cleaned them off better.

The fact is most of us do this stuff subconsciously, so all you really have to do is remember it.

 

[mitch504]

Dozerboy, I'm glad you guys can do stuff like that, cause somebody's gotta work for the big companies.

I personally have an excellent safety record, and in 17 yrs of having employees, I've only had one real injury.

If I had to write down mess like that everyday, I'd slam my head in the truck door.

 

[Hendrik]

Far as I am concerned a near miss is an accident with a bit of good luck thrown into the equation.
You're best of to state your concerns to your employers, so you know exactly where you stand.
Question is what are you afraid off? Are you a bit of a wild man that has a lot of near misses? We all make mistakes and it's better to admit that than live in a fairy world that may well end in disaster because no one was willing to discuss safety.

 

[mitch504]

If that question is for me Hendrik, no, as I said, I am very safe, and I insist that my employees be cautious also.

What I was referring to is having to write up a certain number per day, spending time dreaming up and writing down stuff like:

"I was walking and noticed some scrub brush that could trip me so I replanned my route around it."
and
"Getting into my truck I realized my boots where slick with mud so cleaned them off better."

I am certainly not criticizing Dozerboy, because you do what you have to do. I just have no patience for writing up a report saying I wiped my boots off so some safety person can file it to justify having an administrative assistant. I always insist that the first thing my employees do when they make a mistake or something goes wrong is to tell me about it.

 

[Hendrik]

If that question is for me Hendrik, no, as I said, I am very safe, and I insist that my employees be cautious also.

No I was wondering why Tiny has an issue with a safety system. Just trying to get some more background on what the go is, sure someone who deliberately breaches safety for whatever reason, needs to be either brought up to speed or shown the door before he/she hurts themselves or others. I can also see that if a company uses a safety system to do things other than improve and maintain safe operating procedures, then there would be a reluctance to use this system.

 

[Tiny]

No I was wondering why Tiny has an issue with a safety system..

Now that you have turned the spotlight on me instead of the near miss reporting I'll explain .

We are a very small cog in a gigantic machine . A Irish company owns us and a huge amount of companies , quarry's and finished materials outfits . Since bought by them they have tried a series of "One size fits all " programs . This is one more of them .

After the downsizing in 09 the lowest guy on the list has seniority of 10 years . I spend more time with these guys than I do with my own family . None of us have a problem telling the other that they made a bonehead move . To me this is turning me into a narc on family . Seems set up to divide guys up instead of working together .

My personal opinion is , Some safety dude or dudette needs something to justify their paycheck . Sending a memo out is waaaay better then actually getting out from behind a desk and getting out in the weather with the " Little People " . That again is my personal opinion .

I want to be clear , I do not have a problem with the safety system . I do have a problem with this one deal .

 

[RobVG]

We are a small company (30 workers) so we police ourselves. It has always worked.

 

[VoodooMojo]

I would have to write this up as a near miss every day! ointhead