Evaluating the Use of a Near-Miss Reporting Program to Enhance Employee Safety Performance

Using safety incidents and crashes to improve safety performance is an outdated and reactive practice in safety and health programs. One component of a modern approach to safety is a near-miss reporting program. This type of program tracks close calls or near misses that do not result in an incident or crash, but which often can be an early indicator that one may happen. While most construction companies have implemented some methods for reporting near-miss events, many agencies, such as the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), struggle getting employees to report near misses. To fill this gap, potential factors that result in a lack of reporting are identified through a synthesis of existing literature, areas for improving existing near-miss reporting systems are discussed, and a survey was administered to KYTC maintenance superintendents. Results of this study suggest that many of the barriers that lead to a lack of near-miss reporting stem from the management level. Proposed suggestions to overcome barriers related to near-miss reporting include providing and/or requiring better near-miss training, making KYTC’s web-based reporting tool more well-known and accessible, and taking more visible corrective actions once near misses are reported. Future work should address the causes of near-miss events and strategies to reduce near-miss incidents on jobsites