Proactive Safety: Identifying Workplace Hazards and Preventing Near-Miss Incidents

The silver lining to near miss incidents in the workplace is that they provide the opportunity to identify and fix hazards that may have previously been overlooked. Most workplace accidents are are preventable with the right safeguards in place. To do this, employers and employees should work together to collect and review information about the workplace hazards. This includes conducting periodic inspections, investigating all incidents, including near misses, identifying their cause and possible solutions, looking for trends in incidents, and determining the likelihood of an incident occurring. To do this, OSHA has identified six action items in their recommended practices for safety and health Programs. The first is collecting existing information about workplace hazards. Information about potential workplace hazards is often already available from previous incidents or external sources like equipment operating manuals. This information should be reviewed with workers, often especially following a near miss incident. In addition, any records of previous incidents or patterns of incidents, including near misses, should be shared. Hazards can occur over time. Something that wasn't a hazard one day could very well become one the next. This is why OSHA recommends inspecting the workplace for safety hazards frequently to address them before an accident happens. This can mean looking at tools for wear and tear maintenance and housekeeping issues or changes in workstation processes. Documenting these inspections and findings helps to ensure issues are corrected promptly. Workers should also report any safety findings to their employer. For example, if you stumble on a loose step or a staircase, this is a near miss incident where the loose step should be reported immediately before somebody else gets seriously hurt. In addition to these safety concerns, health hazards should be identified to prevent illness in the workplace. These can often be much harder to identify as common health hazards like gases and vapors are invisible and have no odor. Common workplace health hazards include chemical hazards like solvents and adhesives, physical hazards like heat and radiation, biological hazards like infectious diseases, and ergonomic risk factors like heavy lifting and repetitive motion. Preventive measures are important to keep everyone safe and healthy in the workplace. This is why an incident investigation should be conducted anytime something happens that either results in injury or illness or or is a near miss incident. Remember that near miss incidents aren't just a matter of luck. They provide the opportunity to make important changes that prevent further issues. Investigating near misses gives a clear indication of where hazards exist and how to mitigate them. The purpose of a near miss investigation is to find the root cause or causes of the incident and make the necessary changes. There should be a clear plan for investigation, including who will be involved, how information will be communicated, the materials and supplies needed, and the correct forms and templates for reporting. Investigative teams should be trained and include a cross section of the workforce such as management, frontline employees, maintenance staff, and safety representatives. A proper near miss investigation doesn't just ask what happened, but why it happened. For example, if a near miss involves a piece of faulty equipment, it's important to determine why the equipment failed, not just that it did. If it's concluded that an incident was a personnel issue, the next step is to figure out why the worker made the mistake that they did. These are important questions to answer so the underlying hazard can be identified and future incidents prevented. Some hazards occur during an emergency or non routine situation that make them harder to foresee. Plans should always be in place to deal with hazards that may occur in these situations. For example, what is the plan in case of a fire? A chemical release? A medical emergency? Once an emergency or non routine situation occurs, the team needs to discuss what went well and what needs to be changed in case of future incidents. Finally, it's time to characterize the identified hazards and the types of incidents that could occur as a result of them. Each hazard should be evaluated for its severity and likelihood of causing an incident. Hazards that present the greatest risks should be prioritized in order to keep everyone safe. Certain procedures should be followed when investigating a near miss incident.