REPORT A NEAR MISS

Any employee who witnesses or experiences a near miss incident must complete the Near Miss Investigation (NMI) Form within 24 hours of the event’s occurrence. The NMI form is available through DocuSign and will prompt you to enter your name and email as well as your supervisor’s name and email address. Providing your supervisor’s email address ensures the near miss is communicated to individuals within your department who can help investigate and correct the causes of the near miss.

The employee who experienced the near miss is responsible for completing only the first page of the NMI form, which includes information like the date, time and location where the near miss occurred along with a description of the events leading up to and following the near miss.

When completing the form, it is important to be as descriptive as possible. This will ensure those investigating the near miss have an accurate description of the incident. When describing the incident ask yourself the following questions:

1. What task or action was being performed leading up to the near miss?
2. Was there equipment or machinery involved?
3. Was the working environment different or unusual in any way?
4. Did any hazardous environmental conditions contribute to the incident?
5. Were employees following safe working procedures?
6. Was there any deviation from normal work procedures?
7. Was the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) worn by the employee(s)?

OSHA acknowledges the importance of root cause analysis as the preferred investigation style for all near misses, incidents and injuries. Root cause analysis directs the investigator to the core issue or the highest-level cause of a near miss. Without identifying and eliminating the root cause of a near miss, there is the potential for it to become a serious injury.

All near miss events will be investigated by Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), individual departments, university safety committees or a combination of the three to identify the root cause. This might also identify weaknesses in the system contributing to the near miss. The reporting individual may be asked to participate in the incident investigation. For information on how to fill out the near miss form and how to conduct the investigation process, please visit the Team Incident Investigation Form Guide page.

Investigation results will be used to improve safety systems, hazard control, risk reduction and to educate employees. All of these represent opportunities for training, feedback on performance and a commitment to continuous improvement.