Near Incident Reporting

2 January, 2007

Near incident reporting
Accident prevention involves the reporting of incidents and near incidents (commonly referred to as near miss) so as to investigate, assess and introduce controls to prevent the event from reoccurring.

What is a near incident?
An incident is defined as any unplanned event resulting in, or having a potential for injury, ill health, damage or other loss. As compared to a near incident, which is an accident that does not produce an injury or disease. A near incident may have the potential to cause harm to a person and through investigation can reveal ways to avoid the event.

Why should we report near incidents?
Near incidents is an important component of any occupational health and safety system. Near incidents can be regarded as indicators of future events such as an actual incident occurring that may seriously injure a person. Where near incidents continue to occur and are left untreated (not investigated and no controls implemented) will lead to a more serious incident.

Therefore it is important to report, investigate and control near incidents so that people will not be injured.

Take the time to report near incidents to ensure the safety of people!

Please don't hesitate to contact our team with any questions you may have or by phoning the OHS unit x3931.

Need more information? Please call the OH&S Unit on extension 3931.