Not every mistake results in an injury, and not every trip results in a fall. But near-miss or almost-accidents can offer lessons that may serve to keep workers safer and prevent future worksite injuries. The problem lies in reporting them, as near-miss accidents are difficult to quantify and many people are resistant to admitting all the almost-accidents they have.
According to EHSToday.com, near-miss accidents are defined as those that don’t result in an injury or damage to property or equipment. They leave little to no evidence that they even occurred. For these reasons, companies often either don’t notice or simply ignore them. However, these accidents can often provide a great opportunity for learning, without injury to spur them on.
Typically, companies only look at safety violations or areas that need improving when a serious accident occurs. Injury accidents in particular are hard to ignore and will prompt a company to review the causes and what can be done to prevent similar future accidents. Near-miss accidents can provide the same opportunity for reflection, without someone getting hurt.
A recent study in the May issue of Professional Safety found that near-miss accidents were far more common than injury accidents. One review study found that there were 189 non-injury accidents for every lost-time injury accident that occurred.
The problem with getting a clear picture of these near-miss accidents is that they are rarely reported by either workers or employers. This lack of reporting is due to a variety of reasons, including the lack of a clear definition on what constitutes a near-miss accident, peer pressure, fear of retaliation, inconvenience of filling out a report, concern over the potential effects on one’s reputation, and the “desire of some employers to maintain the status quo.”
By tracking near-misses, employers might actually increase their company’s safety and prevent future accidents that are likely to have a great impact on both their reputation and their bottom-line.
The study suggests that employers should encourage near-miss reporting and make it easier for workers to do so. They also recommend that employers reward workers for proactive safety solutions and provide workers will adequate safety training. By measuring near-miss construction accidents through reporting, companies can quantify just how safe their sites truly are.
New York and New Jersey Construction Accident Lawyers
Ideally, when an accident happens on a construction site, no one is hurt. However, construction accidents often result in a serious injury and sometimes even death. If you’ve been hurt in a construction accident, the attorneys with Ginarte may be able to help. Contact our offices today to discuss your case at (888) GINARTE.