Define Near Miss and why tracking near-misses is valuable.

Define Near Miss and why tracking near-misses is valuable.

• A. A near miss is an incident that caused injury but not serious.
• B. A near miss is an event that resulted in property damage but no injuries.
• C. A near miss is a planned maintenance event that did not occur.
• D. A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury or damage; tracking them helps identify hazards and prevent future incidents.

Answer: (D)

Near misses are unplanned events that could have caused injury or damage but did not. Tracking them is valuable because they reveal hazards and weaknesses in controls before an actual injury or loss occurs. By collecting near-miss data, you can spot recurring problems, perform root-cause or trend analyses, and implement preventive actions—such as design changes, additional training, or new safety procedures—before harm happens. This turns near misses into proactive learning and strengthens the overall safety culture. Other scenarios describe incidents with injury or property damage or planned activities that didn’t happen, which aren’t near misses and don’t offer the same learning opportunity.

Near misses are unplanned events that could have caused injury or damage but did not. Tracking them is valuable because they reveal hazards and weaknesses in controls before an actual injury or loss occurs. By collecting near-miss data, you can spot recurring problems, perform root-cause or trend analyses, and implement preventive actions—such as design changes, additional training, or new safety procedures—before harm happens. This turns near misses into proactive learning and strengthens the overall safety culture. Other scenarios describe incidents with injury or property damage or planned activities that didn’t happen, which aren’t near misses and don’t offer the same learning opportunity.