The Impact of Near Miss Event Reporting on Safety Performance

BACKGROUND:  Construction continues to be a dangerous occupation in the United States.  The morbidity and mortality related to construction site injuries continues to be 2 1/2 times that of other occupations.  Near Miss Management Programs (NMMPs) have been successful in limiting occupationaly related injuries in industries such as petrochemical production, manufacturing, and nuclear energy.  Studies suggested that the more near misses are reported and investigated, the less frequent are the work related injuries were in those injuries mentioned.  There was no such data relating to the effect of a NMMP on the number of decreased injuries in the construction trades until this study.

METHODS:  Secondary data analysis of construction projected reported near misses and occupationally related injuries were investigated using a quasi-experimental pre-post intervention scheme.  Measures of univariate and multivariate statistics were used.  The independent variables were the number and rate of near misses being reported; the dependent variables were first aid cases and recordable injuries.

RESULTS:  A series of correlational studies suggested that increased near miss reporting and correction significantly decreased occupationally related recordable injuries with a Mann-Whitney U=63.0,z=-2.532, p=.041 (exact) and represented a modest effect at (r=-.462)

CONCLUSIONS:  Using near miss reporting statistically (and practically) reduced occupationally related injury on a large scale construction project. The effect is significant for further study and application in the field.