Definition of near miss

Jem4417

Jem4417

Branched out member
got a tailgate to give tomorrow and I have a good amount of information on near misses but wanted to see if anyone had any input
 
Grandma scared me several times in that vid! Thought for sure she was going to get bonked on her head. One of my favorites is Bob Villa ... another one who doesn't know squat about felling trees ... watch his cuts & compare them to the fall direction ...
 
Hoowasat said:
Grandma scared me several times in that vid! Thought for sure she was going to get bonked on her head. One of my favorites is Bob Villa ... another one who doesn't know squat about felling trees ... watch his cuts & compare them to the fall direction ...
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That was money right there! "Watch the wind and the tree will fall safely away from you". That's it? That's all I need to do to fell trees? Awesome!
 
I'm talking more when should an employee report a near miss and we fill out one of our near miss reports. The ctsp studdy guide says that a near miss is when an unexpected event occurs without resulting in injury or damage but that happens on at least a small scale to everyone everyday. I'm trying to think of a threshold for when they should report the near miss to me or to just let it go
 
I'm thinking in order to help predict when those accidents might occur I may want it to be even less severe then that
 
Jem4417 said:
a near miss is when an unexpected event occurs without resulting in injury or damage but that happens on at least a small scale to everyone everyday
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That is something that shouldn't be happening on a daily basis. If it is to your crew, then that tailgate meeting should continue into the lunch box. Your crew needs to be a well oiled machine.
 
We switch the crews up everyday. So we could be working with all A players or the C team. But I would argue that your saying everything goes as planned for you everyday? From a simple snap cut to compound rigging to multi sling crane picks? Your saying each scenario goes exactly as you see in your head from the climber to the ground man? I know that's not what you mean but by having a culture to report the smaller near misses and find where the root cause is for that then next time when the stakes are a little higher the employing can recognize the root cause and predict where they might make cause an incident
 
Jem4417 said:
I know that's not what you mean but by having a culture to report the smaller near misses and find where the root cause is for that then next time when the stakes are a little higher the employing can recognize the root cause and predict where they might make cause an incident
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Yes, report the small stuff, too. If a worker allows several small "oops" to occur, where is his head at? Not in the game! And a series of small "oops" that cause minor equipment damages can add up. "Opps! Sorry, boss. I didn't mean to yank on the rope bag that hard and break the handle-loop." Let that happen enough and you'll be working with a lot of second-rate gear. Everyone needs to be educated on more than safety ... need to know and understand the proper techniques which make gear & equipment last longer. Safety errors can be very costly as can improper techniques.
 
@Jem4417; Ok, here's a hard part. I think you can never punish someone who reports a near miss, even if the near miss is his or her fault. To do so is to punish for reporting, and if you do you'll get less reporting. On the flip side, maybe it would be possible to figure out a way to reward people for reporting incidents. That way you'll get more of it, and if the reporting leads to changes in approach that lower accident rates, the rewards will probably pay for themselves. They don't have to be big rewards, just consistant. Maybe as the crews become safer and safer, the value of the rewards could go up, due to less frequent need to report.

I hope I'm making sense, here.

Tim
 
Start not by defining a near miss, but defining a near hit. Then make the distinction. The way we "title" incidents changes the level of responsibility and appropriate reaction.

As for a threshold? Tough one. To report everthing dilutes the process. I would recommend any situation where a OSHA reportable injury may have occured. Gives you a starting point. Perhaps a $$ threshold on equipment damage and all equipment destruction.

All levels of client property damage should be reported, but for the reasons of customer service as much anything else.

Tony
 
@TimBr yea it's not suppose to be a gotcha program. At our meeting today I basically said anybody who wants to go over a situation that didn't work out the way they expected it to we can but I told them at certain points it can be very clear that something sever could have occurred and you have an obligation to report it . I then made the crew leaders aware that they also had a large responsibility to make sure they are bring these things to me and keeping me aware if other employees have any close calls
 
The guys who continually break gear ultimately get canned. They're not worth the trouble. Before you know it the sump grinder is down and so forth. Wear and tear is expected but consistent gear and equipment abuse is not. Any one with safety issues is warned 2-3 times, all the while being watched like a hawk.
My partner's cousin was told to look up and pay attention especially when a saw is running above. He kept walking under the tree then stop and look up. Bye, bye ..... no longer works with us.

It's different for you with multiple crews. That's a whole different game. We have 3-5 guys regularly. Sometimes more. But we all work together frequently. When there is someone green around the seasoned guys keep an eye on 'em.

This is a good thread and I will continue to follow along. I'll most likely learn something here.
Thank you, Jem, for sharing.
 
Its been my personal experience for a reporting system to really work you need a few things to be in place ( mainly falling onto the workers side). It is great that a company asks for things to be reported but another for the individual or crew to truly care to do so. Often I have seen that a single worker of a group had the "whatever" mind set on reporting even the smallest things, to the the worker(s) saying "F" that Tommy the other week owned up to a mistake and was given (fill in the blank) warning and a writeup for trying to report it. The other problem comes from those in office management not really understanding the field aspect of the business but attempting to assert control and power of their title by making an example of the worker in a small or big way. Happens all the time and even when it happens in other companies, workers don't normally separate one boss from those they may have had in the past.... right or wrong on their part for doing so....

For sure it is important to report things no doubt, but human nature is to protect your self from being judged or punished at any level that maybe negative. Great subject for a meeting but one in my mind that is tossed away as soon as the meeting is done.
 
We have a white board in the shop that gets primarily used to share safety lapses. Its right over the main saw bench. We write tons of stuff on it including the incidents that result in injury or damage all the way down to slips and falls. Some things on there are humorous, but still serve as a reminder that even taking stuff out of the truck can result in pain.
I really like it as a safety system because anyone can add to it and everyone sees it and no one gets punished because of it. I don't think there is such a thing as over-reporting (maybe if there's paperwork). The good days are when there's nothing to put on the board. But it fills up quick when you're honest about how many issues a crew can have...
 
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