Near miss reporting – because incidents will happen

What is a near miss incident? 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines a near miss as an incident that did not result in injury, illness or damage, but had the potential to do so. Sitting at the intersection of risk management, legal compliance, workplace culture and incident prevention, near misses provide an early warning that controls may be failing and that a more serious incident could occur in the future. 

Examples of near misses at work: 

• A worker slips on a wet floor but regains balance; 

• A warehouse pallet falling from racking but lands in an empty aisle; 

• A vehicle narrowly avoids colliding with a pedestrian in a depot; 

• A crane load swings close to workers but causes no injury; 

• A cyber-security control failure that almost exposes confidential information; 

• Fatigue-related driving errors identified before a collision occurs.  

For the purpose of clarity let’s define some key terms: 

• Near Miss: An unplanned event that could have caused harm but did not 
  Accident: An unplanned event that results in injury, illness, or damage 

• Incident: A broader term covering both near-misses and accidents—any unexpected event that disrupts normal operations 

• High-risk sectors: Manufacturing, construction, logistics, transport and energy. 

Unlike accidents causing injury, most near misses do not have to be reported externally to the HSE. 

However, employers remain subject to the general duties under the Health and Safety at Work 1974 and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. These require employers to identify hazards, assess risks and implement appropriate control measures, as a history of ignored near misses can become evidence that risks were foreseeable.

Although there is no ‘magic number’ of near misses triggering a legal report to the HSE, these warning signs should be systematically captured, analysed and acted upon to decrease the probability of injury or worse in the future. Repeated near misses may demonstrate operational weaknesses such as a lack of sufficient risk assessments, inadequate supervision, or other ways an organisation can leave themselves open to greater potential scrutiny or regulatory action over time. 

Near miss exceptions under RIDDOR  

Certain "dangerous occurrences" must be reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). 

There are 27 of these including: 

• Lifting equipment collapse; 

• Electrical short circuits causing fire or explosion; 

• Structural collapse; 

• Accidental release of hazardous substances; 

• Failure of pressure systems. 

A near miss may therefore still trigger a legal reporting obligation even when nobody has been injured. Penalties include unlimited fines for businesses and up to two years in prison or unlimited fines for responsible individuals. Alternatively, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) may issue improvement or prohibition notices or formal cautions instead of immediate prosecution.  

How to report near miss incident

Setting out a practical reporting process is a key part of a workplace risk management strategy following these steps:  

• Make the situation safe - Remove or isolate the hazard if it is safe to do so. Warn others who may be affected 

• Report immediately - Notify your supervisor, manager, health and safety representative, or designated reporting contact, with the incident recorded in a timely fashion through the organisation's reporting system 

• Provide key details 

  • Date, time and location; 

  • What happened; 

  • What could have happened (potential consequences); 

  • Any immediate action taken; 

  • Names of witnesses 

• Assist with investigation - Identify root causes and implement corrective actions. 

NOTE: Near miss reporting should be a positive, "no blame" process focused on prevention. 

Why is it important to report a near miss? 

A key mantra in terms of developing a robust health and safety culture is - See it. Report it. Learn from it. A near miss is often the last warning before a serious accident occurs. Reporting near misses is one of the most effective ways to improve workplace safety and demonstrate compliance with health and safety duties. 

How to improve near miss reporting 

Even the most meticulous system can fail due to a range of human foibles - a perceived lack of time, a fear of criticism or disciplinary consequences or inertia if people feel nothing is done even if incidents are reported. 

Some simple steps can be taken to reinforce good behaviours and reduce the chances of bad habits creeping into a health and safety culture, for example: 

• Thank people for reporting; 

• Focus investigations on root causes rather than individual blame; 

• Publicise examples where reporting resulted in improvements; 

• Allow anonymous reporting where appropriate; 

• Make reporting as convenient as possible;  

• Publish lessons learned; 

• Ensure errors are corrected and communicate accordingly  

What "Good" Looks Like 

A mature reporting system will typically demonstrate: 

• Easy reporting process 

• No blame culture 

• Rapid investigation 

• Trend analysis 

• Management visibility 

• Feedback to employees 

• Evidence that lessons lead to action 

Board-level considerations 

Reinforcement of building a robust culture can come from investigating the answers to a few simple questions:  

• What recurring hazards are emerging? 

• Do near misses indicate wider compliance failures? 

• Are near-miss reports increasing because culture is improving? 

• Are any reports suggesting criminal exposure under health and safety legislation? 

Which in turn may well uncover the following:  

• Near misses reported per 100 employees; 

• Reporting rates by site; 

• Percentage investigated; 

• Corrective action close-out rates; 

• High-potential near misses 

Quarterly reporting on these findings is recommended for variety of compliance and best practice reasons, but fundamentally for the part such activities play in overall risk detection and reduction. 

Related content

• Podcast: Responding to a Serious Accident | Weightmans 

• A guide to RIDDOR reporting | Weightmans

• The riddle of RIDDOR | Weightmans