Exploring the value in near miss reporting for construction safety

Near miss reporting forms part of most contemporary Safety Management Systems across many industries, including construction. It is often seen as a leading indicator that demonstrates attention to safety through the vigilance and commitment of the workforce, the quantity of near misses raised often providing the measure of its value. Its prominence can be attributed to its positioning as the 'foundational layer' in Heinrich’s Accident Pyramid, although the causality also often ascribed therein is dubious. However, such reporting also brings problems of system misuse as a tool for blame, increased administrative burdens on safety professionals, and questions have been raised about the contribution such process actually bring to practice. Yet logic dictates that there should be some value in near miss reporting, however the process of reporting, including when and how reports are raised and what information is requested, will inevitably influence such value. A large database of near miss reports (n=3,519) submitted over two years to a UK civil engineering contractor has been analysed to reveal high level patterns within the data. Findings reveal a number of issues with the system and its data suggesting problems for both workers and safety managers, and reflecting problems also identified in other industries, and suggesting areas of focus for the development of a system able to overcome such problems in practice.