by Ben Stevens, Kent Companies
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports one in ten construction site workers are injured every year. However, statistics show there are 30 minor injuries, 10 serious injuries, and one fatality for every 600 near misses.*
With that statistic in mind, how do you capture and learn from those near miss incidents that don’t result in injury? A “Safety Around the Clock” culture can only be achieved by a well-rounded program that tracks near misses and applies data to better understand what makes an activity high risk.
What is a near miss?
OSHA and the National Safety Council define a near miss as an “unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness or damage – but had the potential to do so.” It also includes the moments before an event even occurs – highlighting the significance of prevention and awareness.
Near miss reporting enables safety teams to analyze trends and communicate valuable lessons learned before an incident occurs. The team can use an interaction that prevents the incident from occurring as a precedent that other teams can learn from.
Subcontractors are uniquely positioned to improve culture and reduce incidents and injuries through near miss reporting because our craft professionals are performing hands-on work every day.
Capturing dynamic moments over static ones.
At Kent Companies, we’ve implemented a Good Catch program. This initiative empowers anyone in the field or office to submit a near miss, while still on the job. We offer a digital submission form with optional anonymity to keep an eye on trends. In return, our teammates have pride in knowing they are contributing to minimizing job site incidents and keeping their crews safe.
It’s more about how the work is done. After job hazard analyses are completed, incidents and injuries can still occur. Paying attention to habits and behaviors is instrumental to preventing injuries. Near miss reporting helps to capture trends and behaviors that may cause injury.
When a near miss occurs, it is reported, recorded and investigated. Once the report is complete, anyone related to that project can access it with no lag time. The report can be completed as soon as the person doing the audit is finished. These dynamic, almost-incidents provide key intel to keeping our crews safe.
Make it accessible.
Safety is ubiquitous. Capture near miss incidents as they happen by making resources as accessible as possible for your team. Everyone can report a “good catch,”…not just field leaders. To that end, ease of use is the foundation of compliance. To make safety reporting available to all, we created a form on our website to submit a near miss, and we made it easily accessible via QR code. We’ve found the sticker also serves as a reminder that safety is always the first priority. Our safety team distributed the QR code stickers to each job site so crews are able to have them on their hard hat and in their work truck at all times. The sticker enables employees to access all safety resources wherever they are, including safety data sheets, the safety manual, site specific safety plans, near miss reporting and our annual safety challenge.
A safety culture you can see.
Peer influence goes a long way in safety. Each year, we host the Level UP Safety Challenge – an internal video competition where teammates share practical ideas to keep others safe. When our team uses their voice to drive safety culture, we amplify the reach and impact of our entire safety program.
Media consumption is changing. As video reels consume more attention than ever on social media, we know people love to watch their peers and friends online. Kent Companies uses this media shift strategically, using video to drive our safety culture. The Level UP Safety Challenge is comprised of safety tips, lessons and content recorded by the team, for the team.
The challenge also gives employees a place where everyone can access topic-specific videos whenever they need and want to year-round. It is a good reference point for those moments when you’re unsure about how to handle certain situations safely or are facing a near miss. It fuels a sense of camaraderie among our crews. When they watch their colleagues talk about safety on video, they understand how safety is ingrained in our culture. We talk it, coach it, record it and share it.
Own what you know.
Showcase your team’s expertise and experience through job-specific toolbox talks. Gear toolbox talks toward the actual type of work you do, in addition to generic toolbox talks. What is reported from a near miss program can be written into toolbox talks to share a common experience with others before it happens.
Be an expert in the realm of safety. Toolbox talks are designed to help hazard recognition in the field and how to safely do the tasks that are within the scope of work. It is imperative that our employees know the risks they face with the tasks that we ask them to do.
Promote a proactive culture.
Safety is a team effort that promotes individual responsibilities. The support of leadership helps immensely to enforce and encourage good safety practices. Having goals aligned with managers helps share the responsibility and develops a personal relationship with the safety KPI they helped create. Working alongside your team allows you to share policies, best practices and administrative forms.
Encourage teams to play on the offense and report a near miss before an incident occurs and tackle the problem at hand. Having the “Good Catch” program available through company communication channels makes it part of their daily routine. Small, habitual efforts such as this make it ingrained to follow the “see something, say something” mindset. This systematic approach helps us gain understanding from an incident’s analysis and utilize that knowledge to reduce future risk of recurrence.
Safety is a round-the-clock commitment. It’s our responsibility as the Leaders in Concrete to ensure our team members are safe on and off the job site. Practicing near miss reporting ensures the entire team is prepared to work safely and injury-free.
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About the Author
Kent Companies is the 9th largest concrete contractor nationwide. Safety coordinator Benjamin Stevens oversees the organization’s Southeast region spanning across the Charlotte and Nashville markets. He brings more than six years of experience in safety management and leadership to the table.
