Health & safety bulletin
Benefits of Near Miss Reporting
10th April 2008
At this month's health, safety & environmental steering meeting, we reviewed the excellent progress being made by "most" field based teams on near miss reporting.
As a reminder, a "near miss" or "incident" is:
"An unplanned event that given slightly different circumstances could have resulted in loss, damage or injury"
In 2007, we achieved a 350% increase in near-miss reporting and so far in 2008, we have improved by 61% against the same period last year.
Below are examples of the value that our employees have contributed to our customers so far in 2008:-
Two engineers extinguished a smouldering litter bin on a petrol filling station that was very close to combustion; the cost to the customer could have been more than £400,000, not to mention potential fatalities and bad publicity.
Engineers identified live cables in a shop fascia that had been cut. The sign was on a light sensor, so the de-branding company didn't realise that the cables were live; they cut them and left in situ. If this wasn't rectified, someone could have been killed when the supply was resumed during the hours of darkness. The cost to our customer, and/or the contractor could have been the loss of a life and a fine of £20,000 for a breach of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.
On another site, two engineers identified a fireman's switch that was "off", but the dispensers were all working. This could have led to tragedy as well as huge financial implications for our customer in the event of an emergency necessitation isolation of pumps.
A live cable was identified in an MID sign that had been cut and left in situ. Again, this could have caused loss of life and may have cost our customer and/or the contractor a life and a fine of £20,000.
One team identified that a diesel dispenser was being operated without the side panel being on; the belts and working parts of the dispenser were exposed, this could have led to personal injury or loose clothing becoming entangled. The hazard was rectified by the engineers and reported to raise awareness of the issue.
The actions of the engineers may have prevented serious injury and charges from the HSE that could have resulted in a large fine.
Two engineers attempted to stop the men in the below image from painting a canopy fascia from a ladder that was perched on top of a van. The potential fine for breaching section 2/3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act could be up to £20,000 for an incident like this, plus £5,000 for breaching the Working at Height Regulations. Our crew followed the correct procedure to the letter, advising the two men of the risk, and when that failed to result in corrective action, withdrawing to a diplomatic distance, securing photographic evidence, and submitting it to the office.
As well as our team's increased vigilance, some of our approved sub-contractors are also starting to identify and report near-misses, including two separate incidents of sign-ware that were ground mounted by others (some time ago) in very close proximity to the vent stacks.
Clearly, we are making good progress in addressing unsafe behavior and can feel proud that we have added value financially and have prevented several potential injuries or deaths.
From a commercial angle, I would note that some of our more sophisticated customers do put a value on our contribution and this is considered when awarding more work.
Obviously, we need to remain competitive and continue to add value, but this "hidden contribution" is valued far more by astute negotiators, buyers and managers than just getting a cheaper deal.
Please keep up the excellent work and help maintain our reputation as innovators and market leaders in our industry.