5-Star Safety and Health

Management System
Accident / Near Miss Recall
Date: 15/06/2013 Revision: Pages: 6
Element: 4.7 Safety Manual: 1-2-14-12 OHSAS:- 4.4.3.2

Purpose
Incident recall is a method of recalling events and near miss incidents that did not
result in any visible injury, damage or production loss but which may have if
circumstances were different. It is also used to review and discuss past accidents.
1. Introduction
1.1. Definition:
1.1.1. Accident: An accident is an undesired event, which results in harm to
people and / or property damage and / or process interruption.
1.1.2. Near Miss Incident (Close call): A near miss incident is an undesired
event, which under slightly different circumstances may have caused harm
to people and / or property damage and / or process loss.
The difference between the accident and the near miss incident is
purely a matter of chance as the outcome of an event cannot be
determined and very difficultly predicted.

1.2. Recalling the past to improve the future is of vital importance in a safety
system and the reason that most systems fail is that the underlying near miss
incidents (near misses) are never reported, investigated and eradicated.
1.3. Numerous safety systems are injury prevention programs and only concentrate
on the serious and minor injuries as indicated in the accident ratio model.
1.4. The accident ratio (Frank E. Bird JR, 1966) has a clear message:
For every 641 undesired occurrences, 1 will result in serious injury, 10 will
result in minor injury, 30 will end up causing property and equipment damage
and some 600 (near miss incidents) will have no visible outcome or
consequence.
Accident Ratio

Serious or
1
Disabling Injury

10 Minor Injury

30 Property Damage

600 Incidents
(No Visible Loss)

Frank Bird Jr. Ratio

1.5. Near miss incident and accident recall are ideal methods of recalling the
various accidents and near miss incidents that have occurred so as to remind
employees of what happened and also to highlight near miss incidents that
happened but were not reported.

2. Objective
2.1. The objective of Incident Recall is to systematically gather information and to
learn from near miss incidents and accidental events.
2.2. Accident recall is a way of reminding people. By recalling past injury or
damage causing accidents and bringing about an awareness of their causes
we ensure that steps are in place so that a reoccurrence does not happen.
2.3. Near miss incident recall is a method of recalling unreported near miss
incidents (near misses) that did not result in any visible injury, damage or
production loss but which may have if circumstances were different.
3. Accountability/Responsibility
3.1. The Manager, Supervisor or Contractor (Responsible Person) is
responsible to supporting the formulation, administration, implementation,
performance of this standard and record keeping of documentation and
distribution of safety reports and statistics concerning near miss incident /
accident recall.
3.2. Industrial Security Departments (Occupational Safety and Health) is
accountable for administration and support of this standard, as well as
coordinating revisions to this standard as needed.
3.3. Employees are accountable for participating in the daily and monthly recall
sessions.

4. Physical Requirements
Incident recall sessions can be held during:
4.1. Discussion of near miss incidents / Accident Reports.
4.2. Safety Committee meeting (monthly).
4.3. Periodic meetings.
4.4. Formal near miss incident / Accident recall sessions.
4.5. Safety training courses and workshops.

5. Procedure
5.1. Accidents and near miss incidents are recalled on the initial accident report
that is circulated immediately after each event.
5.2. Near miss incident recall should be a fixed item on the agenda of the Safety
Committees and all attendees should be encouraged to recall unreported
events that could have resulted in losses.
5.3. Periodic meetings should be used to disseminate information about accidents
and near misses experienced in other departments of SEC.
5.4. Formal accident and near miss incident recall sessions should be planned and
held on a regular basis.
5.5. Accident and near miss incident recall should be used during all safety training
courses and workshops.

6. Reporting
Near miss incidents (near miss incidents with no visible outcome or resultant injury
or damage) are often not regarded as important. They are not seen or maybe not
recognized by the average employee, as there is no injury or damage. Many of
these unreported events are recalled by employees once the opportunity is
provided, and that is the purpose of making near miss incident recalls a part of the
safety system. (Refer SEC Element Standard 4.4 Internal Incident Reporting)

7. Recalling the Near Miss Incident

7.1. Near miss incident and accident recall sessions should take place during all
Periodic meetings and Safety Committee meetings.
 7.2. Employees should be encouraged to recall events at any time on an informal
basis.
7.3. Recognition should be given to employees who recall near misses that were
not otherwise reported.

8. Benefits of Near Miss Incident Recall

8.1. The importance of near miss incident recall cannot be emphasized enough.
Accidents that cause injury, damage and production losses are recognized as
being important and are reported and investigated. Not all near miss incidents
are reported however.
8.2. Near miss incident recall, recalls the event that could have injured someone or
damaged something. It is a way of getting near miss incidents reported, so
they can be investigated and positive steps can be taken to eliminate the basic
causes.

9. Proactive and Reactive Activities

9.1. Near miss incident recall is a proactive activity. It allows the recall of near miss
incidents that have not yet caused harm or damage and endeavors to identify
the basic causes and rectify them before any contact takes place.
9.2. Accident recall is a reactive safety activity, as a loss must have occurred
before the accident could be recalled to remind workers of its details.

10. Discipline
10.1. Employees will be hesitant to recall a near miss incident if it ends up in
disciplinary measures being taken.
10.2. The near miss incident recall session should be treated as confidential and the
information disclosed should also be handled with discreet. No disciplinary
measures should take place. Finger-pointing and punishing people for
recalling near miss incidents will stop people participating in the near miss
incident recall sessions.

11. Formal
11.1. Formal recall can be tabled as an agenda item at SHE Committee meetings.
11.2. During training sessions a five-minute recall session should be held and any
near miss incidents noted, recalled by the students attending the training
session.

12. Informal
12.1. Informal recall sessions can be held on a person-to-person basis during the
normal workday.
12.2. The near miss reporting form could also be available and employees could
then fill in the form and report a near miss incident. This report could remain
anonymous and the person reporting the near miss incident need not name
the people involved.
 The SEC near miss reporting booklet. Note the risk analysis section.

13. Major Loss Briefing

13.1. A major loss briefing is an accident recall session that takes place after a
major loss. This major loss could be a fatal or permanent injury, serious
property damage or a combination of both.
13.2. This major loss briefing is an ideal way to make people aware of the causes of
the accidents, and also the remedial steps that have been taken to prevent a
reoccurrence.
13.3. At a major loss briefing session the formal press release covering the details of
the event is compiled and all interested and affected parties are informed in an
effort to dispel rumors and incorrect information.

14. Safety Museum

14.1. One of the ideal methods of recalling accidents is to create a safety museum.
14.2. The safety museum normally consists of unsafe hand-tools, electrical
equipment, personal protective equipment, etc. and also contains photographs
and descriptions of previous accidents.
14.3. By touring the museum and recalling the stories behind the exhibits an ideal
accident recall session takes place.
14.4. A book containing photographs and descriptions of previous accidents could
also be used to recall past accidents.
15. Acting upon Near miss incident Recall
15.1. The first step of the near miss incident recall process is to get the near miss
incidents recalled, discussed and recorded.
15.2. Once the near miss incidents have been documented, follow up action is vital
to ensure that the hazard reported was assessed and the wheels set into
motion for corrective action to be taken.

16. Risk Assessment

16.1. A risk assessment of the near miss incident must then be done considering the
potential loss, the severity of the loss and the frequency at which the loss may
occur.
16.2. The ranking of the near miss incident will also determine whether the
rectification should receive an A priority, a B priority or a C priority.

17. Implementation
17.1. The first part of near miss incident recall is getting the near miss incidents
reported and the follow-up action is vital to fulfill the function of near miss
incident recall, which is aimed at preventing the near miss incidents before
waiting for them to cause injury or damage.
17.2. Remedial steps must be implemented and action taken (if applicable) to rectify
the basic causes of the event.

18. Follow-up
After the action has been instituted there should be follow-up action to ensure that
the basic causes of the recalled near miss incident have been properly addressed
and eliminated

19. Document Retention

This document needs to be kept in the Safety and Health Management System (5-
Star) files and made available for auditing purposed.