Measures of Effect: Near Miss Reporting on Construction Site Injuries

Abstract

A large petrochemical construction project implemented a near miss management program during a phase of heavy construction. The consequent 966% increase in near misses being reported resulted in marginal decreases in reported first aid cases, but also resulted in a significant decrease in OSHA recordable injuries. The correlation statistics between near miss rates and first aid cases were r(30)= -­‐ 0.212, p = 0.05 (exact) and between near miss rate and OSHA recordable injuries r (30)= -­‐ 0.342, p < .05, revealing a significant but moderate inverse effect between the rate at which near misses are reported and OSHA recordable injuries. While construction remains one of the world’s most demanding and dangerous occupations, this practicum research has identified an effective counter measure toward decreasing occupational injuries on construction sites. This report includes details about the project, the near miss program and reports the use of a modified version of the Eindhoven Error Classification scheme operationalized for use on construction specific error types.