Application of Near-Miss Management Systems: An Exploratory Field Analysis in the Italian Industrial Sector

Abstract

Near-miss events are usually identified as adverse events that could have turned into incidents/injuries but, due to an intervention of a safety system or by chance, developed into harmless situations instead. Past and present studies have also outlined the importance of collecting and analyzing near-miss events, as they have same causes of more serious events, thereby allowing for more effective preventative measures at the workplace. Although their importance has been outlined for several years, standard models for designing near-miss management systems (NMMSs) are still lacking and cannot yet support companies in their full-scale application. Despite this condition, NMMSs are applied in several industrial sectors, such as in the construction, mining, chemical, and nuclear industries. The aim of this study is to analyze how companies are developing their own NMMSs. An exploratory analysis was developed through survey analysis; it was provided to a sample of Italian companies in order to evaluate the adoption level of NMMSs as well as current practices applied by companies. The sample included companies of different sizes in the industrial sector. The results extracted from the field analysis outline interesting issues that point out current procedures adopted for the identification, collection, and analysis of near-miss events as well as real benefits and criticalities related to the application of NMMSs.