FACTS

1. Reducing the number of close calls automatically lowers the odds of having minor injuries (frequency) or a major injury (severity). Near misses that go uncorrected will inevitably become accidents.
2. Recognizing workplace hazards that result in the most common workplace accidents and implementing safety programs that reduce, or even eliminate those risks is quite possibly the most effective way to keep workers safe.
3. Companies which have enviable safety records say that they treat close call incidents as if they were fatalities. They say that the aim is not to place blame, but to figure out the basic cause of the accident.
4. Near misses are a red flag: a warning that something is very wrong and requires immediate attention.

STATS

• According to the National Safety Council, 75 percent of all accidents are preceded by one or more near misses.
• According to statistics, about 3 billion “close calls” or “near misses” occur annually in United States workplaces. Statistics also show that for every 300 near misses, 29 minor injuries occur, along with one injury serious enough to keep the injured person out of work.
• Each year, an estimated two million people die as a result of occupational accidents and work-related diseases. Across the globe, there are some 270 million occupational accidents and 160 million work-related diseases each year.
• Each year, workers suffer approximately 270 million occupational accidents that lead to absences from work for 3 days or more, and fall victim to some 160 million incidents of work-related disease.
• A total of 5,333 workers died from a work-related injury in the U.S. in 2019, up 2 percent from the 2018 total of 5,250. The fatal work injury rate was 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, which was the rate reported in 2018.