An Accident is an unplanned event or chain of events,

which has caused injury or illness and/or damage (loss)

to people, property, the environment or reputation.

A Near Miss is an unplanned event or chain of events,

which potentially could have caused injury or
occupational illness and or damage (loss) to people,
property, the environment or reputation, but which did
not.

Managing safety involves not only investigating and

learning from those incidents involving damage or loss,
but more importantly learning from those incidents that
could have resulted in a loss but did not (in other words
learning lessons from the near misses).

For example, if a person slips on a patch of oil on the

deck, the results of the incident can range from a minor
inconvenience to one where the victim when falling on
deck strikes his head fatally on a sharp piece of steel.

There are various outcomes between these two extremes

and it is crucial to record and judge incidents by their
potential rather than their actual outcome. This can only
be done by reporting all incidents.

Capt. Dinyar Sidhva R-0/24.10.17

 The proportion of incidents occurring which do not lead
to injury or damage far outweigh actual injury or
property damage accidents. It is very important to
develop a means of gathering in these incidents, some
of which may have a high accident potential in order to
gain an insight into potential problem areas. On the
basis of the information so gathered a proper assessment
of likely potential risks can be made and thereafter
appropriate preventive measures can be taken. The
investigating system will thus detect any underlying
failures.

Through a "no-blame" culture the safety management system

must encourage the reporting of all incidents that have
accident potential, so that each event offers an opportunity
to learn and thereby strengthen the system.

Capt. Dinyar Sidhva R-0/24.10.17