| Near miss hazard reporting system |
DESCRIPTION
Whilst completing a climate survey with the employees the company received negative feedback about the quality of our “Say What You See” Near Miss/Hazard reporting system.
• The naming of system was not clear and did not identify what had to be done.
• Alternative communication options to complement the existing card based system were needed
• Employees received no feedback from the existing card system – the site based post boxes for the cards were perceived as “black holes”
• It was difficult for many operatives to return the cards to the post boxes.
This feedback and the receipt of only 248 near misses/hazard reports in 2013, confirmed that Conway’s employees were completely disengaged with the system of near miss reporting.
Based on the feedback, Conway’s leadership team invested in a three tier communications approach which would appeal to as many employees as possible.
A bespoke App: a customised mobile app was developed in-house by our IT professionals with simple drop down menus and free text boxes allows confidential real time reporting from site. The app is available via QR codes printed on all health and safety poster and notices boards and is combatable on all phone platforms. Employees have the option of selecting feedback should they require it or remaining confidential. On submittal of the near miss the employee receives acknowledgement that the near miss has been submitted and has not gone into a ‘black hole App web address is www.fmconway.co.uk/nearmiss
Free Post Near Miss Cards: Free post reporting cards are available at all depots and work sites enabling confidential reporting at no cost to staff. This was a key concern from some of our employees who were transient and were unable to get to a depot of log their Near Miss. The near miss card can be put in any Royal Mail Post Box anywhere in the UK. We removed the internal post boxes from depots as the employees perceived these as black hole which no one was checking regularly.
Phone: a confidential phone line is displayed prominently on all workplace health and safety material and the employee also can inform their line manager of any near misses.
The Leadership team canvassed the employees via employee forums and briefing on what we should call the system. Overwhelmingly the employees wanted a system named in plain English so we simply called the reporting system ‘Near Miss reporting’
The resources supporting the near miss system were branded with Conway’s People First: Go Home Safe Logo and used black and yellow to align with Hazard Warning Signage.
Robust procedures were put in place that ensured all issues reported are logged, allocated to an independent investigator and followed through to conclusion. One of the principle concerns raised by the employees during the climate survey was the lack of feedback about the progress of the near miss that they raised. The provision of feedback to the employees is critical to keeping them engaged in the system. The feedback requirement is constantly monitored to ensure those that wanted feedback receive the required information.
Employee are able to track the progress of their issues via a shared spreadsheet without giving up their confidential status. In addition to facilitating the reporting of any workplace issues, these measures also provide a rich source of data to analyse trends, identify common issues and develop behavioural health and safety interventions to make FM Conway a safer and Healthier place to work.
Conway also contribute £1 per Near Miss reported to the construction based Charity The Light House Club. This was based on a suggestion was received via an employee as a further way to encourage employees to report near misses.
Since re-launching this system the company has trained over 800 employees on near miss reporting.
BENEFITS
• Near miss reporting has increased over 890%
• Employees engaged with the mobile app solution
• 89% of reports now received via APP
• Employees committed to system they were involved in designing
• Better managed process for responding to near misses
• A safer and healthier work environment for all
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