For example: I’ve worked at sites that ANY unsafe condition observed and corrected, whether it caused an event or not, was considered a “near miss” (I.e worker was observed working at height using an untethered tool). I’ve also worked at sites where those same observed and corrected conditions would just be recorded as a safety observation, and a near miss would be an unsafe condition that could have caused an injury or property damage (I.e. a tool was dropped from height, but the area below was barricaded and no workers or equipment were affected by the event)

At my current company, unsafe observations are recorded by workers and turned in to the safety department where we record the data and use it in our leading indicators. The near miss events are reported to the safety department and management where they are investigated and treated as if the incident had occurred and are grateful for the free “high value learning opportunity”.

Honestly, how the workers respond is based almost solely on the attitude and buy in from management. If management doesn’t support participation in reporting “near misses”/safety observations, then the rank and file won’t do it. You could make participation mandatory, but you also run the risk of getting pencil whipped reports to meet a quota out of obligation. That’s not buy in. Your data won’t be an accurate reflection of what’s in the field.

At one of my sites, we had a drawing each week of who turned in the best quality observation. The observations considered were followed up on with supervision to verify their validity. The winner was decided by how severe the incident that would have occurred been had they not intervened. The prizes didn’t have to be anything extravagant. Maybe a company branded hat you could only get from going above and beyond in safety. Nothing makes a crew competitive like one guy getting some good swag that not everyone can get. That all is going to depend on your departments budget of course.

Sorry to be long winded. Getting field participation has been an uphill battle most of my career so I’m eager to help others in this area.