Reporting Safety Concerns and Near Misses
A near miss is any incident that did not result in personal injury, property damage or release into the environment, but given slightly different circumstances could have resulted in an accident. Examples include laboratory equipment failure, unexpected chemical reactions, non-compliance with safety policies or procedures, and general unsafe laboratory conditions that may result in an accident if conditions are not addressed.
Everyone who works in or visits our laboratories is held responsible for reporting safety concerns and near misses. If you become aware of a hazardous condition or have witnessed a near miss incident, you are obligated to immediately report these to Environmental Health and Safety so that the conditions can be corrected and any serious illness, injury, property damage, and negative environmental consequence is prevented.
Colleges and departments are encouraged to actively promote the reporting of safety concerns and near misses in their research labs. One way to accomplish this objective is to advertise reporting in your lab areas (e.g., a flyer). Each college is also encouraged to report safety concerns, discuss reports with impacted research personnel, and post lessons learned from safety concerns and near misses on a college safety website.
If you are aware of a developing or existing unsafe condition, or have witnessed an incident that did not, but could have resulted in major injury, illness, or property damage, report it here: