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:

*Required fields

If you see this don't fill out this input box.

A safety concern or near miss can be reported anonymously by withholding your identifying information.

Name

Phone

Email

May EH&S contact you for additional information or provide an update on the status of your concern?

YesNo

Date of Incident *

Location of Incident (Building, Room #, Specific Area)

Check the boxes that describe the near miss. *

Minor cuts, bruises, and burns (injuries not requiring medical treatment beyond basic first aid)Unsecured and/or improperly stored hazardous materialsPerforming experiments under incorrect procedural/experimental set-ups or conditions, or unapproved experimentsEquipment malfunctions, using semi-functioning equipment or using equipment outside of its intended or designed useLack of, improper use of, or use of unsuitable personal protective equipment (PPE)Not following standard operating procedures (SOPs) for specific experiment or taskSafety equipment (eyewash station, safety shower, fire extinguisher, fume hood) was misused or not operating properlyMinor incidents that had the potential to be more seriousEvents where serious injuries could have occurred but did notOther

Please provide a detailed narrative of the safety concern or near miss that you witnessed or have been informed occurred. The details you provide will allow us to accurately identify and investigate the issue reported. 

• What happened?
• When did it occur?
• Who was involved?
• Where did it happen?
• What was the root cause?

Narrative *

Please describe all actions implemented, if any, to correct unsafe conditions and avoid recurrence of the incident reported.