Most workplaces have a weird relationship with close calls. Something almost goes wrong, everyone exhales, maybe laughs nervously, and then… nothing. The forklift almost clipped someone. The ladder wobbled, but nobody fell. A heavy object dropped from a shelf and missed a foot by inches. These moments get shrugged off as luck, filed away mentally under “that was close,” and promptly forgotten.
That’s a massive problem, and not just because it feels vaguely irresponsible. The National Safety Council estimates that roughly 75 percent of workplace accidents are preceded by at least one near-miss event. Think about that for a second. The warning signs were there. Somebody just didn’t pay attention to them.
Here’s the thing about near misses: they’re basically free intelligence. No one got hurt, no workers’ comp claim was filed, and no OSHA report was needed. But the hazard that caused the close call? Still very much present. Some facilities have started using digital signage to display near-miss reporting signs alongside traditional safety metrics, treating close calls as data points worth tracking rather than non-events to dismiss. When workers see near-miss counts updating in real time on screens near the floor entrance, it reinforces that leadership considers these incidents worth measuring.
The Reporting Problem Nobody Talks About
Workers don’t report near misses for a bunch of reasons, and most of them have nothing to do with laziness or apathy. Sometimes the reporting system is annoying. Forms are long. Supervisors seem too busy. The process feels like bureaucratic punishment for something that didn’t even result in harm.
And then there’s the culture issue. If someone thinks they’ll get blamed for being in a dangerous situation, they’re going to keep quiet. If they’ve seen coworkers get side-eyed for “making a big deal” out of minor incidents, they’ll follow that unspoken rule. The message gets internalized fast: real injuries get reported, close calls don’t.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, private industry employers reported 2.5 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2024. That’s the actual harm that made it into official records. The near misses that preceded many of those incidents? Largely invisible. Uncounted. Ignored until they became something worse.
What Actually Works
Companies that take near-miss reporting seriously tend to do a few things differently. They make the process simple. A quick mobile form, a dedicated Slack channel, even a physical drop box near the break room. Anything that reduces friction between noticing a hazard and documenting it.
They also make it clear that reporting isn’t punitive. This sounds obvious, but it’s harder to implement than it sounds. It requires managers to genuinely respond to reports without assigning blame, even when the situation involved someone doing something careless. The goal is information, not discipline. You want people to tell you about the loose railing before someone leans on it wrong.
Visibility matters too. Warehouses and manufacturing plants have started displaying near-miss tallies on screens in break rooms and near time clocks, right alongside days-without-incident counters. The psychology here is straightforward: when close calls get tracked publicly, they become part of the daily conversation. A screen showing “Near Misses Reported This Month: 14” sends a different message than silence. It tells workers that leadership actually wants this information and that flagging hazards is expected behavior rather than optional extra effort.
The Ratio That Should Scare You
Safety researchers have studied the relationship between near misses and serious incidents for decades. The numbers vary depending on the industry and methodology, but the general pattern holds: there are far more warning signs than actual accidents. Some studies suggest ratios of 300 to 1 or higher. For every serious injury, hundreds of close calls went unaddressed.
That’s not a comforting statistic. But it’s also an opportunity. Every near miss is a chance to fix something before the consequences become real. The difference between a worker almost falling and a worker actually falling might be a loose bolt, a wet floor, or a momentary distraction. The hazard is the same either way.
Small Changes, Real Impact
You don’t need a massive safety overhaul to start capturing this data. Start with the basics: make reporting easy, remove the fear of consequences, and actually respond when someone flags an issue. Review near-miss reports weekly, look for patterns, and prioritize fixes based on potential severity.
Some teams have found success rotating safety messages on digital displays throughout the facility, mixing near-miss reminders with updates on resolved hazards. Showing that a reported issue led to a fix closes the feedback loop. Workers see that their reports actually changed something, which makes them more likely to report again.
And maybe stop treating close calls like they’re meaningless. They’re not. They’re the warnings most companies get before something genuinely bad happens. The only question is whether anyone’s paying attention.
