Fact Finding - Not Fault Finding | Hill Solomon

Fact Finding - Not Fault Finding

29th October 2009

Safety Managers well understand that the safest sites are those reporting the most near misses. Yet encouraging the workforce to report near misses and act on them appropriately, can often be met with an inconsistent response.

At the beginning of 2009 the Safety Department at Wates Construction instigated a campaign to encourage their entire workforce to protect each other better by reporting every single ‘near miss’ they spot. With our help, they successfully trialled a new approach to Near Miss Reporting at 10% of thier locations. Results proved so successful that they are now using the system at all their construction sites across the UK.

“We have set ourselves an ambitions target” Safety Director Neil Edmunds explains. “In a 3 month trial at 9 sites, we had 200 near misses reported. As we launch the project nationwide we were aiming for 4000 near miss reports and now as the end of year looms we have already achieved xxxx.

“The System has been a fantastic success so far, and we were both proud and delighted to have this recognised when we were shortlisted for the Construction News Safety Award this Summer.”

The Communication Toolkit:

Awareness Posters are displayed prominently around all Wates’ sites to remind the workforce of the new system. Near Miss Reporting Stations are positioned in communal areas. The stations include a supply of postcard style report cards which are very easy to complete, a post box and two A4 message holders containing weekly updated messages to staff. Various templates for these are simply downloaded from the Wates’ intranet and updated by Managers to keep the messages fresh.

Smaller versions of the Near Miss Stations are used at remote sites – even inside vans so no employees or contractors are missed.

A ‘Best Practice Guide’ booklet details the system clearly for Managers and presentations are downloaded from the Wates’ intranet as training aids.

What has been key to the success of this scheme?

In a word: Communication! Wates invested time explaining the positive benefits of the system to all levels of the workforce, from the leadership team, through project managers and crucially to the operatives themselves. Most importantly they encouraged everyone to understand that near miss reporting is not about fault finding, it’s about fact finding.

See examples here

To find out how this could work for your business contact Clare or Barry