A pedestrian steps behind a reversing trailer. A driver slips on a cab step but avoids falling. A forklift enters a loading area before the driver has reached a safe position.

Nobody is injured and nothing is damaged. However, each incident gives a haulage operator an opportunity to identify a problem before somebody gets hurt.

For Irish hauliers, recording near misses should form part of everyday fleet management. The Health and Safety Authority’s driving-for-work guidance identifies reporting near misses as a worker responsibility and investigating them as an employer responsibility.

What counts as a near miss?

A near miss is an unplanned event that causes no injury or damage but had the potential to do so.

In haulage, examples could include a vehicle moving unexpectedly during loading, a pedestrian emerging into a truck’s path, or a driver narrowly avoiding a fall from a trailer.

An unsafe condition also deserves attention before an incident occurs. A blocked pedestrian walkway, damaged access step or poorly lit loading bay should be reported without waiting for somebody to have a close call.

Make reporting straightforward

A practical reporting system should let drivers explain what happened promptly, once they are safely parked and clear of immediate danger.

A short form, reporting app or initial call to the transport office can start the process. The record should capture:

• The date, time and location.

• The vehicle or equipment involved.

• What happened and who could have been harmed.

• Relevant conditions, such as poor lighting or restricted visibility.

• Any immediate action taken.

• Photographs, where these can be obtained safely.

Drivers should describe what they observed. Establishing the underlying causes is part of the subsequent investigation.

Find the cause

An investigation should look beyond the final movement of the vehicle or the last action taken by the driver.

Was the delivery entrance clearly identified? Were pedestrians separated from vehicles? Had the customer changed the unloading arrangements? Did the driver receive suitable instructions?

The HSA’s Roadsense guidance encourages operators to investigate causes and examine patterns involving routes, vehicles, conditions and training. It also encourages drivers to report near misses without fear of action being taken against them.

A useful report can reveal a planning or site-layout problem that would otherwise remain hidden.

Include customer premises

Near misses at collection and delivery points need communication between the haulier and the business controlling the site.

An internal report alone may leave the next visiting driver exposed to the same hazard.

The HSA’s Delivering Safely guidance includes an agreed system for exchanging information about incidents, near misses and safety concerns between the parties involved in deliveries and collections.

For repeat deliveries, operators should update driver instructions when access routes, reporting points or unloading arrangements change.

Turn reports into action

Each report should lead to a decision about what needs to happen next.

That could mean repairing equipment, changing a traffic route, improving lighting, revising delivery instructions or agreeing safer unloading arrangements with a customer.

Assign responsibility for the action and a completion date. Where a serious hazard remains, the affected activity should stop until safe arrangements are established.

Tell the person who raised the concern what has been done. Visible follow-up helps demonstrate that reporting produces results.

Review recurring problems

Several reports involving the same loading bay, manoeuvre or piece of equipment should prompt a wider review.

Managers should also avoid assuming that few reports mean few hazards. The HSA identifies encouraged reporting, open communication and a non-punitive response to errors as features of a positive safety culture.

At the next driver briefing, ask which recent close calls have gone unrecorded. Choose the most serious unresolved issue, assign somebody to address it and check that the action works.