Evaluation of Near-Miss Reporting Program Perceived by Employees' Challenges and Opportunities

Eliminating job hazards and mitigating risks is a multilevel concern for organizations to help improve their safety performance. Organizations adopted several approaches to identify and eradicate job hazards by establishing health and safety management systems such as safety talks, near-miss reporting, and analysis of leading indicators. Near-miss incidents are considered a critical metric for health and safety management systems since they present an early indicator than an injury or incident waiting to occur. Several organizations struggle to promote this reporting and fail to collect enough reports necessary for data analysis to inform safety opportunities and consider corrective measures. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) invested in a well-executed near-miss reporting program but is facing challenges in enhancing its practical use. As such, this research aims to investigate and document KYTC's employees' perceptions, concerns, and pain points that prevent them from widely using the program. Also, identify strategies that KYTC can readily adopt to increase the use of its existing near-miss program.