What is the outcome when near-misses are documented and reviewed properly?

• A. Assign blame to individuals.
• B. Publish the incident in external media.
• C. Prevent recurrence and improve safety measures.
• D. Archive the incident without action.

Answer: (C)

Documenting and reviewing near-misses properly creates learning opportunities that drive real safety improvements. When teams record what happened, analyze why it nearly occurred, and identify contributing factors, they can put corrective actions in place to remove or reduce the underlying risks. The goal is to prevent recurrence and strengthen safety measures across the organization, not just document an event. This approach also supports a just culture, where people report near-misses to improve systems rather than to assign blame. In contrast, blaming individuals, publicizing incidents externally, or archiving them without taking action do not yield safer outcomes and fail to turn near-misses into meaningful change.