🔺 Near-Miss Ratio Calculator
How many near misses you capture for each recordable — a leading indicator of reporting culture.
A higher near-miss ratio usually signals a stronger reporting culture, not a more dangerous site — people are surfacing the weak signals before they become injuries. A very low ratio often means near misses are going unreported. This is a cultural indicator, not a compliance metric.
Frequently asked questions
What is a near-miss ratio?
It is a simple indicator comparing the number of reported near misses with the number of recordable injuries in the same period — for example, 150 near misses and 3 recordables is 50:1. Unlike TRIR, there is no universally standardised near-miss rate, so definitions of a near miss vary and comparisons between organisations need care.
What is the safety triangle?
The safety triangle (or accident pyramid) comes from H.W. Heinrich’s 1931 work, which proposed about 300 no-injury incidents and 29 minor injuries for every major injury, and Frank Bird’s 1969 study, which proposed roughly 600 near misses : 30 property-damage incidents : 10 minor injuries : 1 serious injury. The exact numbers are debated, but the principle — many small signals precede serious events — is widely used.
Is a higher near-miss ratio good?
Usually, yes — a higher ratio tends to reflect a healthier reporting culture, where people feel safe raising near misses. A very low ratio more often means under-reporting than genuinely safe operations.
Does reducing near misses reduce serious injuries?
Not automatically. Research on serious injuries and fatalities (SIF) shows that the precursors of serious events differ from those of minor ones, so near-miss reporting is most valuable when you specifically look for high-potential events and learn from them.