What does “Near miss” mean?
Short answer
A near miss is an event that could have hurt someone but did not. Someone caught it in time, or it missed by chance. OSHA calls it a close call.
Also known as: close call, potential adverse event
Near miss and related terms
A near miss injured no one. Groups sort the nearby terms in different ways, so the labels matter.
| Term | Meaning | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Near miss or close call | A safety event that did not reach the patient | AHRQ Common Formats |
| Near miss (by chance) | No injury, but only by chance | AHRQ PSNet |
| Incident | A safety event that reached the patient, harmed or not | AHRQ Common Formats |
| Unsafe condition | A situation that makes a safety event more likely | AHRQ Common Formats |
Where it shows up
OSHA tells employers to investigate close calls to find hidden hazards. Under process safety management, you must investigate any incident that could reasonably have caused a catastrophic release. Start within 48 hours (29 CFR 1910.119(m)).
Example: a pharmacist spots a look-alike vial before it leaves the pharmacy. A forklift stops short of a person crossing an aisle. No one is hurt, and each shows a problem to fix.
Mix-up: an error that reaches the patient with no harm is not a near miss in the AHRQ sense. On the NCC MERP index, an error that never reached the patient is category B. Errors that reached the patient without harm are C and D.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a near miss and a no-harm event?
A near miss does not reach the patient (AHRQ Common Formats). A no-harm event reaches the patient but causes no injury.
Do near misses have to be reported to OSHA?
Not under the recordkeeping rules. OSHA wants reports of deaths, in-patient hospital stays, amputations and loss of an eye (29 CFR 1904.39). Process safety rules still require an internal investigation.
Why do near misses matter?
Close calls show where hazards are, says OSHA. Looking into them finds hazards before anyone is hurt.
Sources
- AHRQ PSNet: Adverse events, near misses, and errors (primer)
- Federal Register, April 8, 2016 (81 FR 20642): AHRQ Common Formats for reporting on health care quality and patient safety
- OSHA: Recommended practices, hazard identification and assessment (incident investigation)
- OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119: Process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals
- OSHA 29 CFR 1904.39: Reporting fatalities, hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye
- HHS OIG: Adverse Events in Hospitals: National Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries (OEI-06-09-00090, November 2010)
Reviewed against the sources above on Oct 5, 2026. Rules change: confirm current requirements with the issuing body or your counsel before relying on any summary.
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