National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System

Every Wednesday there is a new Report of the Week. These reports are available online and can be emailed for free with a Report of the Week subscription.[4] They are ideal tools used for training and for informational purposes.

The reports chosen are recent and contain discussion questions for further thought. They are also matched with 5 similar reports from previous years. These reports give readers insight to what is currently going on, and how people are dealing with their near-misses. The discussion questions help readers understand what actions need to be taken in order to prevent further near-misses. Many subscribers use the reports for informal training drills, forward the reports to other fire departments, or use them for their own informational needs.

The "unsafe acts" level contains two categories: errors and violations. The determination that an unsafe act has occurred is not an indictment of an individual firefighter or firefighters. So far, statistics have shown that 80% of reported near misses have occurred when firefighters were following established procedures. Errors are classified as resulting from lack of skill, education or training, poor decision making, or misperception. Each in turn can be broken down into omissions, failure to prioritize, poor technique, misinterpretation of conditions, wrong response to conditions, and decision errors.

The "preconditions to unsafe acts" level focuses on the individuals involved. Was the individual focused or distracted? Was the individual hurried? Was the individual physically ill or otherwise unfit for duty? Was the individual somehow incompatible with the assigned task? The team is also analyzed. For example, are the team members familiar with, and do they practice crew resource management and personal readiness?

The "unsafe supervision" level mirrors the military's emphasis on the officer's role in all aspects of operations. Specifically it looks at factors like inadequate supervision, poor planning, failure to correct problems, and other supervisory problems.

The "organizational influences" level is the final level of evaluation. It acknowledges that a fire departments top management is ultimately responsible for organizational culture, and may have contributed to some degree to a firefighter's actions that led to a near-miss event.