Incidents, Errors, and Near Misses

Incident: An incident refers to a negative event that causes harm or a serious risk of harm. This might be physical, emotional, or even organisational damage.  Imagine a case where a chemical spill leads to sickness among staff or residents. These are serious incidents, and they represent a breakdown in the safety systems designed to protect everyone involved. Accidents also fall under this category of an unplanned event that results in personal injury or property damage. This could include a fall that causes a broken bone, exposure to harmful fumes, or even injury from a fire or explosion. In each of these cases, there has been actual harm, and that means action must be taken.

Error: An error occurs when something should have been done correctly, but was not. It could be due to poor planning, misjudgment, or making the wrong decision altogether. Errors are not always intentional, but they are preventable from happening again. For example, a care worker mistakenly gives the wrong information to a family member due to confusion in the paperwork, or give wrong medication to a service user. These errors might seem small at first, but in care settings, even minor errors can have serious consequences, especially when it comes to medication, nutrition, or safeguarding.

Near miss: A near miss is a situation where something could have gone wrong, but didn’t. Either by chance, or because someone caught the mistake in time. There was no injury or damage in the end, but the potential for harm was there. For example, imagine you notice that a medication dose has been prepared incorrectly, but you catch the mistake before administering it. Or you realise that an individual was nearly served food they’re allergic to, but the meal is stopped just in time, that’s a near miss.