Near-Miss Management Systems Jim Makris and James C. Belke from EPA's Chemical Emergency and Preparedness Office (CEPPO) visiting with Ulku Oktem at Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center's booth, EAR conference, September 2001. The Near-Miss project continues to expand in its scope and in its reach to different industry segments. The project has received global recognition and in-depth coverage in three related articles (Financial Times (UK), June 6, 2001, Plastics and Rubber Weekly (UK), August 17, 2001 and Institute of Management & Administration (IOMA), November 1, 2001). We also continue to receive many e-mails asking near-miss related questions. The findings of Phase I, principles of an effective "Incident Reporting and Management System" design, audit tool, and preliminary assessment of statistical tools in near-miss management systems have been presented by Ulku Oktem and James Phimister at the AIHA conference, June 2001. The Near-Miss Project information has also been distributed at The Risk Management and Decision Processes Center's booth in the EAR Auditing Roundtable Conference at Baltimore, September 2001. Ulku Oktem (Near-Miss Project Director) and Grover Vos (ATOFINA Chemical Inc. and participant in the Near-Miss Project) have been invited by EAR Auditing Roundtable to present Near-Miss Project findings, including a corporate (ATOFINA) case study, at the upcoming Phoenix meeting in January 2002. A paper by James Phimister et al. "Near-Miss Management Systems in the Chemical Process Industry" has been submitted for publication. The two more recent accomplishments of Phase II, following the earlier development of a "Self Audit Tool," are conducting a survey on on-line-training (OLT) and the design and development of prototype "Incident Reporting and Management System" (IRMS) software. Since OLT is expected to be an integral part of an effective near-miss management system, a comprehensive survey, based on input from industry EHS representatives, has been developed and administered to more than 300 EHS professionals. The preliminary results indicate that EHS professionals think a) the most important issue is being able to develop an effective OLT, and b) the age and education level of employees are the most important factors in determining the effective training type for an employee. Also, there does not seem to be agreement on the key components and structure of effective on-line training. At the November 2001 Near-Miss Project review meeting, initial results of the OLT survey were presented. The participants mentioned that the cost and complexity of administering corporate-wide OLT are also very important factors in its effective implementation. We expect to have a more conclusive data on this aspect of OLT when we complete our future studies which include developing modified versions of our survey tool and administering similar surveys to business managers, employees (trainees) and IT professionals. Development of prototype software based on the Project Team's recommended "Hybrid Incident Management" system approach, identified earlier in our study, is in the works. Preliminary screen designs, logic flow, and operating issues were presented to the industry partners in the recent project review meeting, November 2001. It was recommended that the software be modular with initial emphasis on near-miss reporting and management. Other recommendations include: building a flexible system that can be incorporated into existing corporate IT structure, such as maintenance schedule programs, limiting the distribution of any information to one management level above the individual's level who is sending the information, providing pre-programmed categories wherever possible to enable easy analysis, and incorporating the right permission rules into the program to ensure various confidential information to be entered as well as viewed by the right people. In addition to the above-mentioned plans the future studies on near-miss issues will also include the following: Development of an analytical and statistical methods package in a user friendly (possible in a software) format as a supplemental tool to utilize in near-miss management systems. Developing predictive models to identify near-misses that have higher damage potential. Developing tools to integrate near-misses in all areas of EHS and with other corporate initiatives such as quality. Conducting a matched comparative study for effectiveness of near-misses using the Project's audit tool and linking with the on-going Center's accident epidemiology study and the RMP database. As always, those interested in further information on this on-going project should contact me or the Risk Center website for continuing developments. -- Ulku Oktem Project Director Senior Research Fellow		INSIDE THIS ISSUE Co-Directors' Corner:   -- The State of EHS Professions   -- Coping with Risk in an Uncertain World Accident Epidemiology and Environmental Justice Use of Third Party Auditors to Ensure Regulatory Compliance Workshop Held on the Use of Environmental Management Systems by Public Entities Clean Air Council Hosts Roundtable On Third Party Audits of RMPs Corporate Associates Advisory Committee Howard Kunreuther Receives Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society for Risk Analysis Comings and Goings Mailing List Signup Credits Wharton Risk Management & Decision Processes Center Home The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania