Near misses, and the difference between accidents and incidents

Some of the health and safety terminology we use in the workplace can be confusing. Words like accident and incident or hazard and risk are often swapped in and out both in conversations and documentation. But each of these terms has its own definition that distinguishes it from the others.

Individually, they work as building blocks that are all critical in protecting your workers' health and safety. When they get mixed up, it can lead to confusion, under-reporting, and missed opportunities to prevent harm.

This article explains each term in plain English, with everyday examples your team will recognise. We’ll also share practical steps for managers and leaders to build clearer, more consistent reporting in your organisation.

 

Skip to:

• Key health and safety definitions

• The difference between accidents, incidents, and near misses

• Why it’s important to know the difference between health and safety terms

• Examples of accidents, incidents, and near misses at work

• How to improve health and safety reporting at work

• How to manage accidents, incidents, and near misses with Breathe

• FAQs about accidents and incidents 

 

Key health and safety definitions: accidents, incidents, near misses, hazards and risks

 

Health and safety comes with its own vocabulary, and it's not always obvious where one term ends and another begins. Here are five key terms you and your team need to know.

 

What is an accident?

 

An accident is an unplanned event that results in injury, ill health, or damage. In a workplace context, this might be a colleague slipping on a wet floor and spraining their wrist, or a piece of equipment falling and injuring someone nearby. The key word is outcome. An accident is an accident because it resulted in harm.

 

What is an incident?

 

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), an incident is any “undesired circumstance” or near miss that could cause an accident. In other words, it's an umbrella term that’s broader than an accident, and covers all unexpected events that either have caused or could cause harm.

 

What is a near miss?

 

A near miss is an unplanned event that didn't result in harm, but could have, under slightly different circumstances. The HSE describes near misses as incidents that were narrowly avoided. Think of it like approaching a T-junction with the traffic lights out. Although an accident didn’t happen, the potential is clear.

 

 

What is a hazard?

 

A hazard is anything with the potential to cause harm. The HSE defines this broadly, covering ill health and injury, damage to property and equipment, and even production losses. Hazards come in many forms, such as a wet floor, a faulty piece of equipment, exposure to a hazardous substance, or even excessive workload and stress.

 

What is a risk?

 

A risk is the likelihood that a hazard will lead to harm. To put it plainly, the wet floor is the hazard, but the risk is the chance that someone will slip on it. The higher the likelihood, the greater the risk.

 

 

What is the difference between an accident, incident, and a near miss?

 

This table helps understand the differences between key health and safety terms. The main point is that an accident is a type of incident. All accidents are incidents, but not all incidents are accidents. Near misses are incidents and accidents waiting to happen.

 

 

 

Why is it important to know the difference between accidents vs. incidents vs. near misses?

 

Understanding the difference between key health and safety terminology, and being able to apply this knowledge correctly has real benefits for your workers and your business.

 

Using consistent definitions across training and documentation

 

When your forms, company policies, and workplace safety course content use different terms or definitions interchangeably, it’s difficult for your workers to understand your message.

For example, if your incident report form uses the term "accident" but your training materials use "incident", a worker who witnesses a near miss may not realise they need to fill in the form at all.

 

Recording and reporting health and safety events correctly

 

Under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), employers have a legal duty to report certain workplace accidents and dangerous occurrences to the HSE, including:

 

• The death of any person

• Serious injuries, such as fractures, amputations, burns, loss of consciousness, and blindness in one or both eyes

• Accidents that result in workers being unable to work for over three and over seven days

• Non-fatal accidents to non-workers, such as customers or volunteers

• Occupational diseases, like carpal tunnel syndrome, occupational asthma, or occupational dermatitis

• Occupational cancers, such as mesothelioma or lung cancer in people exposed to asbestos fibres

• Exposure to biological agents, such as animal bites, contaminated syringe needles, or legionella bacteria

• Gas incidents

 

A full list of reportable types of incidents is available from the HSE. If you have more than 10 employees, you must also legally keep an accident book under social security law. But these records will only be accurate if your workers know what they’re reporting.

Near misses aren’t legally classified as reportable incidents, but the HSE strongly recommends logging them.

If only accidents make it into your records, you lose the warning signals that near misses and hazard reports provide, and the opportunity to prevent something more serious from happening.

 

Protecting your business from legal risk

 

Keeping accurate, consistent records across accidents, incidents, and near misses is one of the most straightforward ways to protect your business, and your people.

If an accident happens and you can't prove that you took action to prevent it, your business could face:

 

• Enforcement action from the HSE

• Personal injury claims from anyone affected

• Financial penalties

• Reputational damage
  

 

In serious cases, directors and managers can face personality liability too. To explore if your current approach would stand up to scrutiny, take our audit-ready quiz.

 

Examples of accidents, incidents, and near misses in the workplace

 

Many examples of health and safety events in the workplace are uncomfortably familiar. They’re the type of event caused by an obvious oversight – something that probably didn’t look quite right but that nobody acted on fast enough.

Here’s what they can look like in small to medium-sized businesses across different sectors.

 

Hazard spotting in everyday work

 

Example in an office: A member of the team notices that a window on an upper floor has a small crack in it. No one’s been hurt at this point, but there’s clear potential for harm.

A cracked window could shatter unexpectedly, sending glass onto people below or inside the building. The right thing to do is to report this hazard to the office manager, so they can arrange an assessment and repair before it becomes a more serious risk.

 

Near misses in the workplace

 

Example in a warehouse: A stock picker reaches for a box on a high shelf and it shifts, almost falling before they catch it. Nobody was hurt, but a slightly different outcome could have caused a serious head or shoulder injury.

This near miss should be reported straight away, giving you a chance to check the shelving and restack the stock safely before someone else reaches for the same box.

 

Incidents in the workplace

 

Example in a hospitality business: A kitchen porter in a busy restaurant spills a large container of cooking oil across the kitchen floor. Nobody slips, but the spillage creates an immediate risk to anyone walking through the area.

This is an incident – an unplanned event with the potential to cause harm. You need to clean the spillage up promptly, then log and investigate it to understand how it happened and what you can do to prevent it from happening again.

 

Accidents in the workplace

 

Example in a retail business: A shop assistant is using a box cutter to open a delivery, but the blade slips, causing a cut to their hand that requires first aid.

This accident requires immediate first aid as there has been physical harm to a worker. You should also record the event in your accident book, and investigate what happened to make sure the right equipment and safety training are in place going forward.

 

How to improve health and safety reporting in your workplace

 

Health and safety can feel daunting, but there are many small and positive steps you can take to improve your approach. Follow these simple steps to protect your workers and your business.

 

Step 1. Sense-check your existing documents

 

Start by going through your existing material and check for inconsistent language across the following documentation.

 

• Health and safety policies

• Incident and accident report forms

• Risk assessments

• Onboarding and training materials

• Emergency procedures

• Employee handbooks

• Contractor and visitor induction materials

• Job-specific safe working procedures

 

Step 2. Create a clear health and safety language reference

 

Once you're confident your definitions are accurate and consistent, make them easy for everyone to access.

 A simple one-page reference document that explains each term in plain English gives your team something to check against when they're unsure. Our health and safety basics checklist for SMEs is a good place to start.

 

Step 3. Make reporting easy and blame-free

 

Even the clearest definitions won't help if your team doesn't have straightforward incident reporting procedures or feels uncomfortable using them. Make sure your process is accessible and that your workers know how to report accidents and incidents without blame.

 

When people worry about consequences, it’s easy for near misses and hazards to go unreported. Learn more about how to improve your culture of health and safety reporting in our detailed guide.

 

Step 4. Build definitions into onboarding and training

 

The best time to build great habits is from the very start. Include clear definitions of key health and safety terms in your onboarding materials so new starters understand what's expected of them from day one. Breathe Learn includes a range of health and safety training courses to help you do this consistently across your team.

 

 

Step 5. Review and refine health and safety periodically

 

Health and safety should never be a one-time task. Check in with your team periodically to make sure their understanding hasn't changed and be available to answer their questions. It’s also worth updating your materials whenever roles, processes or workplace layouts change.

 

Step 6. Keep records in one place

 

It’s much easier to meet your health and safety responsibilities when your people have immediate access to everything they need. Make it easier for them by storing key documentation like training records, policies, and incident logs, in one accessible, secure system. This approach also allows you to demonstrate legal compliance quickly if you ever need to.

 

Manage accidents, incidents and near misses with Breathe

 

Getting the basics of health and safety right is one of the most effective things you can do to protect your people and your business. Clear definitions are an important part of the picture. But having a system to record, store and act on any health and safety event is what turns good intentions into good practice.

Breathe's Health & Safety module gives SMEs a simple, central place to manage incident logs, near miss reports, training records and policies. See how it works in our two-minute demo video.

And if you want to sense-check how health and safety connects to your broader HR strategy, download our detailed guide.

 

 

FAQs about accidents and incidents

 

What is the difference between a hazard incident and an accident?

 

A hazard is a condition or situation with the potential to cause harm, whereas an incident is any unplanned event that has caused or could cause harm. An accident is a specific type of incident that has resulted in harm. Think of them as a progression: an uncontrolled hazard creates risk, and when that risk becomes an unplanned event, you have an incident. If someone is hurt as a result, it becomes an accident.

 

Is death an incident or accident?

 

A death in the workplace is both an incident and an accident. Because all accidents are incidents, a fatal event falls under both definitions; it is an accident because harm occurred, and an incident because it was an unplanned event. Deaths at work must be reported to the HSE immediately under RIDDOR.

 

What are three types of incidents?

 

Three common types of incidents in the workplace are accidents, near misses and dangerous occurrences.

• An accident results in actual harm or injury.

• A near miss is an event that could have caused harm but didn't.

• A dangerous occurrence is a specific category of near miss that’s serious enough to be reportable to the HSE under RIDDOR, regardless of whether anyone was injured. Examples include the collapse of a scaffold, the failure of a lifting machine, or an explosion. Even if nobody was hurt, the potential for serious harm is enough to require formal reporting.