Hazard and Near-Miss Reporting by Workers

You should report any actual or potential health and safety hazards immediately to your supervisor. You do not need to wait for an inspection team to come by or for an injury to occur. In fact, health and safety legislation requires workers to report hazards to their supervisor. You can also report health and safety hazards to your health and safety committee or representative, as well as the union.

The hazard reporting process allows workers to report hazardous conditions or practices as they notice them. This procedure allows for prompt reporting, and steps can be taken to control the hazards without waiting for the next round of regular inspections.

It is good practice to report and investigate incidents that do not cause injury or damage—often referred to as a “near-miss,” “near-hit,” or “no-loss” investigation. These incidents are an opportunity to identify areas of improvement for various processes when no injury or damage occurred. Reporting of these near-misses will help prevent a similar incident from reoccurring. 

Hazards can be reported verbally, electronically, or by filling out company-specific forms that should be available at bulletin boards or other conspicuous places. Ask your supervisor, health and safety committee, or representative if there is a formal process for reporting hazards.

If your supervisor, health and safety committee or representative, and union fail to respond to your hazard report, you may contact the government department responsible for occupational health and safety for your area for further guidance. However, before contacting a government department, trying to resolve concerns internally is encouraged.

The following is an example of a hazard reporting form.