The differentiation and decision matrix risk assessment of accident precursors and near-misses on construction sites

Precursors and near misses are well known for providing a major source of useful information for safety risk management. They are more frequent events than accidents and their causes may potentially result in an accident under slightly different circumstances. Despite the importance of this type of feedback, there is little knowledge on the characteristics of precursors and near misses, and on the use of this information in safety risk management. This paper focuses on differentiating the concepts of precursors related and evaluating the risk of precursors, near misses. First, precursors, near misses related concepts are reviewed and the relationships between the concepts are presented. Furthermore, the importance of precursors and near misses to further improve safety margins are emphasized. Eventually, risk-based evaluation of precursors, near misses is performed and the impacts of precursors, near misses on quantitative risk estimates are emphasized. By describing the precursors, near misses incidents with related probabilities and consequences, proactive management can be mobilized. Furthermore, a deeper understanding Manuscript is received May 8, 2012. This work is based on three relative research projects respectively funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51008073), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK2011609) and the Transportation Science Research Project of Jiangsu Province (Grant No.