What to Collect

The two categories are related but distinct, and conflating them makes the data hard to use.

• A hazard report describes an unsafe condition that exists now: a damaged ladder, an oil spill, a missing guard, a blocked exit. Nothing has happened yet.
• A near miss describes something that happened and could have caused harm but did not: a dropped tool that missed someone, a vehicle that braked in time, a wrong valve opened on an empty line.

Hazards are usually fixable directly; near misses usually require analysis. Both belong in the same system with a simple category flag.

What a report needs

• What was seen or what happened, in the reporter's own words.
• Where, precisely enough to find it.
• When.
• A photograph, where possible.
• Who to contact if more is needed — optional, with anonymous reporting available.

What a report must not require

A cause, a risk rating, a proposed solution, or a category chosen from a long list. Every one of these requirements reduces reporting, and each is analysis that belongs to the person triaging the report, not to the person who noticed the problem.

Every field you add to the form removes reports. Ask of each one: would I rather have this field, or the reports it will cost me?