Today’s near miss is tomorrow’s accident. You may call it something different such as a close call, injury free event, report only, or error in judgement. Whatever the name you use, it is defined as an unplanned event that did not result in an injury or property damage. The key is to not take these events lightly. We can use today’s near misses to help prevent tomorrow’s injuries and accidents.

Take for example the game of basketball. Two players are battling in the post and start bumping each other. No call. Then, on the next possession the defender gets a little jab into the small of the back of the offensive post player. No call. On the other end, the player retaliates and jabs his elbow into the throat of his opponent and puts him down. No call, however the referee does pull the two aside to try to calm them down. Next time down the court the defender hooks the arm in the post and the offensive player whips around, throws a left hook and connects. Now you have double fouls, a technical foul and an ejection. This probably could have been a preventable situation if there was some action taken on the first physical occurrence.

Many love seeing that stuff in sports, but would hate for it to happen during a school day. Injuries are a part of life, but if you have a downspout that keeps running onto a sidewalk and freezing in the same spot or fights in a hallway that is unsupervised during a passing period or a cafeteria table that falls over when the caster gets stuck; lets fix the situation before it turns into a serious problem.

If this sounds like something you could use some help with then give me a shout and I will help you to live “Left of Bang”.