Not all serious incidents result in injury, but many could have. This month we will be looking into Potentially Serious Incidents and incidents with Serious Injury or Fatality Potential, and how recognizing and addressing them early on can prevent future serious harm or fatalities on worksites.
Potentially Serious Incidents
A Potentially Serious Incident (PSI) is an event that, under slightly different circumstances, could have resulted in a severe injury, illness, or fatality. PSIs are a higher‑risk form of near miss and require focused reporting, investigation, and corrective action.
A PSI must be reported when:
- There is a credible likelihood of severe injury or illness
- Corrective action is required to prevent recurrence
In Alberta, PSIs are recognized as reportable safety events even when no injury occurs. Reporting allows hazards to be identified and controlled before a serious incident happens.
Consider the following factors when identifying PSIs:
- Past incidents that led to serious injury within the last two years.
- Specific circumstances of the incident
- Hazards present during the incident
- Slight changes in circumstances that could escalate incidents.
- The effectiveness of controls in place at the time of the incident.
- Whether corrective actions are needed to prevent recurrence.
Serious Injury or Fatality Potential
Significant Incident Failure Potential (SIF-p) incidents are near-miss events with a high risk of Serious Injury or Fatality potential.
SIF‑p incidents are high‑risk near misses involving uncontrolled, high‑energy hazards where a serious injury or fatality would be the likely outcome if conditions remained unchanged. Many SIF‑p events go unreported simply because no one was hurt.
An Event Has SIF‑Potential When:
- A high‑energy hazard is present
- Controls are missing, ineffective, or not followed
- A serious injury or fatality would be the most likely outcome
Examples of SIF‑Potential Events
- A dropped load landing inches from a worker
- Exposure to a 12‑foot leading‑edge fall
- Work in an 8‑foot unprotected trench
Unlike a PSI, an incident does not have to occur for a situation to be classified as having Serious Injury or Fatality Potential as the key is potential. Could an incident have occurred? If it did, how bad would it be? Even without an injury occurring, these conditions mirror events that have resulted in fatalities in the past.
There are 3 key questions to considered when evaluating SIF-p exposure:
- Was there a high‑risk exposure?
- Was there a failure to follow procedures or controls?
- Was the activity allowed to continue?
Benefits to Reporting PSIs and SIF‑p
So why report? PSI and SIF‑p investigations focus on systems and controls, not blame. They are learning opportunities designed to prevent harm. Although legally required, PSI reports are not admissible in court (except in cases of lying under oath), allowing organizations to improve safety without legal risk.
By reporting PSIs employers can:
- Identify hazards before they escalate
- Prevent repeat incidents and serious injuries
- Reduce total recordable incidents, improving bid competitiveness
- Encourage transparency and reporting
- Strengthen organizational safety culture
Tracking PSI and SIF-p events and using their data can provide valuable insight that can help companies improve policies and procedures, prioritize high‑risk work and hazards, and identify system and control failures to support continuous safety improvement