How should accidents and near-misses be reported?

• A. Report to the supervisor and complete an incident/accident report; preserve evidence where safe.
• B. Notify only the vessel owner.
• C. Post a note on the bulletin board.
• D. Ignore accidents unless there are injuries.

Answer: (A)

Accidents and near-misses should be reported to your supervisor right away and an incident/accident report should be completed, with any evidence preserved if it is safe to do so. This approach ensures a timely and proper investigation, creates an official record for tracking and compliance, and drives corrective actions to prevent recurrence. Even near-misses matter because they reveal unsafe conditions or system weaknesses before anyone is injured, so reporting them helps keep everyone safer in the future.

Preserving evidence is important to accurately determine what happened and why, without prematurely disturbing the scene or losing critical details—this can include photos, securing equipment, and collecting witness statements when appropriate.

Other options fall short because notifying only the vessel owner delays or bypasses the formal safety process, posting a note on a bulletin board is informal and not an official record, and ignoring incidents ignores safety responsibilities and can lead to preventable injuries.