The main objective of any safety data collection and analysis system is to make events, hazards, safety trends, and their contributing factors VISIBLE and UNDERSTANDABLE so that the organization can take effective corrective action.
Generally, the same decision-making, communication breakdown, and distraction problems we see in a serious accident will also tend to see in minor incidents and even near misses. The safety reporting system should not only collect information about serious incidents but also hazards, near-misses, and errors that otherwise might have gone unnoticed.
Systems to encourage OPEN reporting based on trust, acceptance, and motivation include: