Exchange of Energy and Contact

The high risk conditions and acts give rise to a contact that is the segment of the undesired event where a person s body or a piece of equipment is subject to an external force greater than it can withstand, resulting in injury or damage. This is the portion of the accident sequence that is missing in a near miss incident. 

A luck factor exists here because the high risk act may only result in a near miss incident with no loss. For example, a motorist fails to stop at a stop sign. This is a high risk act, but there was no loss. The action only had potential for loss. The same action is committed, but this time another car, which has the right of way, narrowly misses the vehicle that failed to stop. There was a flow of energy, but no contact or collision, therefore, no loss. This is an example of a high potential near miss incident. 

The same event occurs, but this time an oncoming car is speeding down the road and there is a collision. The losses are injury to the drivers and damage to the vehicles. 

In this case, the luck factor has proved unfortunate and the perpetrator was unlncky there was a contact and an accident and snbseqnent loss took place. 

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