What is the meaning of a high potential incident?

• A. An incident that has already caused a major injury
• B. A hazard that cannot occur in a coal mine
• C. Event or series of events, that causes, or has the potential to cause a significant adverse effect on the safety or health of a person
• D. A minor incident with no potential consequences

Answer: (C)

A high potential incident is about the potential severity of harm, not just what actually happened. It refers to an event or sequence of events that causes, or could have caused, a significant adverse effect on the safety or health of a person. In practice this includes near-misses or dangerous situations where serious injury or illness could have occurred, even if no one was hurt this time. For example, a near-miss where a rockfall narrowly misses a worker, or a equipment fault that could have led to a life-threatening release or crush, fits this idea because the risk of a major harm was real even if no injury happened. The other scenarios describe actual major injury, a hazard that cannot occur, or a minor incident with no potential consequences, which do not capture the idea of a high potential incident.