A near miss is an unplanne event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage - but had the potential to do so. Only a fortunate break in the chain of events prevented an injury, fatality or damage. Although human error is commonly an initiating event, a faulty process or system invariably permits or compounds the harm, and is the focus of improvement. Other familiar terms for these events is a "close call", or in the case of moving objects, "near collision".