Seven Leading Indicators to Drive Safety Improvement in Your Organization. The idea that shifting the focus to leading indicators will improve safety management is not new. A good leading indicator is to analyse the correlation between the reported incidents and positive observations. 1. These predictive measures occur before safety incidents. The process therefore involves two key steps: Identifying significant safety factors that are critical to improving an organisations safety performance. numbers, rates, statistics) it has available to propel ongoing improvement. They measure events leading up to injuries, illnesses, and other incidents and reveal potential problems in your safety and health program. In the search for identifying the right or key indicators, several organizations end up confusing activities with leading indicators or delude themselves that their results are due to their activities and efforts, or lack thereof. In contrast, leading indicators are proactive in nature. Safety walks. That could include things like machinery or the operations. Leading indicators help by providing tangible actions to take today to positively influence safety outcomes. The report, entitled Construction Safety Best Practices and Safety-conscious companies have begun to adopt leading indicators that, if used correctly, will show how effective their safety process truly is. Leading Indicators Leading indicators are proactive, preventative and predictive measures while lagging indicators measure EHS Performance. Safety has long suffered from a lack of insightful measurements. Leading Indicators are a key proactive component for Risk Control. One of the key factors that can quickly derail an organizational shift toward leading indicators is the absence of senior-level support. Those signs are leading indicators. Following and enforcing safety rules. Some organizations have made good strides toward creating leading indicators and reducing their dependence on lagging indicators. For purposes of this document, leading indicators are proactive, preventive, and predictive measures that provide information about the effective performance of your safety and health activities. Misunderstanding Safety Leading Indicators. Lagging indicators, also known as outcome indicators, typically examine after-the-fact issues and include data such as OSHA injury and illness statistics. What that could include: Compliance, risk assessment, preventive and corrective actions, Common leading safety indicators include staff surveys and safety audits that assess current processes and procedures to determine likely failure points. Using leading indicators to measure the success of a safety and health program is becoming more common and can make it easier to achieve continuous improvement. They measure events leading up to injuries, illnesses, and other incidents and reveal potential problems in your safety and health program. Lagging indicators are easy to measure, but they typically offer insight into the outcome of a process only after an incident has taken place. Safety talks. So at the most fundamental level, a safety leading indicator is a predictive tool you can use to identify and then eliminate or control risks that might otherwise lead to incidents and injuries. Safety observations. While lagging indicators like incidence rates look backward, leading indicators such as near-misses hint at potential future problems. They measure an organization's historical safety performance and are traditionally used to identify variance from established safety goals. or Eric W. Thompson Leading indicators are nothing new to occupational safety. Leading indicators are proactive in nature that helps in predicting and preventing injury and illness in the workplace. proactive measures that measure prevention efforts and can be observed and recorded prior to an injury. That means lagging indicators are tricky to influence. The health and safety community has long believed that leading indicators are just as important as monitoring and learning from lagging indicators like accident frequency rates. 2.4 Leading Indicators of Safety . But the quality of the leading indicators is important. These are metrics that indicate safety performance prior to an incident occurring. 4. Which leading indicators are used to measure EHS success will vary from company to company. Use of lockout/tagout and other safety programs. A familiar example and safety goal, the fewer lagging indicator measures (e.g. They measure the effectiveness of a safety program after the facts. When analyzed, a high turnover rate means that there are many new employees that need to be trained on safety procedures which put a lot of pressure on Why use leading indicators? the use of leading indicators to strengthen workplace safety and health outcomes. Executive sponsorship and support. And that course, I show you how to create effective safety observations that are just chock full of leading indicators because everything on an observation form is a leading indicator. Lagging indicators are reactive in nature. and injuries. These indicators focus on A leading indicator is a measure preceding or indicating a future event used to drive and measure activities carried out to prevent and control injury. Key factors to consider when selecting and implementing leading indicators. Lagging indicators are the most familiar. Lets take a look at an important type of safety data called Leading Indicators, or Predictive Analytics to improve safety at your workplace. Provide sufficient proof that executing leading indicators will improve EHSS performance. Leading Safety, Health, and Environmental Indicators in Oil and Gas Industry (With the Focus on Hydraulic Fracturing) Nima Jabbari Leading and Lagging Indicators of 22 Slide 4 Lagging Indicators: facts about previous events, after an incident occurs (e.g. Leading Indicators to Improve an Element of Your Safety and Health Program. Time-tested Environmental Health & Safety metrics, such as number of incidents and injuries, are useful but only to measure safety performance to date. They measure events leading up to an injury, illness or other incident and reveal potential problems in your safety and occupational health (SOH) program. The guidance document makes a strong case for establishing S.M.A.R.T. Operations-based (facility housekeeping, compliance, risk assessment, prevention OSHA provides a clear definition: proactive, preventive and predictive measures that provide information about the effective performance of your safety and health activities. In other words, leading indicators look forward. As outlined previously, leading indicators are commonly defined as safety metrics that correlate with safety performance. You Might Also Like: Improving Safety: Where to Focus Your Attention for Maximum Impact Key factors to consider when selecting and implementing leading indicators 1. Employee Trainings Completed. Effective safety and health programs incorporate all of the core elements outlined in OSHAs Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs: Management leadership. The word to grasp on to in what weve mentioned so far is predictive.. They help you plan and achieve future outcomes and events. In fact, employers that rely on leading indicators have a major edge on their competition. But a new study from the National Safety Council identifies the characteristics successful ones have in common.. These measures are proactive, preventative and regularly report employees injury prevention success. This post examines the 3 types of leading indicators defined by the National Safety Council, including operations-based, systems-based and behavior-based indicators. The study from Campbell Institute, the NSCs center of excellence for environmental, health and safety management, was released at the One of the key factors that can quickly derail an organizational shift toward leading indicators is the absence of senior-level support. The Safety Geek | Safety Manager Training | Leadership Coaching Employee Perception Surveys: acquire feedback from employees to find out how safe they feel doing their jobs. Use your safety data as a crystal ball helping you predict the future. Worker participation. Note that the two key aspects are the predictive capability and the ability to use the information to act and then change the odds. 1. For purposes of this document, leading indicators are proactive, preventive, and predictive measures that provide information about the effective performance of your safety and health activities. Leading indicators are pre-incident measurements, as opposed to lagging indicators, which are measurements collected after an incident occurs. Executive sponsorship and support. Some organizations have made good strides toward creating leading indicators and reducing their dependence on lagging indicators. A recent study identified leading indicators that predict safer construction project sites. Leading Indicators: Driving Proactive Safety March 17, 2022 Having a clear picture of what needs to be achieved must be the first step when using leading indicators. Practical, usable, efficiently calculated metrics with a strong value proposition are required to compel top leadership to give leading indicators a prominent place on the KPI score cards of operational management. According to Jonathan Thomas, director of safety management solutions for the National Safety Council (NSC), leading indicators measure safety events or behaviors that occur before an incident. This can be accomplished by regular training and certifications of both new and old hires. This post examines the 3 types of leading indicators defined by the National Safety Council, including operations-based, systems-based and behavior-based indicators. Unlike lagging indicators, leading indicators are predictive metrics that focus on continuous improvement. Leading indicators focus on future safety performance and continuous improvement measures that help define your safety program. Leading indicators are focused on future safety performance and continuous improvement. Operations-based leading indicators: These are indicators that have to do with a companys infrastructure. The only other part of the safety KPI which needs defining is the difference between lagging and leading indicators. Thats because you cant simply collect the data you have to put processes in place in order to recognize a leading indicator when it arises. Part of creating a safer construction site is giving front-line workers the proper tools to do their jobs safely. A process for identifying an organizations leading indicators of safety performance. Now, if you need help identifying the leading indicators you should be watching, then I definitely suggest that you check out safety management academy. injury rates) Leading Indicators: pre-incident measurements, have a predictive The idea that shifting the focus to leading indicators will improve safety management is not new. While lagging indicators like incidence rates look backward, leading indicators such as near-misses hint at potential future problems. Examples include: Safety training Ergonomic opportunities identified and corrected Reduction of MSD risk factors Employee perception surveys Safety audits Why use leading indicators? Leading Indicator of Safety Performance What is a leading indicator?. Typical lagging indicators include the number of incidents, injuries, days away from work (DAFW), etc. Leading indicators as safety KPIs. The guidance document provides examples of potential leading indicators from three perspectives, (1) using existing data, (2) using data to control identified hazards, and (3) using data to improve safety program elements. OSHA considers these metrics essential to averting safety incidents and improving outcomes when accidents do occur. 2. According to the Campbell Institute of the National Safety Council , any successful safety management system will have a balance of leading and lagging indicators. CALL US 800-754-7668 CALL US 800-754-7668 Lets take a look at an important type of safety data called Leading Indicators, or Predictive Analytics to improve safety at your workplace. The many indicators that safety professionals use can be divided into two categories: leading indicators and lagging (or trailing) indicators. What is a leading indicator in the context of safety? The 2020 Safety Performance Report addresses the remarkable impact that leading indicator use has on the safety performance of some of ABCs top-tier members, such as fewer disrupted or lost lives and a safer jobsite regardless of the size of the company. According to OSHA, leading indicators are proactive and preventive measures that can shed light about the effectiveness of safety and health activities and reveal potential problems in a safety and health program.. Over the past couple of decades, improved safety performance has been associated with a number of measurable activities in various industries, opening up the possibility that some of these metrics may be A well-designed Leading Indicator is reliably measurable and correlates with the performance or deterioration of a system state; an increase or decrease effects the likelihood of future critical health, safety, and incident issues. 1. Tracking and improving these metrics may help to maintain and improve safety performance. Leading indicators are the positive steps like training and communications that can help prevent harm from happening. Those signs are leading indicators. Use your safety data as a crystal ball helping you predict the future. The difference of this tactic is that it doesnt only measure the negative observations such as accidents, fatalities, or near-misses, but also includes positive observations. Lagging indicators measure a company's 'past' performance i.e what has happened. Hazard identification and assessment. But the quality of the leading indicators is important. Leading indicators are easier to influence but harder to track. The word to grasp on to in what weve mentioned so far is predictive.. Leveraging Data and Metrics to Drive Continuous Improvement. Leading indicators are aspects of workplace activities that can be used to improve OHS outcomes prior to an unwanted outcome occurring. These measures are proactive in nature and report what employees are doing on a regular basis to prevent injuries. In terms of workplace safety and health, metrics are generally divided into two categories: leading indicators and lagging indicators. The goal of leading safety indicators is to help companies predict the likelihood of potential problems and take corrective action before accidents or injuries occur. Measure the positive: what people are doing versus failing to do Leading indicators safety benefits cannot be emphasized enough. A good example of leading safety indicators is the employee turnover rate. Leading indicators measure the events leading up to injuries and fatalities, and also provide information about the current state of an organizations safety management system. Leading indicators of safety include (but are in no way limited to): Having a safety policy and safety management system. The days of safety metrics focusing on lagging indicators are over. Organizations with a robust leading indicator program have the advantage of a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach, which helps them identify and correct hazards before they can lead to injuries and illnesses. Actively searching out unsafe conditions and behavior. Lagging safety indicators are often the most publicised safety metrics, as they include the headline stats like recorded injuries and incidents. Specifically, leading indicators are designed to give advanced warning of potential problems so that preventive actions can be taken. Hazard assessments. 1. Leading indicators are proactive, preventive and predictive measures that provide information about the effective performance of your safety and health activities. Leading indicators are safety metrics associated with safety performance. The meeting built on a June 2019 OSHA publication that provides guidance and information to employers on how to incorporate leading indicators into their safety and health programs.1 Over 100 participants gathered for the meeting, during which dozens made comments.