When we talk about SAFETY METRICS and Measurement does it always have to be about the bad!

There are many ways to measure success, but I believe quality, service, productivity, financial, and environmental, health and safety are all linked through a company’s systems and culture. Break one link, and the company will experience setbacks. Or, "What gets measured gets done." Measurements communicate values and priorities to an organization. Time and resources devoted to measurement demonstrate management commitment that the object of the measurement is important. Therefore, the selection of appropriate metrics is an essential starting point for process improvement. A team can look for opportunities to control the risk by:

• Risk Avoidance
• Loss Prevention
• Loss Reduction

Metrics can be organized into various operational and financial categories:

Productivity which teams or shifts are being proactive and safety minded

People which groups or teams are producing proper JSA, SOP, Pre-Job Assessments

Safety (OH&S) what incident vs what high usage is being looked for PPE or putting folks at risk and what times

Assets which sites are high risk vs low risk and with what equipment

Quality which groups are applying the company safety culture not only in mentorship, but in paper work requirement and within time limits

Total Productivity Maintenance which items are being used and maintained and has low PM problems vs high use and breakage/

Still, many organizations focus solely on the results: recordable injuries, frequency rates, severity rate, lost days, etc.

Poor safety metrics; a recordable frequency of nearly 10

High employee turnover near 30%

High business growth that multiplied employee count by a factor of five in the last three years with more growth predicted

Many weak core safety processes such as start up meetings, safety committees, incident investigation and more

A focus on lagging metrics which did nothing proactive to improve the safety culture or performance

Really look at your METRICS and CAUSES like but not limited to;

Avoid stagnant positions for workers

Reduce vibrations, noise, and annoying sounds (buzzers, horns)

Proper work posture support in chairs, floor mats, shoes.

Avoid twisting and turning of body and especially wrist

Adequate localized lighting and clarity

Shoulder height storage and movements in front of body

Avoid excess neck movements

These do have advantages: they motivate management, they’re accepted standards, they’re used by government agencies and have industry associations. But the disadvantages far outweigh the pros. The lagging measures are reactive, easily manipulated, may be biased by third parties and have low statistical significance, making them difficult to establish trends. When incidents do occur, managers often put it down to a “one-off / freak” event.

So how much longer do we have to listen to high-level managers speak of safety in terms of the number of injuries and injury cost? And why don’t organizations report leading measures?

Thousands of individuals have written articles on how to best measure a safety program’s success. Yet we still have to convince our leaders that the best safety metrics measure is one that ultimately develops personal ownership and accountability for the safety of all employees (and their families). Unless you know a friend or coworker who had an injury, do you really care when your company reports number of injuries? More than likely the answer is no, and you continue to go to work without ever being aware that every day your actions — or lack thereof — have put you at risk to make the list.

America needs visionaries — people who take the leap of faith and drive improvement from the bottom up, and not the top down. In a culture of leading metrics, employees are allowed and expected to take the necessary time and use of resources to correct and resolve issues that would normally lead to unsafe acts and unsafe conditions. They help create new, permanent, safer habits, minimizing both injuries and risk potential.

The underlying principles are pretty simple. By eliminating the fear of retaliation or retribution, we can provide positive motivation for all employees to increase their awareness throughout the workday. This in turn will increase recognition of potential risk and displace unsafe habits, so accidents and injuries are minimized and eventually eliminated.

As we develop these principles, it is important to distinguish between three types of metrics; those which improve our ability to recognize hazards, those, which focus on the behavior of employees, and those, which measure management activity. It is also important to reduce the administrative burden. In today’s fast paced world, any system must be extremely user friendly, simple, minimize the commitment of time and paperwork – efficient and effective or accept the risk of failure.

Examples of indicators:
1. Our ability to recognize risk — This may include near-miss reporting, JSA / JHA compliance and percent of activities or projects that are subject to detailed hazard analysis and risk assessment. Only when employees recognize the potential will they take further actions to mitigate those risks.
2. Employee behavior — These must include positive interactions and a focus on how strong, rather than how poor, safety performance is; involving your employees in improving safety; creating a safety culture and achieving "ownership." Examples may include audits, process reviews and observations with data collection and analysis focusing on PPE use, training effectiveness, proper tool use and following best practice procedures.
3. Management activities — There can be a significant drawback to the above-mentioned indicators. They’re focused solely on and aimed at changing the behavior of employees, not managers. Yet managers are ultimately responsible for health and safety, and are in the best position to lead by example and take action where necessary. Leading measures for this group should capture and report on activities that measure the safety-related activity of management such as percent of your workforce who has received specific safety training, participation in safety talks, and number of safety audits, reviews, observations and risk assessments.

TALK WITH YOUR TEAMS ON METRICS NOT AT THEM OR ABOUT THEM

#1 – Communicate clear goals and expectations to your employees

The majority of employees want to be a part of a compelling future, want to know what is most important at work and what excellence looks like.

#2 – Share information and numbers

Let them in on what is going on within the company as well as how their jobs contribute to the big picture. When you keep you employees informed they tend to feel a greater sense of worth. By sharing numbers with employees, you can increase employees’ sense of ownership.

#3 – Encourage open communication

You can get insight into what things are important to the employee by using surveys, suggestion boxes and team meetings. Be open-minded and encourage them to express their ideas and perspectives without criticism. This means putting into practice everything you have learned about effective listening. Address their concerns in the best way you can.

#4 – Not communicating or communicating late can damage engagement

Hearing about an important update from media, colleagues or family and friends can have a negative impact on employee engagement. Ensure employees hear these messages from the business as soon as possible.

#5 – Actively promote organizational effectiveness, reputation, values and ethics

Actively promote organizational effectiveness, reputation, values and ethics – Employees want to feel good about their leaders, where they work, the products they sell and the reputation of their company.

#6 – Culture

Encourage employees to find a personal fit with the company culture.

#7 – Let staff tell their own stories

Encourage them to tell their own stories about what they are doing to support company strategies or embody organizational values.

#8 – Trust

Employees need to trust each other as well as their leadership. Employees are constantly watching leadership to see how their decisions affect the strategic direction of the organization and if their behaviors reflect what they say.

#9 – Build engagement

Show that you’re genuinely concerned about employees’ opinions and use social media as a communications tool to build engagement.

#10 – Encourage innovation

Engaged employees are innovative. They’re always looking for a better way.

#11 – Create a strong team environment

Strong employee engagement is dependent on how well employees get along, interact with each other and participate in a team environment.

#12 – Sense of belonging

Non-work activities that foster relationships increase employee engagement.

#13 – Provide constant feedback on the positives

When people know what they’re doing well, they’ll keep doing it – or, even better, do more of it. Providing someone with a little recognition on what they’re doing well can go a long way toward boosting morale. This is not to say “ignore the weaknesses” – just don’t make the weaknesses the only focus area of feedback. This doesn’t mean you should not create accountability, it actually means the opposite – but, if all you do is criticize, people will learn how to hide their mistakes or shift blame.

#14 – Give immediate feedback

Feedback is two way communication. It is the opportunity to share opinions and find solutions. Too many managers think should be the province of the annual personnel revue. It’s not. It should be a daily occurrence.

#15 – Show how feedback is being used

Demonstrate to staff how their feedback is being used.

#16 – Support employees in their work and growth

How many of you have responded to a subordinate’s idea as brilliant or even good. Success begets success. You can support employee growth by providing education and learning opportunities, cross training, coaching, and any other interactions that support employees’ personal development.

#17 – Collaborate and share on problem-solving

When employees get the idea that their manager or leader is the one who has to solve all the problems, it takes away from their sense of empowerment, and ultimately is likely to decrease engagement over time. Encourage team members to take responsibility, and work through problems or issues on their own, or collaboratively. It’s not the manager’s job to fix everyone else’s problems.

#18 – Delegation

Delegation is good for you because it expands your managerial span of control. It’s good for your employees because it is a growth opportunity for them. It demonstrates your trust in them to do the job correctly and increases their ownership of the task.

#19 – Incentives

Incentives that are matched to accountability and results. Managers who want their employees to be engaged recognize that incentives must be allocated based on objective criteria and that different employees are motivated by different things.

#20 – Celebrate both financial and non financial achievements

Employees need to feel validated and that they are a valued part of the organization. Leadership needs to show how much they care for their employees and show recognition for efforts: “If you want something to grow, pour champagne on it“.

Carefully research what you measure

Once you have decided what to measure, stick with it

Collect enough data from procedures to be statistically reliable

Collect enough data over time to be statistically reliable.

Use a standardized collection method

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.“ – Albert Einstein