What are lagging indicators?
Lagging indicators measure a company’s incidents in the form of past accident statistics.
Examples include:
- Injury frequency and severity
- OSHA recordable injuries
- Lost workdays
- Worker’s compensation costs
Why use lagging indicators?
Lagging indicators are the traditional safety metrics used to indicate progress toward compliance with safety rules. These are the bottom-line numbers that evaluate the overall effectiveness of safety at your facility. They tell you how many people got hurt and how badly.
The drawbacks of lagging indicators
The major drawback is that they don't tell you how well your company is doing at preventing incidents and accidents.
The reactionary nature of lagging indicators makes them a poor gauge of prevention. For example, when managers see a low injury rate, they may become complacent and put safety on the bottom of their to-do list, when in fact, there are numerous risk factors present in the workplace that will contribute to future injuries.
Leading indicators of safety performance
What is a leading indicator?
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.
Examples include:
- Safety training
- Ergonomic opportunities identified and corrected
- Reduction of MSD risk factors
- Employee perception surveys
- Safety audits
Why use leading indicators?
Leading indicators are focused on future safety performance and continuous improvement. These measures are proactive in nature and report what employees are doing on a regular basis to prevent injuries.
Best practices for using leading indicators
Companies dedicated to safety excellence are shifting their focus to using leading indicators to drive continuous improvement. Lagging indicators measure failure; leading indicators measure performance, and that’s what we’re after!
According to workplace safety thought leader Aubrey Daniels, leading indicators should:
- Allow you to see small improvements in performance
- Measure the positive: what people are doing versus failing to do
- Enable frequent feedback to all stakeholders
- Be credible to performers
- Be predictive
- Increase constructive problem solving around safety
- Make it clear what needs to be done to get better
- Track impact versus intention
While there is no perfect or “one size fits all” measure for safety, following these criteria will help you track impactful leading indicators.
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