Leading Indicators to Improve Safety Programs
V I E W P O I N T Using Leading Indicators to Improve Your Safety Program By Terrie S. Norris, CSP, ARM, CPSI Terrie S. Norris is the risk control manager for Bickmore Risk Services & Consulting. How are you measuring the success of your safety program? Many entities, whether private or public, use one or more of the following: OSHA incident rate, severity rates, claims per $100 in payroll, number of fatalities, average cost per claim, and/or experience modification. These are all great trailing indicators. The problem is that they are measures of failure. A loss must occur before a value can be established. An analysis of the losses may provide a focus for the entity’s safety and health or its liability programs, but it does not drive improvement. A better equation for the improvement of safety, health, and liability performance is focused attention on leading indicators plus measured performance. Leading indicators are those that focus attention on activities that can contribute ...