Safety performance measurement lagging indicators

Nearly every book about construction safety starts with the statistics. Accident statistics are often one of the most common ways we talk about safety, and they have already appeared in this book in Chapter 2. In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive provides a complete annual statistical evaluation of the more hazardous industries, of which construction is one, readily available on its website. Often termed lagging indicators, accident statistics have long been one of the most readily available and understandable measures of safety, and are frequently used to make broad assessments of an industry or project s performance. 

RP 754 suggests that process safety performance can be measured through the use of four tiers of indicators. These tiers represent a transition from leading to lagging indicators. Tier 1 is the most lagging. Tier 4 is the most leading. They are shown in Figure 3.4. 

There is a recent tendency to measure the safety achievements by indicators (so-called key performance indicators) (cf. [13, 14]). These refer on the one hand to past performance ( lagging indicators ) and on the other to future performance ( leading indicators ). 

A measurement that serves as a standard against others may be measured. Industry safety statistics (injuries, fatalities, fires, etc.) are commonly used as a safety benchmark measurement for comparison as a lagging safety key performance indicator. Better Safe than Sorry... 

A measurement statistic that may be utilized to evaluate the safety performance of an organization by management. Lagging indicators are commonly incident statistics, such as injuries, fatalities, motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), fires, etc., and are considered lagging due to the fact that they materialize after the incidents occur. See also Key Performance Indicator (KPI), Safety Leading Indicator Safety Dashboard. 

Outcome measures reflect the company s key safety objectives and are used to determine whether the company has reached them. These measures, sometimes referred to as lagging indicators, typically demonstrate the final results of the safety process. They are often commonly recognized or standard measures, such as those quoted in benchmarking studies. They are also the measures that tend to be tracked by CEOs, presidents, and vice presidents. Examples of outcome measures for a safety metrics program include lost workday rates, recordable injury rates, and number of miles driven without an accident. These indicators are referred to as lagging because they measure safety performances that are the result of, or occur after, an activity. 

A Best-in-Class safety culture expresses the need by senior leaders to receive accurate and appropriate leading and lagging indicator measurement to access safety performance and to set goals [11]. 

While statistical and historical data are considered after the fact and are designated as lagging indicators in the literature on leading and lagging indicators, they do provide broad, macro, and meaningful measures of safety performance. Analyzing the incident data, professionally, will result in ... 

Examples of safety and health performance measurement criteria that can be used to evaluate contractors safety and health performance are shown below. The ANSI A10 Committee recommends the use of leading indicators. The committee believes that leading indicators reflect a company s safety performance more accurately than lagging indicators. 

Lagging indicators are metrics used to measure past occupational safety and health performance. The results can be used to identify negative safety and health trends and identify corrective action necessary to prevent future work related injuries and illnesses. 

In order to be measure safety performance a consistent set of terms and reporting standards is required. In the area of occupational safety, considerable standardization has already been achieved through the use of measures such as the number of first aid cases or recordable injmies. Although different organizations will apply these terms slightly differently from one another, there is sufficient consensus to allow for their use across broad swathes of industry. These data are referred to as lagging or trailing indicators. 

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