Safety metrics are important to prevent accidents in the workplace and ultimately save lives. For example, there were 5,333 fatal work injuries in 2019, and 40% of them were related to transportation accidents. I’ve personally witnessed how focusing on safety can significantly lower these statistics. So, how do safety metrics make for a better work environment and keep employees safe?
Evaluating Workplace Protections: Key Indicators and Their Significance
Safety metrics are essential tools in managing safety risk within a facility. They offer quantifiable data to evaluate and improve safety performance. Here are some of the most important safety metrics:
- Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR): The number of recordable incidents per 100 full-time employees
- Lost Time Injury Rate (LTIR): Injuries that result in lost time away from work
- Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART) rate: Cases that involve days away from work, job restrictions, or job transfers
- Near Miss Frequency Rate (NMFR): Incidents that could have caused an injury, illness, or other disaster
These metrics are critical for several reasons. They help you identify trends, isolate problematic areas, and measure how well your safety programs are working. You can also use them to set goals, track progress, and benchmark your data against industry standards.
The impact of safety metrics on company performance is significant. They directly impact the bottom line by reducing the number of incidents and the associated cost of incidents. According to the National Safety Council, workplace injuries cost U.S. businesses $171 billion in 2019. This is why it’s essential to have strong safety metrics.
But cost is not the only consideration. Strong safety performance also boosts employee morale, productivity, and the company’s brand. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Types of Safety Metrics: Leading vs. Lagging Indicators
There are two primary types of safety metrics: leading and lagging indicators, and each provides unique insights into your safety performance.
Leading indicators are proactive, preventive measures that allow you to track safety performance. For example:
- Safety training hours completed
- Number of safety observations
- Percentage of safety inspections
- Employee attendance at safety meetings
In contrast, lagging indicators are reactive and measure incidents that have already occurred. Examples of lagging safety metrics include:
- Number of safety incidents
- Lost workdays
- Workers’ compensation costs
- OSHA recordable incident rate
While both types of safety metrics are useful, it’s best to use a combination of both. If you only use lagging indicators, it’s like driving a car while looking only in the rearview mirror. You won’t be able to avoid a disaster unless you also use leading indicators to steer the car.
Evaluating Key Protection Parameters
Let’s analyze the calculation of a few common safety metrics. We’ll begin with the Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR).
- Count the number of recordable incidents in a year.
- Multiply the number of employees by the number of hours worked in a year.
- Divide this number by 200,000 (100 employees _ 40 hours _ 50 weeks).
- Divide the number of recordable incidents by the number from step 3.
- Multiply the result by 200,000 to calculate the TRIR.
The Lost Time Injury Rate (LTIR) uses a similar methodology as TRIR, but it only includes cases where someone missed time from work.
The DART rate follows the same calculation as TRIR, but only counts DART cases.
- The Near Miss Frequency Rate is often calculated as:
- (Number of near misses * 200,000) / Total hours worked
Using standard calculation methods is important to benchmarking your performance accurately against industry standards and your competitors.
Safety Measurement Frameworks
Safety frameworks are structured frameworks for thinking about and improving safety in the workplace. Here are a few of the most popular safety frameworks.
Heinrich’s Safety Pyramid is known for suggesting that for every major injury, there are 29 minor injuries and 300 near misses. This framework is helpful because it communicates the idea that addressing minor incidents can prevent major ones.
Bird’s Safety Triangle modernizes the idea of the Safety Pyramid and suggests the ratio of one major injury to 10 minor injuries, 30 property damage incidents, and 600 near misses. This framework communicates the value of tracking and addressing near misses.
Risk ratios are another way to turn safety data into safety insights. A risk matrix converts observed unsafe behaviors and conditions into the likelihood of an incident occurring.
Using multiple frameworks together can help you build a more complete safety framework. For example, you might use Heinrich’s Pyramid to understand the relationship between different types of incidents and then use risk ratios to determine which safety initiatives to focus on.
Best Practices for Implementing Safety Metrics Programs
Developing an effective safety metrics framework requires thoughtful planning and execution. Here are some best practices:
Set clear safety goals and objectives. If you can’t tie the metric back to the safety goal, why measure it?
Select relevant metrics. Don’t just choose the metrics another company is using. The challenges they’re trying to solve may be different from the challenges you’re trying to solve.
Involve employees. They can provide valuable input on what you should measure and how to measure it.
Periodically review your metrics. As your safety program changes, your metrics will also change.
Communicate safety performance throughout your organization. Ensure everyone on the shop floor and in the boardroom understands the data you’re capturing.
Remember the metrics you choose don’t just represent numbers on a spreadsheet. They represent people and hazards. Use them thoughtfully to make the workplace safer for everyone.
Data Collection and Reporting for Safety Metrics
Effective data capture is essential to accurate safety metrics. You must define systematic processes for employees to report incidents, near misses, and any other safety-related events.
The importance of accurate and consistent data capture cannot be overstated. Train your employees on how to report safety information and make it as easy as possible for them to do so.
Technology can make a big difference in how you track safety data. Mobile apps and IoT devices make it possible for employees to report safety data in real time.
Building effective safety performance dashboards allows you to visualize the data. Common dashboard features might include:
| Dashboard Feature | Use |
|---|---|
| Current TRIR | Overall safety performance |
| Near Miss Trend | Potential future incidents |
| Safety Training Completion | Preventative actions |
| Incident Locations | High risk areas |
How frequently you record safety metrics will depend on your company. Most companies record safety metrics monthly, but you might need to record some metrics daily or weekly.
Overcoming Challenges in Safety Metric Implementation
There are some common pitfalls of safety metrics. One is becoming too focused on the numbers and losing track of the ultimate goal – improving safety.
Keeping employees engaged is a challenge. Make the metrics applicable to their daily jobs and acknowledge their role in improving safety.
Data quality problems can destroy the credibility of your entire metrics program. Use checks and balances to ensure accurate data and address any inaccuracies immediately.
Balancing the right number of metrics is important. If you have too few, you might miss insights. If you have too many, you may feel overwhelmed with data.
As the work environment changes, your metrics may also need to change. Be flexible and be willing to adjust how you measure safety over time. Process optimization can help you continuously improve your safety metrics and overall safety performance.
Industry Benchmarks and Standards for Safety Metrics
Industry benchmarks are helpful for understanding safety performance in a broader context. It lets you see how you compare, and where you might be able to improve.
International standards like ISO 45001 provide general guidelines for occupational health and safety management systems. These standards can help you choose safety metrics and how you measure them.
When comparing your safety performance to industry benchmarks, remember to consider company size, industry, sector, and location, as these factors all significantly influence safety data.
Use benchmarks to set realistic goals for improving safety metrics. If you’re already far above average in your industry benchmarks, you might set lower goals to improve slightly.
There are a handful of companies that stand out for their safety performance, including:
DuPont, which is famous for its safety culture program
Alcoa, which achieved a 50x improvement in lost workday rate over 13 years
Milliken & Company, which reduced recordable injuries by 83% over a decade
These examples illustrate the power of a strong safety program and effectively using safety metrics. Lean principles can be applied to safety programs to further enhance their effectiveness and efficiency.
Closing Remarks
Safety metrics are great resources to improve the workplace. They offer an accurate snapshot of how your organization is performing from a safety perspective and where you can improve. By establishing a solid safety metrics program, you can dramatically decrease incidents, keep your employees safe, and save a lot of money.
Just keep in mind that data collection, analysis, and interpretation are the most important things you can do. Comparing the data to industry standards on a regular basis will help you establish reasonable goals and make continuous improvements. Your dedication to safety metrics will ultimately result in a safer and more productive environment for all.
