Selecting the appropriate outcome indicator depends on the chosen objectives, but the following is a range of active and reactive outcome indicators relevant to a range of objectives.
Actively Monitoring Data
There is a wide range of data that can be collated to assess health and safety performance, some of which are active – such as the uptake rate for toolbox talks, or the completion of risk assessments against the target.
These data cover the extent to which plans and objectives have been set and achieved, and include:
- Specialist staff.
- Safety policy.
- Training.
- Extent of compliance.
- Risk assessments.
- Health and safety committee meetings.
- Perceptions of management commitment.
Active Monitoring Techniques
Health and Safety Audits
The health and safety audit should be an in-depth, systematic, critical investigation into all aspects of safety. It needs to include management systems, policy, attitudes, training and practice.
Workplace Inspections
A workplace inspection involves someone walking round a part of the premises, looking for hazards or non-compliance with legislation, rules or safe practice, and taking notes. The task is made easier and more methodical if a checklist is used.
Safety Tours
A safety tour follows a predetermined route through the area or workshop and can be conducted by a range of personnel, from works managers to supervisors and safety reps. Such tours typically last only 15 minutes or so and may be carried out at weekly intervals to ensure that standards of housekeeping are acceptable, gangways and fire exits are unobstructed, and hazards are dealt with quickly.
Safety Sampling
This is an organised system of regular random sampling. Its purpose is to obtain a measure of safety attitudes and possible sources of accidents, by the systematic recording of hazard situations observed during inspections made along predetermined routes in a factory or on a site.
Safety Surveys
A safety survey is a detailed examination of a particular safety aspect. It could involve, for example, a detailed inspection of all aspects of fire-fighting equipment; examining all the safety devices on machines; or checking all the emergency exits.
Climate Surveys
Culture and climate surveys are useful techniques to assess an organisation’s attitude towards health and safety so that improvements can be made.
Behavioural Observations
Monitoring the way workers behave (for example, the use of PPE or the correct driving techniques) is a valuable active monitoring technique, as it detects issues that can be addressed through behavioural change programmes before injuries occur.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is the comparison of an organisation’s performance to others within the sector or country as a whole. Benchmarking can also be carried out between sites within the same organisation to identify strengths and weaknesses and therefore develop improvement plans.
Reactively Monitoring Data
Other data are reactive, and are typically based on accidents and incidents that have occurred. They include:
- Sickness absences.
- Reportable dangerous occurrences.
- Fatalities.
- Reportable major injuries.
- Near misses.
- Three-day, lost-time accidents.
- Damage-only accidents.
- Health surveillance reports.
- Lost-time accidents.
- Cases of occupational diseases.
