Business leaders and managers can use leading and lagging indicators to predict safety in the workplace. By definition, lagging indicators “tell you how you did (someone either got hurt or they did not),” reported an OSHA spokesperson.
By contrast, leading indicators are predictive and include behaviors, activities, or processes that are linked to favorable or unfavorable results. Employers can monitor several leading indicators – specifically, frequency of training, completion of pre-task planning, number of near misses reported, number of job hazard assessments completed, and time to respond to complaints and frequency of inspections.
“By monitoring leading indicators, employers can better gauge the ‘safety temperature’ of the organization, know which direction it is heading and intervene if necessary before someone gets hurt,” elaborated the OSHA spokesperson.
-Joseph Hoff
