4.2 Active and reactive monitoring

Written by Imran Qureshi (NEBOSH)

NEBOSH IGC · Health and safety management · 15 questions

Name: ____________________ Date: ____________

Inspections and safety tours are examples of:
- A Lagging indicators
- B Reactive monitoring
- C Active monitoring
- D Auditing
A lagging indicator is:
- A Proportion of actions closed on time
- B Number of inspections done
- C Number of training sessions
- D Injury rates
Reactive monitoring includes:
- A Planned inspections
- B Checklist audits only
- C Safety tours
- D Incident data and investigations
Active monitoring checks that controls are working:
- A Only at the end of the year
- B Only after an incident
- C Before anything goes wrong
- D Only at audit
Which of these is an example of active monitoring?
- A An absence record
- B A planned workplace inspection
- C A fatal accident report
- D A claim for compensation
Which of these is an example of reactive monitoring?
- A A planned inspection
- B Safety tours
- C Air sampling for dust
- D Investigating an injury that has happened
A leading indicator measures:
- A Injury rates
- B Days lost
- C Preventive effort such as inspections done
- D Compensation paid
Which of these describes a lagging indicator?
- A A measure of training completed
- B A measure of harm that has already occurred
- C A measure of actions closed on time
- D A measure of inspections done
A useful leading indicator is:
- A The cost of compensation
- B The percentage of actions closed on time
- C The days lost last year
- D The number of fatalities
Active monitoring is most useful when it is carried out:
- A Once, by anyone
- B Regularly by competent and objective people using checklists
- C Only after incidents
- D Only by external staff
Which is a limitation of relying only on reactive monitoring?
- A It is too cheap
- B It prevents all incidents
- C It comes after the harm has occurred
- D It detects hazards before harm
Sampling such as noise measurement is an example of:
- A A legal prosecution
- B An audit of the policy
- C Active monitoring
- D Reactive monitoring
Why should an organisation learn from events that went well?
- A They are never useful
- B They prove no monitoring is needed
- C They can show good practice to repeat
- D They replace audits
Ill health data is an example of:
- A Elimination
- B Reactive monitoring
- C Substitution
- D Active monitoring
Which statement about monitoring is correct?
- A Monitoring is not needed if there are no accidents
- B Only leading measures are needed
- C Only lagging measures are needed
- D Good monitoring uses leading and lagging measures together

Answer key

1. C, 2. D, 3. D, 4. C, 5. B, 6. D, 7. C, 8. B, 9. B, 10. B, 11. C, 12. C, 13. C, 14. B, 15. D

Active monitoring checks before incidents.
Lagging indicators measure harm that has happened.
It is based on what has happened.
Active monitoring looks forward.
Inspections and safety tours are active.
Reactive monitoring looks at what has already happened.
Leading indicators come before harm.
Injury rates and days lost are lagging.
It shows the effort put into prevention.
Regularity and objectivity make it reliable.
It is useful for learning but cannot prevent the incident it records.
It checks a control before harm occurs.
Learning is from both beneficial and adverse events.
It records harm that has occurred.
The study tip is to use both.