7.2 How Do We Measure Health and Safety Performance?

There are the same two ways: proactive and reactive measurement.

Proactive measurement

Proactive measurement tells you how well you are managing health and safety before incidents and ill health happen. It looks at the inputs that make up good management, for example:

• the work environment and equipment
• safe systems of work and procedures
• people, both employees and contractors

You then need a way to measure these inputs:

• Workplace inspections check that equipment is in good working order and the environment is acceptable, and they give a chance to deal with problems before they cause an incident. The number of inspections completed compared with the number planned is a useful indicator.
• Training helps people to do their jobs safely, so the amount of training that staff receive is an indicator.
• Checks on compliance with PPE rules, and counts of the occasions on which PPE was not worn, show where incidents and ill health could follow.

There is no one size that fits all. Different organisations need different indicators. Good indicators are:

• objective and easy to measure and collect
• relevant to the organisation or group being measured
• able to give prompt and reliable signals of performance
• worth the effort needed to collect the information
• understood and owned by the group whose performance is being measured

Other proactive indicators include near miss reporting, the health and safety culture, training achieved, good housekeeping and following the correct procedures. They also let you report on successes and not only on failures, which shows that what you do is working.

Reactive measurement

Reactive measurement collects information on the outcomes of the management system: incidents, ill health, and the absence of these, such as the number of days without an incident. You can work out an injury incidence rate:

The rate is useful for comparing one year with another and for comparing your performance with national figures for your sector, which the enforcing authority can give you. Analysis helps you spot trends, such as what kinds of incidents happen and how serious they are. But information on incidents and ill health has limits: it tells you about failures that have already happened, and small numbers can mislead.

There are several ways to gather information:

• direct observation of conditions and behaviour
• questionnaires
• meetings and reviews
• facts and figures
• written documents
• records and reports

A study aid, not published or endorsed by IOSH or OSHA. Laws and limits differ between countries.