What are some safety performance indicators that can improve workplace safety in manufacturing?

Once control of a risk has been lost, the outcome is unpredictable. The consequence of a workplace incident is too often unrelated to its damage potential for case rates to achieve full coverage as lagging indicators. Industry has moved away from only using actual impacts, but rather employ a focus on potential impacts.

(1) Don't carry mobile phones to manufacturing workplace, particularly places having furnaces, like Foundry, Forgeshop, Hot Rolling Mills etc. (2) Use apron, goggles and other protective gears. (3) Take small breaks by rotation with team members.

1. Unsafe condition & At risk behaviour reporting 2. Quality of UC reported 3. Near miss reporting 4. Monitor visits to the occupational health centre to know the trend of injuries 5. Improve Investigation process and competency 6. Check HIRA adequacy and Major risks action plan 7. Make procedures suitable to your work culture do not copy paste 8. Have a Top management review to keep track of emerging priorities. 9. Make line managers responsible for safety by developing an engagement culture 10. Take safety survey and worker happiness survey 11. Empower the Safety committee.

Lagging indicators are post mortem "what went wrong" scenarios that do little to show what could have been done to modify behavior and design to prevent accidents. Near miss events would do better, but near miss reporting is rare. Leading indicators are more difficult to capture. These indicators address routine unsafe practices. Routine unsafe practices are rarely addressed because the company culture says these practices rarely result directly in accidents. However, if unsafe practices are analyzed as part of root cause analysis (RCA) they can be shown as significant components of accidents. It is my view that RCA is not well understood or practiced, and if done with diligence, would help significantly in accident reduction.

Lost Time Injury Rate (LTIR): Measures the number of workdays lost due to injuries, providing insight into the severity of workplace accidents. Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR): Tracks the total number of work-related injuries and illnesses per hours worked, offering a comprehensive safety metric. Near Miss Reporting: Encourages reporting of incidents that almost resulted in injuries, helping identify potential hazards before accidents occur. Safety Training Compliance: Monitors employee adherence to safety training programs, ensuring a well-informed workforce. Emergency Response Time: Measures the time it takes to respond to and address emergencies, critical for minimizing the impact of incidents.

I believe that in safety you have to be proactive all the time , lagging indicators are just tilling you that “you failed but you were lucky not to have an incident” however leading indicators if not properly defined and analyzed the objectives may not be achieved therefore right culture and right selection of leaders and staff is a key toward safe work place

For me the basic indicator is Hazard reporting. The number of Hazard reporting coming from the shop floor shows a safety culture in an organization. Other than than TBTs, safety audits, safety champion programs, Safety time outs contribute in improving workplace safety

When I was Operations Manager in a Fulfillment Center, we all as a whole organization considered safety as the most paramount aspect. Safety retraining is a great tool to refresh the safety acumen among the tenured employees who might have had safety training during their onboarding. Not just the safety department but everyone in the organization is responsible for safety. So everyone should wear the safety lens and look for potential safety hazards that may cause minor or major accidents. We often get carried away by the daily cadences and productivity goals, but lagging on safety may make you pay the highest price. Hence Lagging indicators are very important and will majorly contribute to the safety culture of the organization.

- One thing I have found helpful is the introduction and practice of 5S Methodology, the tool does not only help in improving work flow, but it improves safety in the work place. Removing unwanted tool in the workplace is also Removing potential hazardous.

I wish to echo the post by Omer Javed regarding hazard reporting. When management encourages employees to point out safety concerns and takes positive action to rectify those concerns, then you will develop a strong safety culture. Employees will become more vigilant in identifying safety issues before there is an accident. In a previous employment, our facility rewarded individuals for taking positive steps in reporting items that could potentially lead to an injury or equipment failure. It was reassuring knowing that everyone was looking out for each other.

1. The safety statistics of the Organisation which will be in terms of LTI, accident free hours or days 2. The rewards systems and programmes to encourage the employees to involve in safety programmes 3. Opportunities for implementing ideas and support from management.

At Lumileds, we use our incident free data in every townhall to thank our employees for the attention to safety. A positive way to re-enforce the attention for safety at these group events.

Not really an indicator, but first is to drive a safety culture. Empowering your employees to all be "safety mangers"; calling out unsafe practices and improvements that drive a safer environment. An indicator I like to use is to measure and reward positive acts of safety in the workplace. Another is to publicly post safety improvement ideas from your employees, respond with actions from management and a closure/follow up date. Another is to publicly post the companies accident/incident rate against a goal and the industry standard. Competition and progress is a great motivational tool.

Positive indicators of workplace safety are 1. Recognition and safety awards are the face of a positive work place. 2. Good safety score 3.No major NC in audit 4. Safety slogans and quiz participation 5. Effective emergency response

Celebrate the good news, when you can. We are preparing a celebration for the plant, for reaching 2 years without an LTI. I will also want to have a classic visual "calculator" to count the number of days since last LTI. A next step is also to monitor who, which departments, etc. are submitting Near Misses and taking actions to improve safety. We also have had First Aid Training for all employees as an added benefit, but also bringing the message home that safety, whether at work or at home, is important.

Be honest as honesty is the best policy. Use safety PPEs. Be an example for others i.e lead by example as the flock will follow the leader.

When an incident happens, we do an effective RCA process (8D) to identify the key failures and find the best means to address those failures. The goal should never (or rarely) be to punish people. Focus on the problems, root causes and solutions to prevent incidents from happening again.

In the context of workplace safety, negative indicators refer to elements that signify potential risks or shortcomings in safety practices. These indicators could include instances of non-compliance with safety protocols, irregularities in equipment maintenance, or lapses in following established safety procedures. Identifying negative indicators is crucial as they signal areas that may require immediate attention or improvement to mitigate potential hazards. Addressing these indicators promptly helps prevent accidents or incidents, contributing to a safer and more secure working environment within the manufacturing setting.

An example I have seen is 1) Nearmiss reporting rate:-This indicators measure a number of reported Nearmiss indicators. An increase of a Nearmiss reporting can indicate improved safety awareness and proactive approach to risk management. 2) Safety compliance rate:- This indicator measures the percentage of employees who follows safety procedures and regulations.A high compliance rate shows that employee are actively engaged in promoting safer work environment. 3) Safety training completion rate:- This indicator measures the percentage of employees who have completed the mandatory safety training.A higher compilation rate shows improved knowledge and understanding of safety procedures.

1. Quick analysis and identifying root causes for accidents and its corrective and preventive measures implementation of them. 2. Assessing the safety performance and comparing them with global standards in competing with other similar organisations across domains.

These indicators integrate various aspects, such as the ratio of leading to lagging indicators or a composite score based on multiple measures. They offer a holistic view, facilitating comprehensive analysis and comparison across different levels or periods.

Consider balanced indicators as the symphony of safety metrics, harmonizing various elements to create a nuanced melody of performance. While they offer a comprehensive view, akin to reading sheet music, the challenge lies in conducting this orchestra effectively. Complexity in calculation and subjectivity in interpretation can be likened to the intricate dance of musicians working in unison

The 5S system of Lean Manufacturing not only provides actionable steps to physically make your work area safer, such as "Shine" (Seiso) where regular cleaning helps identify leaks, spills, or wear and tear that could be hazardous if left unchecked -- it also provides a framework for measuring and reporting to empower the entire team's understanding and ownership of safety too! For example measure and feed data into tracking metrics like the time taken to find tools (leading indicator) or the number and location of safety incidents (lagging indicator), along with others can provide teams with much meaningful information they can act upon versus a safety audit report from a third party that merely ends up on a managers desk.

They, like all KPIs, should be communicated, transparent with accountable owners and set against clear targets. They need to be reviewed regularly (for example: near misses daily on the shop floor, monthly at the MGMT level). MGMT Gemba Walks to see adherence to standards and identifying deviations from those standards. These types of routine activities ensure that changes that inevitably occur will be picked up and addressed before an incident happens.

Safety indicators must be a daily rutine marked on every department during daily 5 min mitting. The supervisior and the team of any department by daily practice will develope safety cuture themselves. So called active supervision is the best way to make not only safet but ( safety first ) the understading what is importany in the factory daily flow.

Think of safety performance indicators as the compass guiding a manufacturing journey towards an accident-free horizon. Each indicator is a beacon illuminating the path to a safer workplace. As you set targets, envision them not just as goals but as milestones in a continuous improvement expedition, where every achieved benchmark signifies progress in building a safety-conscious culture. Regular reviews become checkpoints, offering the chance to recalibrate and fine-tune, ensuring your safety compass remains finely tuned to the evolving needs of the manufacturing landscape.

No matter what indicators are identified, ensure they are analysed to determine the root cause of the issues. Ensure the issues are addressed to prevent reoccurrence. Ensure follow up to confirm that indicators are trending downwards to verify actions taken have been effective in improving safety.

Consider Safety Leadership Index Evaluate the effectiveness of safety leadership through a specific index that considers leadership behaviors and actions.

I don't think any indicators will help but to import work culture some of the task mentioned below 1. Strong induction safety training along with plan of recertification 2. Safety is culture not individual responsibility so everyone should have watch & focus on day to day activities on shop floor 3. Daily communication whether incident happened or not 4. Involve all employees to improve the culture 5. Assign task to them & make them respoible 6. Quiz & content may increase all employees interest in safety 7. Reward & recognition for any safety improvement

Excellent information for safety indicators.. But the facts in experience not only to measure, But to make safety workplace culture... 1) how to start the day work activities based on your Job (pictures, videos) 2) one task in time safe & A tool for each task. 3) prevention better than sorrows.. Simply written in allamufavturing training (ISO, Lean, TQM) write what you do & Do what you write.. During this process you can review, checking & evaluate safety very Easy. 4) Daily simple reward for the Best labor with reason , we used it's as on site training.... Workplace safety Culture

Unknown indicators to question partly dangerous half-knowledge. Let us not be satisfied with oral traditions and question the (supposed) so-called "state of the art". Example: the formation of chromate when using calcium-containing insulation materials on chromium-containing hot parts. A substance (calcium oxide) that is harmless in itself triggers the high oxidation of chromium (III) compounds (stainless steel alloys) to carcinogenic chromium (VI) compounds (chromates) at certain temperatures!