BY FRANK BAXTER AND TOM MADDEN
Loss Prevention Service Team
Construction Risk Partners
As a safety-minded professional, what’s your response when asked, “How are your KPIs looking?”
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable measurements used to evaluate the success of an organization or employee in meeting objectives for performance. It offers a simple way to set goals backed by data to drive change. Setting up a KPI program for safety performance is simple because most professionals are already using KPIs in their annual safety calculations. Examples of those calculations include metrics related to Total Recordable Injury Rate (TRIR), Days Away and Restricted or Transferred rate (DART). To establish the KPI, set a goal of having a TRIR or DART less than the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) national average for workplace injury, illness and fatality statistic. As an example, the 2021 BLS TRIR for construction is 2.5. This translates to an average of 2.5 recordable injuries per 100 employees. Instituting a goal of 50% below the national average would equate to a target injury rate of 1.25 or less.
Setting goals using KPIs on lagging indicators is a must, but it does not necessarily drive change; it only gives insight into how you did in the past. Instead, using KPIs to set goals for proactive activities has been shown to be a more effective way to control your lagging indicators. An example of this would be to set a goal for each project team member to conduct a safety inspection at least once a week. KPIs will measure how well the team members meet the goal both as a team and/or individual.
Measuring crew interaction is another phenomenal leading indicator activity. An example of this process may involve actively engaging your work crews, reviewing their daily plans and verifying that their work plans match duties performed on the job. Additionally, it requires having a meaningful conversation with each crew member to gauge their understanding of the potential hazards of the tasks assigned. Being intentional about the team’s safety and well-being gives crew members the added confidence they need to be vulnerable enough to express safety concerns that may be related to their tasks or work environment.
A critical piece of the crew engagement program occurs during the rollout phase. It’s imperative that the entire team (top executives, project managers, field supervisors, and work crews) understand the purpose and process of measuring crew interactions. Once everyone is on board with the process, set monthly engagement goals for each department. By measuring the number of crew engagements by job function and reporting scores, management can better understand individual, department and overall team performance. Friendly competition among employees aimed at securing the highest score helps create added interest in safety initiatives.
The effectiveness of a crew engagement safety program will ultimately be correlated with the level of senior leadership involvement. It becomes imperative to have senior leadership review status reports and be committed to communicating with leaders or managers who fall below the median line for engagements each month. Ultimately, if the implementation of safety KPIs is important for senior leadership, it will be important to everyone else. As a result, crew engagement will increase, daily work plan quality will improve, and crews will feel more comfortable with the potential hazards associated with job tasks. Workers will feel as though they are an essential part of the process and less an object to get the work done, leading to a reduction of incidents and accidents throughout the year.
Monitoring safety program performance isn’t as demanding as one may think. The process can be as simple as collecting data points for each of your KPIs and presenting them in a simple format such a dashboard or spreadsheet.
There are many ways to set up KPIs for your company, so it’s imperative to define which program works best for your organization. Relying on OSHA 300 logs is not a solid foundation for your safety program. Waiting until February 1 of each year to post the OSHA 300 logs and having that be the first time the team sees the injury statistics for the year does very little to drive the change safety professionals want.
Frank Baxter and Tom Madden (Construction Risk Partner’s Loss Prevention Service Team) have developed a 12-step process to help identify areas of focus to bolster your safety program and will work with you to fine-tune a safety KPI program that creates the positive safety improvements you desire. Contact them at frank.baxter@ constructionriskpartners.com and thomas.madden@constructionriskpartners.com.