Module seven:

Measuring performance

Key learning points

1. What is performance measurement about?
2. How do you measure health and safety performance?
3. What is auditing?

Notes:

What is performance measurement about?

So far you have learned why you need to manage health and safety, what you have to
do and how you can do it. We’ve also covered how you can learn when things go wrong.

But do you know how you’re doing overall? Is this year

the same as last, is it worse or is it better? Remember
the sports team in Module four. They measured their
performance by games won, drawn and lost, and their
position on the leader board.

enable you to keep an eye on what you’re doing in health

and safety terms.

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 Although we may not realise it, measuring performance is
important in all aspects of our lives, at leisure and at work. At
work, our performance is measured by our manager against
particular criteria.

Performance indicators provide us with information on:

• what’s going on around us

• what’s happened so far
• potential problems or dangers that we may need to
respond to.

For example, think about driving a lorry:

• The speedometer gives information on speed and allows us to make adjustments to

deal with current speed limits. Similarly, the fuel and oil gauges provide information
that allows us to take action before the lorry stops working because it’s run out of
fuel.

• The tachograph is a device that gives us information on the distance travelled and
time taken.

• The satellite navigation system provides information on our proposed route and any
delays that crop up.

Notes:

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There are two types of indicators: proactive and reactive.

Proactive indicators give us information about

aspects of our current situation that may impact future
performance. In the lorry scenario, the equipment
(speedometer, fuel gauge and satellite navigation

and safely.

Reactive indicators give us information on the outcomes of our past actions. In this case
of driving, we may look at the distance travelled and the number of hours we’ve spent
driving. Both types of indicators are important.

It’s good practice to develop performance measures that match organisational or

departmental objectives. There’s not much point developing indicators that tell you about
something that’s not really important to your organisation or department.

Notes:

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How do we measure health and safety performance?
Just as in the previous examples, we have two ways of getting information about health
and safety performance – proactive and reactive measurement.

Proactive measurement

This type of measurement is about providing

information on how well you’re managing health and
safety before undesired events such as incidents
and ill-health, happen. To measure health and safety
performance proactively, you’ll need to look at the
things (inputs) that contribute to effective health and
safety management. For example:

• your work environment and equipment

• safe systems of work and procedures
• people – employees and contractors.

For example, carrying out workplace inspections can help

us check that work equipment is in good working order and
the work environment is okay. It also gives us the chance to
deal with any problems before they cause an incident. So,
measuring the number of completed workplace inspections
against the number planned provides a useful indicator of how
well we’re managing health and safety.

Similarly, giving people training helps them to do their jobs safely, so measuring how
much training your staff are getting is another indicator of how well you’re managing
health and safety.

Additionally you check the compliance of personal protective equipment requirements

and measure the number of incidents where PPE hasn’t been worn which could result in
a number of incidents and ill health.

indicators.

Good indicators are:

• objective and easy to measure and collect

• relevant to the organisation or group whose performance you’re measuring
• able to provide prompt and reliable indications of the level of performance
• cost-effective in terms of the effort needed to gather the information
• understood and owned by the organisation or group whose performance
you’re measuring.

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 Notes:

Case study
Ascom, a Slovenian manufacturer of electrical parts for the automotive industry was
aware that workers risked musculoskeletal injuries, for a variety of reasons. The
company wanted to decrease the risk of injuries and improve working conditions.
‘Healthy Spine’ training was introduced in the company, which included tailored
exercise programmes for both in and out of work, general information about the spine

carried out and workplaces were reorganised to reduce load lifting, sitting work was
changed to alternate between sitting and standing work, and ergonomic chairs and
higher desks were introduced.
The ‘Healthy Spine’ project created not only better working conditions and a friendlier
working atmosphere, there was also:
• a reduction in absenteeism and sick leave costs: between 2010 and 2012,
absenteeism fell by 0.8%, representing a saving of EUR 52,000
• a rise in productivity as well as the quality of work
The company was commended in the European Good Practice Award 2012-2013

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Reactive measurement

This focuses on collecting information on the outcomes of our health and safety
management system, including:

• incidents
• ill health
• the absence of these negative events
• the number of days without an incident.

However, don’t forget to also measure the successes – for example:

• inspections
• near miss reporting
• health and safety culture
• training achievements
• good housekeeping
• following the correct procedures.

By looking at the successes of the organisation you’ll be able to report on the positive

You can calculate your organisation’s injury incidence rate as follows:

number of reportable injuries in a given

period (such as a year)

Injury incidence rate = ÷ x 100,000

average number of employees who worked
during the period

This is useful for comparing your performance year on year and for measuring your
performance against national statistics for your sector – you can get this information
from the enforcing authority. Analysis of this type of information is useful in identifying
trends – for example, what types of incidents are happening and how serious they are.

However, gathering information about incidents and ill health does have limitations.

There are different ways to measure, including:

• direct observations of conditions and behaviours

• gathering information using questionnaires
• meetings and reviews
•
• examining written documents
• records and reports.

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 Notes:

Case study
A well-known sugar company was devastated in 2003, when three workers died. The
business has always considered health and safety a key priority but realised a change
in focus was needed. They carried out a comprehensive, boardroom-led review of its
arrangements. This included:

• the chief executive assigning health and safety responsibilities to all directors
• monthly reports on health and safety going to the board
• more effective working partnerships with employees, trade unions and others
• overseeing an audited behavioural change programme
• publishing annual health and safety targets and initiatives to meet them.

Results included:
• 43 per cent drop in time lost to injuries over two years
• 63 per cent reduction in major health and safety issues in one year
• much greater understanding among directors of health and safety risks.

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By using tools to measure performance like the safety pyramid and the iceberg principle
you can see how important it is to measure health and safety. Improvements will be

productive and also being more cost effective.

The safety pyramid

The safety pyramid shows the ratio

of:

• near misses
• incidents of property damage
• number of minor incidents
• number of serious incidents.

This can be used to capture

improvements to help prevent more
serious incidents happening.

investment or market share. In health and safety, many people think it’s just about looking

If measurement is not carried out correctly, the effectiveness of the health and
safety management system can be undermined. This means there will be no reliable
information to inform managers how well the health and safety risks are controlled and
to allow them to make decisions relating to health and safety management.

you are doing enough to keep on top of health and safety and show you how you can do
it better in the future.

Notes:

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The Iceberg principle

Workplace incidents are a huge cost to businesses all over the world. Organisations
that implement robust and effective safety and health management systems have

reduced too. This includes incident investigations, compensation payments and medical
expenses, replacement of machinery and man power and lost productivity. This includes:

• incident investigations
• compensation payments
• medical expenses
• replacement of machinery and man power
• lost productivity.

Also looking at the iceberg principle example;

having measures in place will enable
organisations to look at the bigger picture
of health and safety. The cost of an error far
exceeds those that would have been incurred if a
system had been implemented from the start.

When examining your procedures, the Iceberg principle shows how making real
improvements can make things better.

Notes:

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 Case study

with its trade association who helped it identify priorities and put it in contact with other

its health and safety management in key areas. It put what it learned into practice and
achieved real improvement.

Did you know…?

A study by the International Social Security Association (ISSA) estimated that

for every euro invested in occupational safety and health, there is a return of
2.2 euros (ISSA 2013).

Notes:

Find out what performance indicators are used in your organisation.

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What is auditing?

evidence that’s as objective as possible) for

whether the current way of managing health
and safety meets the organisation’s health and
safety policy and aims.

There are two levels of auditing:

• internal auditing is done by staff within the organisation and helps managers by
measuring the effectiveness of health and safety management

• external auditing is done by a third party and provides an independent view. It often
represents the interests of other stakeholders as well as management.

Audits typically use three types of evidence:

• documentation – to check whether it adequately

covers the hazards in the organisation

• interviews – to check that awareness, know-how and

resources are appropriate

• observation – to check what’s described in the

documentation is really present in the workplace

Notes:

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There’s a range of people who’ll be interested in information about an organisation’s
performance measurement. Some will be internal to the organisation, for example:
• senior management
• line managers
• employees
• safety/employee representatives
• shareholders.

Some will be external to the organisation, for example:

• enforcement agencies
• insurers
• clients
• the public
• shareholders.

These people or bodies will need performance information in different formats and for
different purposes.

You could also engage your workforce by involving them and asking for suggestions that
may improve the working environment.

Notes:

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Getting it right

• Performance measurement is key in knowing how individuals, groups and

organisations are performing.

• Proactive performance measures focus on the inputs to health and safety. They’re
powerful, as they can provide warnings of problems before they happen, but they
must relate to the outputs and the organisation’s objectives.

• Reactive performance measures focus on the outputs of health and safety, which are
often negative. They’re easily gathered but have limitations.

• An audit checks whether your overall approach to health and safety is delivering the
results you want.

Notes:

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Summary

1. Measuring performance is about…

2. You can measure health and safety performance by…

3. Auditing is about…

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Appendix