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RECENT DISCUSSIONS IN THE OSH COMMUNITY about leading versus lagging indicators have been lively. Many OSH professionals are thoughtfully considering how they can create indicators that effectively measure their organization's performance and are learning to appreciate that it does not mean throwing out lagging indicators altogether or that all leading indicators are created equal. In addition, while many OSH professionals say they appreciate the value of leading indicators, some confess to not really knowing how to create ones that are meaningful to their organization. This article explores the role of indicators in performance measurement to better understand how to put the pieces together.
Current Status
In 2012, National Safety Council's Campbell Institute began to explore the issue of leading indicators by conducting a survey. The first part of the survey included a 3-hour panel discussion with 17 industry experts representing various industries and sectors: mining, construction, manufacturing, scientific and technical services. The second part was conducted via an email survey to the 30 Campbell Institute charter members, 18 of whom responded. Since then, five white papers have been published outlining the work of the expert panel members and the results of the survey.
In the first paper, "Transforming EHS Performance Measurement Through Leading Indicators," several interesting findings were reported (Sinelnikov et al, 2013). The first was that OSH professionals expected to see an increase in the use of leading indicators. Of those who participated in the expert panel or responded to the survey, 94% indicated that the use of leading indicators was an important factor in measuring OSH performance and 93% responded that their organizations would be increasing the use of leading indicators in the next 5 years. The second finding addressed leading indicator expertise of both OSH professionals and their senior leadership; 80% of respondents ranked their expertise level on leading indicators as "competent," "proficient" or "expert." On the other hand, they reported that the expertise level of nearly half of the senior leaders in their organizations was at the "beginner" or "advanced beginner" level and only 7% were ranked as "expert" (Table 1, p. 30; Sinelnikov et al, 2013).
The third finding of note from the expert panel and survey participants came from answers to questions on the role of leading indicators in...