IOSH Managing Safely. Measuring Performance. e-learning course. Module 7

Transcription

1 IOSH Managing Safely e-learning course Module 7 Measuring Performance

2 Key learning points: What is performance measurement about? How do you measure Health and Safety performance? What is auditing? What is performance measurement about? In this module we are going to explore the different ways in which we can measure our performance in managing health and safety in the workplace. For example, football teams measure their performance by the number of matches won, drawn or lost and their position on the national football league. To find out how you are doing with health and safety, it is important that you determine some indicators to do just that. Some people are not aware of it, but we measure performance in our day to day lives e.g. when taking part in sport, we measure our performance by games won, lost or drawn. Good performance indicators provide us with information on: - What is actually going on around us? - What has happened so far? - What are potential problems or dangers that we may need to respond to? Some indicators give us information on the outcomes of our actions e.g. driving our own car from Manchester to London. The distance travelled and the number of hours it took us to get there would be reactive indicators. The speed at which we are driving and the flow of traffic would provide us information on our current situation (performance). These would be referred to as active or pro-active indicators. So, why do we really measure performance? - Ensuring risks are controlled - Ensuring controls are properly used - Identifying inadequacies early - Ensuring changes do not increase risk. Reactive measurement: This method of measuring performance relies on information demonstrating organisational failings. Such as: - Accidents and incidents. - Near misses. - Property damage. - Injury and ill-health, sickness absence. - Enforcement, litigation. You can use your company s statics to calculate your organisation s injury incidence rate using the following simple formula: 2

3 Injury incidence rate = The number of reportable injuries (year) X 100,000 The average number of employees (year). This is a useful tool for comparing your organisation s performance against national statistics for you industry sector. Statistics are usually available from the enforcing authority (HSE). Proper analysis of this information can help you identify trends within your organisation i.e. the type of accidents, the level of injuries, location of repeated occurrences etc. Remember that gathering information on accidents, ill-health, near misses etc has its limitations. - Accuracy of the information, did every single incident get reported and accurately recorded? - How relevant are last year s information to your organisation s performance today? Active or proactive measurement: Active or proactive measurement involves demonstrating the organisation s positive efforts. For example By monitoring against targets and KPIs. By carrying out inspections/tours of plant and/or workplace audits etc. By testing of equipment. Employee feedback This method of measuring performance provides you with information about how well you are managing Health and Safety currently, before any undesirable events take place. To do this, you need to examine INPUTS that contribute to effective Health and Safety management: - Work environment and work equipment. - Safe systems of work and procedures. - People (employees and contractors). How do you measure these inputs? Carrying out inspections can reveal to you the condition of your equipment i.e. is your equipment in good working order? And is the environment in which it is being used suitable and safe i.e. adequate space, light, ventilation etc. You can also use training of your staff as an indicator, because a well trained workforce is more likely to work safely. It is important to remember that different organisations require different performance indicators. Good performance indicators are: - Objective and easy to measure and collect. - Suitable and relevant to your organisation s performance. - Cost effective in terms of the time and effort needed to collect the information. - Understood and owned by your organisation. Examples of proactive indicators: - Number of required who received adequate Health and Safety training. - The quality and effectiveness of health and safety training. 3

4 - The number of risk assessments completed/reviewed as a percentage of those required. - How well is the health and safety communicated. - How long it takes to implement the recommendations of a Health and Safety audit. - The number of suggestions from workers for improvement in health and safety. - How well PPE is used. - The frequency and effectiveness of health and safety briefings. There is a range of people who will be interested in your organisation s performance measurement. Internally: Senior management: To ensure that corporate and business objectives are being met. Line managers: To establish whether their own department is meeting its objectives. Employees: To establish how well they are meeting individual operational performance objectives. Safety/ employee representative: To pass on the information to the employees that they represent. Shareholders: To establish how the organisation is performing now and how well is likely to perform in the future. Externally: Enforcement agencies: To check whether an organisation is meeting it s legal obligations. Insurers: To establish how well the organisation manages risk. Clients: To determine if an organisation fits their requirements. The public: To establish if an organisation is meeting its social objectives. The safety pyramid shows a ratio of near misses, incidents of property damage, number of minor incidents and number of serious incidents. This can be used to capture improvements to help prevent more serious incidents happening. 4

5 Measuring performance, to a business, is usually about percentage profit, return on investment or market share. In health and safety, many people think it s just about looking at an incident, ill health data and trying to find out what they can do to measure it. 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. 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 highlighted and the benefits of measuring health and safety will lead to being more productive and also being more cost effective. The direct costs that come with an incident or injury can be simple to calculate because these are costs for personnel receiving treatment as a result. It is most often the case that these costs are documented through bills paid directly by the employer and/or their insurer. Other indirect costs associated with the same incident or injury are not always identified and calculated; and can add directly to operational costs and profits. A recent study at the Olympic park showed the return on investment from preventing illness among the workforce could be as high as 7.00, per 1 spent. When compared to industry averages, the exposure to occupational health risks was reduced by two-thirds on the Olympic park because a proactive approach was adopted by the management. This also resulted in directly proportionate reduction in work-related sickness absence. This is supported by another recent study at the London Underground where they have seen a return on investment of 8:1, following a stress programme it introduced. This means that for every 1 spent on workplace health by the organisation, there is a beneficial return of about 8. 5

6 What is an audit? A systematic, critical examination of an organisation s systems to determine the extent of compliance with a set of agreed standards. There two levels of auditing: - Internal which is carried out by staff within the organisation which helps managers by checking the effectiveness of Health and Safety management. - External which is carried out by a third party and provides an independent and an impartial view. Usually represents the interests of the stakeholders as well as management. Auditors usually use three types of evidence: - Documentation: To check if it adequately covers the hazards in the organisation. - Interviews: To check that awareness, know-how and resources are adequate. - Observation: To check what is described in the documentation is really present in the workplace. Internal auditors, advantages: Local acceptance Local knowledge Awareness of industry Familiar with workforce Lower cost Easier to arrange Internal auditors, disadvantages: May not possess auditing skills Not current with legislation and best practice Recommendations may be influenced by own workload Pressure from management Advantages of an external audit: Impartial/no bias Experience of different work practices Offer innovative solutions Not inhibited by criticism Disadvantages of an external audit: Requires a great deal of planning Resistance to discuss issues with a stranger Unrealistic targets may be sought 6