As an EHS professional, you know that knowledge is power. Or, put another way, data is your best tool to prepare for the safety challenges to come. The key is knowing how to sift through the noise to find data that’s genuinely useful.
Finding the right data is a two-pronged process: tracking the right HSE performance metrics and using the right dashboard to compile your data.
This post will help you figure out a few essential metrics you should be tracking. Then, you’re ready to turn your attention toward a smarter, more effective analytics dashboard.
One of the most common HSE performance metrics by far is the total case incident (TCIR), a benchmark for measuring historical safety performance against other organizations. OSHA uses TCIR to measure performance in high-risk industries, while EHS managers can use TCIR to discover patterns across departments and facilities.
To calculate TCIR, begin by multiplying the total number of OSHA recordable injuries and illnesses in your company by 200,000 (200,000 represents the number of hours that 100 employees would work per week during a calendar year). This allows you to measure your incidents on a common scale, regardless of the size of your facility.
From there, divide this number by the total number of hours your employees have worked. This gives you your TCIR, which you can then compare to industry TCIRs published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Experience modification rate (EMR) is a lesser-known but equally important metric typically used by insurance companies to help set workers’ compensation premiums.
The formula for determining EMR is complex, but it essentially boils down to a comparison of your losses compared to what’s expected for your industry. It goes up if you have more claims than similar businesses and decreases if you have fewer claims. The formula looks like this:
Class code rate x experience modifier x (payroll/$100) = premium
Your class code rate is the amount you’re charged based on how much risk you and your employees expect to face on the job, typically based on the class code rates set by the National Council of Compensation Insurance (NCCI). Your experience modifier is the difference between your actual past experience and the expected or actual experience of the class (an average modifier is 1.00, below 1.00 is better than average and above 1.00 is worse than average).
This last metric is harder to track than one-off incidents or major safety events. However, it is a major leading indicator of safety and a strong indicator of safety culture, which translates to 1) advance warning of potential incidents and 2) employee engagement in safety culture, respectively.
These metrics aren’t necessarily one-off metrics, but rather an aggregation of related metrics. A good place to start is metrics related to safety training, such as worker participation, worker completion of training evaluations, and worker performance on training evaluation materials. From there, you can turn your attention to the bigger picture, like recorded safety behavior on projects and work sites.
The trick with all of these HSE performance metrics is that none of them are static. They’re living numbers that update all the time. And if you’re still trudging along through Excel-based reporting dashboards, your data may well be dying on the vine.
We’re here to change that, with safety software that makes it easy to turn observations into actionable results. Let us help you take charge of your data, protect your employees, and create a sustainable competitive advantage by building your organization on a foundation of safety success.