Proactive vs Reactive Safety: The Top 3 Questions You Should Be Asking!

(2 Min Read)

Traditional safety programs often focus on lagging indicators such as TRIR (total recordable injury rate), LTI's (lost time injuries) and recordable injury rates.

These metrics are important, but they don't tell the whole story, they only give you an idea of what's already happened. OSHA describes them as "backward looking" measures and is exactly what we mean when we say "reactive safety".

"Don't be reactive about safety, take these steps today and protect your workers and your organization!"

Research shows that companies with stronger safety performance tend to focus on leading indicators which evaluate whether safety systems, behaviors and controls are working effectively far before an incidental event occurs.

Here are the Top 3 questions you should be asking to determine if you are on the path that leads to safety excellence, or the path that leads to disaster.

1. Are we treating Safety the same way we treat Quality, Productivity and Profitability?

   You should establish safety as a core business objective. Make it everyone's business to ensure the organization does things safely! Support safety excellence at all levels and consider the following actions:

   1. Include safety goals in annual business objectives

   2. Review safety KPI's during executive meetings

   3. Hold leaders accountable for Leading indicators, not just injury rates

      
      

2. Do we have a robust hazard/ near miss reporting system? How quickly are we responding to and closing corrective actions?

   You should make it easy for workers to identify and report hazards and near misses, without the fear of blame and ensure they are resolved promptly! After all, finding hazards means little if they remain unresolved. Consider these actions:

   1. Implement reporting tools & allow anonymous reporting

   2. Require rapid feedback on every report

   3. Assign owners to every action and track due dates

      
      

3. Do we have VISIBLE Safety Leadership?

   Employees notice what leaders spend time on, and work that is regularly observed and inspected tends to be safer! Consider:

   1. Conducting regular safety walks

   2. Observe work happening in the field

   3. Engage workers in conversations about their safety

   4. Focus on hazards and improvements

   
   

   Need support with regular inspections? Not sure where to start? Let us help! Book an appointment for Safety Inspection today and get signed up with the A & H Risk Management Team!

"Reactive organizations manage injuries, Proactive organizations manage Risk Exposure"

Organizations with the best safety performance don't wait for incidents to reveal weaknesses in their systems, they actively measure and encourage activities that prevent incidents from occurring! Tracking leading indicators such as hazards reported, near misses, training effectiveness, leadership engagement, and preventative maintenance ensure that proactive measures are being performed and risks are being managed before incidents happen!

What is your organizations current approach to safety? (which path are you on?)

• Reactive (disaster path)
• Proactive (safety excellence path)

The Arizona Risk Team aims to help organizations achieve industry leading safety performance within their teams. We make it our mission to help you protect workers and ensure safety compliance without jeopardizing operational goals or productivity. Our safety professionals take a risk-based approach to problem solving and apply real-world experience to provide real-world solutions, sign up today! and take the first steps towards a safer future!

Ian Arizona Aguirre, CHST, PMP, EMT

Owner, A&H Risk Management LLC

Publication by ArizonaRisk.Com

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