Implementing Proactive Indicators for Injury Prevention

From a Reactive to a Proactive Approach: Why Injury Statistics Require New Solutions

Traditional safety indicators, such as LTIFR (Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate), show results after the fact. When the statistics for severe and fatal injuries begin to rise, as happened in the machine-building division of Rosatom State Corporation, it becomes obvious: reactive measures are not enough. The speaker analyzes the experience of implementing proactive indicators that allow evaluating not the consequences, but the performance of the occupational health and safety management system (HSE MS) in real time.

The presentation details an approach where safety ceases to be the sole responsibility of the HSE department and becomes teamwork involving managers at all levels.

Structure of Proactive Indicators: Engagement and HSE MS Performance

To assess the effectiveness of injury prevention, a composite KPI was developed, divided into two key blocks:

• Engagement indicators: submitting proposals for improving working conditions, implementing these proposals, and staff participation in occupational safety events. This encourages employees not only to notice hazards but also to propose solutions, and managers to promptly respond to grassroots initiatives.
• HSE MS performance indicators: the quality of risk assessments, micro-injury investigations, and conducting behavioral safety audits (BSA). The focus shifts from the formal execution of procedures to their actual effectiveness and depth of analysis.

Micro-injuries and BSA: Tools for Identifying Hidden Threats

The speaker pays special attention to working with micro-injuries. In machine-building production, workers often hide minor injuries. The goal of a proactive approach is to create an environment of trust where reporting a micro-injury is perceived not as a reason for punishment, but as an opportunity to prevent a serious incident. Investigating such cases helps identify systemic causes, for example, the need to ban the use of utility knives in utility rooms or to upgrade specific equipment.

Behavioral safety audits (BSA) or "Safety Dialogues" are considered a key tool for obtaining feedback. The quality of BSA directly depends on the ability of line managers to communicate with subordinates. To achieve this, special training sessions and "engaging briefings" are implemented, teaching foremen how to properly set tasks and receive feedback.

Digitalization as a Driver of Proactive Safety

Manual collection and analysis of data on BSA, inspections, and micro-injuries is a labor-intensive process that slows down managerial decision-making. Using the example of software under development, the speaker shows how digitalization allows:

• Collecting data online directly from workplaces.
• Automatically distributing identified deviations according to the risk matrix.
• Visualizing issues for managers, allowing them to promptly respond to an increase in violations in specific areas (e.g., non-use of PPE) before they lead to an injury.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to develop and implement a composite KPI for injury prevention for managers?
• What tools help motivate employees not to hide micro-injuries?
• How to improve the quality of behavioral safety audits conducted by line managers?
• What role does digitalization play in the prompt analysis of data and managerial decision-making in HSE?
• How to balance the implementation of risk assessment measures considering the resource and financial constraints of the enterprise?