Using Scorecards To Track Leading Safety Performance Activities - Part 2

ProcessMAP > Safety Management > Using Scorecards To Track Leading Safety Performance Activities – Part 2

Leading and lagging safety performance metrics can be used together to drive and monitor safety improvement. Examples of leading metrics can include safety activity completion, employee engagement, and culture surveys. Typical lagging safety metrics include injury totals and rates. Part I of this blog series, “Using Leading Safety Performance Activities to Improve Safety” provided recommendations on establishing a leading safety activity program. Part II, this blog, focuses on creating a scoring metric for the completion of leading safety activities. A leading safety activity score (or completion percentage) can be calculated to track completion of the activities throughout the year. This score can be incorporated in a scoring system (safety scorecard) to set goals and track progress.

Safety Scorecard Design

The safety activity scorecard is a tool to monitor progress of activity completion by calculating a completion percentage of the safety leading activities and comparing it to a goal. The scorecard assigns a weight of importance to each activity (to total 100%) and incorporates a total score goal (e.g. 90% of activities to be completed by end of the year). It can calculate a weighted total completion score for various periods such as each month, quarter, or year.

Leading Safety Performance Score Calculations

Let’s assume that the Leading Safety Activity Program for a company requires that each site in the program choose up to 6 activities to be completed during the year. Each site identifies their 6 activities and the number of each activity that needs to be completed each month and the total for the year. Some activities may be more important than others so each activity is given a weight with the total of all activity weights equals 100%. For example, if leadership tours have a higher importance than inspections, then the leadership tours may be given a weight of 30% while inspections is given a weight of 10%. The site score is the then percentage of the activities completed year to date as follows:

Leading Safety Performance Score for month “m” =

[(Σ Activity 1 completed from month 1 to month m) / (Annual Goal of Activity 1) x (Weight of Activity 1)] +…

[(Σ Activity 6 completed from month 1 to month m) / (Annual Goal of Activity 6) x (Weight of Activity 6)]

To ensure that a site continues to perform an activity throughout the year, it is recommended that the reported sum of an activity actually completed from month 1 to month “m” not be greater than the sum of the monthly required number of activities to month “m”. For example, if a site is required to complete 4 inspections per month but they complete 3 in January, 8 in February and 10 in March, the should only report 12 (4 required inspections per month x 3 months) instead of 21. Otherwise, the site could reach their annual goal for inspections in a few months then stop doing inspections.

Roll-up Score for Multiple Locations

If a company is implementing leading safety activities at multiple locations and wants to calculate a roll-up score that combines all locations, a weighted average score can be calculated using a weighting factor such as headcount, revenue, hours worked, etc. for each site. An example calculation using headcount is as follows:

Weighted Average Leading Safety Performance (LSP) Score for “n” sites =

[(LSP Score Site 1 x Headcount Site 1) + (LSP Score Site 2 x Headcount Site 2) +…
(LSP Score Site n x Headcount Site n)] /[Headcount Site 1 + Headcount Site 2 +… Headcount Site n]

Safety Scorecard Tools

Results of activity completion and scores are typically needed to be reported at the corporate, business unit, and location levels. Formal methods and tools are therefore needed to record leading safety activities and goals, report activity completion, calculate scores, and view progress. To achieve this, scorecard tools can be used such as the ProcessMAP Safety Activity Scorecard solution, spreadsheets, or custom developed software. Whichever tools are used, it is recommended to design the report tool such that it is easy to re-configure annually to accommodate changes in activities, locations, business design, etc.

ProcessMAP’s Safety Activity Scorecard Solution

Using ProcessMAP’s cloud-based safety scorecard solution, EHS professionals can prioritize critical processes and report safety activity completion scores to key stakeholders. The solution is very configurable to meet specific industries and business function requirements, and can be accessed from desktop or mobile devices.

Key performance indicators and data points feed into a robust analytic engine which produces interactive real-time dashboards and alerts. In addition, the ProcessMAP platform incorporates organization and HR integrations to support a dynamic workflow engine.

Here’s an example of how an EHS professional could use the solution:

Six activities per site are assigned
The importance of each site are weighed, with the sum of the ratings equaling 100%
The quantity and frequency of each activity to be completed is set (per month, per site, etc.)

For use across multiple locations, the solution can calculate a weighted average score using a weighting factor (headcount, hours worked, revenue, etc.). Individual employees can be assigned their required activities and completion tracked by using ProcessMAP’s Activity & Action Items Management solution.

Get a Proven Game Plan for Safety Activity Management:

ProcessMAP and I will be hosting “Using Scorecards to Track Leading Safety Performance Activities”, part one of a two-part webinar series on Thursday June 29^th at 11 AM EDT. Click here to reserve your spot!