Construction projects can be complex and dangerous, making safety a top priority for all involved. While it's essential to track lagging indicators such as Lost Time Injuries (LTI), they only offer a retrospective view of what went wrong. In contrast, lead indicator data provides real-time insight into potential hazards, allowing construction professionals to take proactive measures to prevent incidents before they occur. In this blog post, we will explore the importance of lead indicator data to improve safety on construction projects and its advantages over lag indicator data such as LTI.
What is lead indicator data?
Lead indicator data is a metric that provides insight into potential hazards or risks that may lead to an incident. They offer a proactive view of safety, enabling construction professionals to identify and address potential hazards before they cause harm. These indicators are often measured in real-time and include data such as near misses, hazard identification, and employee engagement.
Why is lead indicator data essential for construction safety?
Lead indicator data is essential for construction safety for several reasons:
- Proactive approach to safety: Lead indicators provide a proactive approach to safety by identifying potential hazards before they result in an incident. This approach is more effective than a reactive approach that focuses on lag indicators such as LTI.
- Real-time insight: Lead indicators provide real-time insight into potential hazards or risks that may lead to an incident. This enables construction professionals to take immediate action to prevent incidents before they occur.
- Continuous improvement: Lead indicators provide opportunities for continuous improvement by identifying areas where safety processes and procedures can be enhanced to prevent incidents.
Advantages of lead indicator data over lag indicator data
While lag indicator data such as LTI is important for tracking safety performance, it has several disadvantages compared to lead indicator data.
- Reactive approach: Lag indicators such as LTI offer a reactive approach to safety, only providing insight after an incident has occurred. This approach limits the ability to prevent future incidents.
- Limited insight: Lag indicators only provide limited insight into the cause of an incident. They do not offer a comprehensive view of potential hazards and risks.
- Lag time: Lag indicators such as LTI have a lag time between the incident and the reporting of the data. This delay limits the ability to take immediate action to prevent future incidents.
- Incomplete data: Lag indicators only capture incidents that result in an injury or illness. They do not capture near-miss incidents, which offer valuable insight into potential hazards and risks.
In contrast, lead indicator data provides a more comprehensive view of safety performance by capturing near-miss incidents, hazard identification, and employee engagement. This data provides real-time insight into potential hazards and risks, enabling construction professionals to take proactive measures to prevent incidents before they occur.
Scratchie is a rich source of lead indicator data
Scratchie collects a swathe of lead indicator data, including who is being rewarded, for what, at what time, by whom. This can be used by decision makers to get in front of risky activities, such as promoting a "rewarding fall prevention" focus when a project is in a particular phase of construction.
All Scratchie data can be downloaded to CSV and can port directly into Microsoft PowerBI for analysis. To learn more, schedule a demo with Scratchie today.
Conclusion
Lead indicator data is essential for improving safety on construction projects. It offers a proactive approach to safety by identifying potential hazards and risks before they result in an incident. This real-time insight enables construction professionals to take immediate action to prevent incidents before they occur, leading to continuous improvement in safety performance. While lag indicator data such as LTI is important for tracking safety performance, it has several disadvantages compared to lead indicator data. By focusing on lead indicator data, construction professionals can create a safer work environment and prevent incidents before they occur. Scratchie is a rich source of lead indicator data for safety. For more information, schedule a demo.
