EHS Data Metrics
Hey friends, looking for any individuals with insights, best practices, lessons learned to share how their company handles metrics reporting and utilizing data to improve safety. What type of KPIs do you track? What type of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual reporting do you do? As an EHS lead or manager, what do you find most insightful to help push safety to the forefront? What do your stakeholders find value in?
Comments (4)
First what is a "KPI?"
Things I learned on metrics: from 51 years of gathering them and calculating.
#1 Why are you making this metric? What are you are trying to show? Who is the audience? What are you going to do with it? Going back to my first question, "Does everyone know what you are talking about?"
#2 Know the math and the statistics. Helps you to understand the trends and the numbers. If my DART is 1.5? What does that mean? As your consultant if you tell me your DART is 1.5 (usually per 100 ees). I will then ask you how may employees you have. If you say 390 ees I know you had about 6 injuries (1.5 X 4 = 6). If I ask you then how many injuries you have and you say 4, I know something is wrong, just by the math.
Along the same line if I am looking at a chart with a whole bunch of numbers the mean (average) is sometimes important but also the Sigma (Standard Deviation) and the CP or CPK (how are your numbers scattered above or below the mean) are important too.
Also sample size is important. One of the things I learned is that your numbers are more valid (true) the larger the sample size. Ironically this means the more injures you have the more valid (or statistically reliable) the data is. This means the closer you get to "Zero-Injuries" because your numbers are so few, the data is less reliable!" As you approach Zero you literally have to look at different kinds of metrics than numbers. Times like this maybe you will have the same thoughts as I, "You should have paid more attention to all that Stats you had in school and grad school!"
#3 You will be surprised at how much EHS metrics, especially in a Lean Organization, resemble Manufacturing and Quality metrics! Math and Stats are the same no matter the field. Some may disagree but in my opinion EHS and a form of Quality! I will argue that with anyone, especially in Manufacturing. So do not be afraid to ask for assistance from other areas!