What is a safety performance indicator?

A safety performance indicator serves as a crucial metric to assess the effectiveness of safety management practices within an organization. These indicators are quantitative measures that help organizations understand how well they are doing in preventing workplace accidents, injuries, and illnesses. By analyzing these metrics, safety professionals can identify trends, areas needing improvement, and the impact of safety initiatives over time.

For instance, safety performance indicators might include the number of incidents recorded, the severity of those incidents, near-misses, compliance rates with safety protocols, and results from safety audits. This data provides organizations with actionable insights to enhance their safety programs, prioritize resources, and implement strategic changes that ultimately improve workplace safety culture and outcomes.