This document discusses key considerations for developing performance indicators and executive reporting on health and safety. It addresses who needs information, what decisions they need to make, and what data is relevant. The challenges of measuring injury performance and selecting appropriate key performance indicators are explored. Effective indicators should focus on both leading and lagging measures, implementation and effectiveness of controls, and provide the right level of information for operational, management and board-level decision-makers. Developing the right indicators involves asking the right questions to understand information needs.

1. Communicating to Decision
Makers
Performance Indicators and Executive Reporting
Karen Wolfe

2. Introducing our challenges
Future
technology
Change
management
Business
integration
Goal: no damage to people

3. Informing Important Decisions
To identify information that is useful we must ask the
right questions
o Who needs information?
o Why – what problems are they trying to address?
o What decisions do they need to make?
o What data is relevant for informing those decisions?
o Are valid measures available? Can they be
measured reliably?

4. Safety: Are we a science?

5. Information – who needs it?
Source: O’Neill & Wolfe: Measuring and Reporting on Work Health and Safety (2017),
Safe Work Australia, Australian Government. See:https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/
TOUNDERSTANDPERFORMANCE
TOCHANGEPERFORMANCE

6. Report – What?
To the Editor of the National Observer: 13
June 1891
“Sir, it has been wittily remarked that there are
three kinds of falsehood:
The first is a fib;
The second is a downright lie; and
The third and most aggravated is statistics.”

7. Officer’s due diligence – what do they need to
know?
Risk Knowledge:
» Ensure officers understand the risk picture of the
operations and the factors that influence risk (including
corporate/strategic decisions)
Resource, implement and evaluate controls:
» Verify that risk controls have been identified, approved,
implemented and are effective
» Management reports – focus on critical controls
Verify compliance:
» HOC principles, work is safe and healthy
» If not – consequences (injuries, legal, costs)

8. Supporting Officers’Due Diligence – How?

9. Contemporary WHS KPI’s – what is the problem?
1. Overly focussed on injury outcomes and the
wrong measures of injury
2. Positive performance measures are under-
developed and under-utilised
3. Reviewed too infrequently to ensure they remain
useful

10. Measuring Injury and Illness – what is the
challenge?
Measurement: a subjective process through which conceptual
qualities (eg objects, activities and events are) are quantified -
translated to numbers…
…the conceptual qualities that we quantify are not only similar, but by
being counted are deemed identical. (Robson, 1992)
(Ac)counting creates a picture of reality that may (not), represent reality
due to many subjective choices as to what is to be measured and
reported (i.e. made visible) and what is to be ignored (and thus
rendered invisible).

11. Measuring Injury Performance: is there an issue?

12. Does classification matter?
O’Neill, S & Wolfe, K, Issues in the Measurement and reporting of WHS, performance: a
review (Canberra, Safe Work Australia, 2013)

13. Resources: are you using them wisely?

14. Is your report getting attention?

15. Can you make it become real?
Class
Category
Coding
Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4

16. Can you focus on WHS outcomes in isolation?
Lack of context
– Makes it difficult to
understand outcomes
– Disregards the role WHS
management and governance
play in ensuring WHS
– Can lead to critical issues
being overlooked
– Can result in dysfunctional
decisions and consequences

17. How do we respond to the risk?
• Choice of strategy is restricted by law
• Reduced role of cost benefit analysis
Avoid Reduce Transfer Accept

18. Measuring Performance – what is the challenge?
Hazard/risk recognition is guided by:
• Level of WHS understanding
• Sophistication of WHS processes and systems
Immature: reactive, resistant, compliance
Developing: informing, toward improvement
Maturing: proactive, learning, continuous improvement

19. Measuring Performance – what is the challenge?
Data collection is guided by:
• Quantitative vs Qualitative data
• Sophistication of your WHS system
Immature: reactive, resistant, compliance
Developing: informing, toward improvement
Maturing: proactive, learning, continuous improvement

20. Decisions – what information is needed?
Who needs WHS data to inform decisions?
What questions need to be answered?
What aspects of performance need to be
understood?
Is there a KPI
that can
represent that
aspect of
performance
Can that KPI be
measured in a
valid and
reliable way?WHS KPI
Source: O’Neill S, Driving WHS Performance: How the Choice
of lead and lag KPIs influence WHS outcomes

21. Lead or Lag?

22. What to measure?
Implementation or effectiveness
Lead KPI
# investigations
completed
# staff consulted
% machines guarded
# completed
WHS Control
Hierarchy of control
Consultation
Guarding
Risk Register
Lag KPI
# machine-body incidents
# staff suggestions adopted
% corrective actions at HOC
level 1
%reviewed to schedule
Implementation
Effectiveness

23. Controls – who is interested?

24. Controls – how effective are they?
L3-Admin/PPE
55%
NA
12% L2-Eng/ Isol
29%
L1-Eliminated
4%

25. How far do we take it?

26. Who is responsible?
Lead KPI
# staff participating
# CAPEX utilising
WHS advice
# rosters
identifying ‘safe’
staffing levels
% contracts stating
WHS criteria
Risk Control
Consultation
Consultation
Resourcing (HR)
Expenditure
Lag KPI
# staff suggestions
adopted
# post-purchase
mods required
# shifts operating
below tolerance
% meeting costs vs
WHS criteria

27. What do I need to think about?
Operational level KPI’s
Management level KPI’s
Board level KPI’s
External stakeholder KPI’s

28. What is a useful WHS KPI?
Robust
Right tool
Consultation
Continuous improvement

29. It all starts with the right questions
Knowledge
Controls
Performance
Assurance

30. It started with a question…..

31. Research Papers

32. How do I create something out of nothing?
I think it is by questioning. Amy Tan

33. Source documents
• Mauboussin MJ , True Measure of Success (Harvard Business review Oct 2012)
• ONeill, S, Driving WHS performance: How the choice of lead and lag KPI’s influence WHS outcomes?
(Presentation MSD Symposium 2016)
• O’Neill S, The Business Case for Safe, Healthy and Productive Work, (Canberra, Safe Work Australia,
2014)
• O’Neill, McDonald and Deegan , Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 2015
• O’Neill, S & Wolfe, K, Measuring and reporting on work health & safety, (Canberra, Safe Work Australia,
2017)
• O’Neill, S & Wolfe, K, Issues in the Measurement and reporting of WHS, performance: a review
(Canberra, Safe Work Australia, 2013)
• Prior, M, ANSTO Event reports (unpublished)
• Pryor, P., Capra, M. (2012). Foundation Science. (In HaSPA (Health and Safety Professionals Alliance),
The Core Body of Knowledge for Generalist OHS Professionals. Tullamarine, VIC. Safety Institute of
Australia.)
• Hopkins, A., Toohey, J., Stacy, R., Else, D (2012) The Organisation (In HaSPA (Health and Safety
Professionals Alliance), The Core Body of Knowledge for Generalist OHS Professionals. Tullamarine,
VIC. Safety Institute of Australia.)