TALKING SHOP More than metrics

from IOSH magazine - Jan/Feb 2021

NOISE MONITORING Feel the noise

ANDY ANTONIO JAVIER ANDERSON CMIOSH GASPAR MARICHAL CMIOSH

Health and safety manager, Amazon EHS manager, Dematic

Having spent many hours discussing Knowing where you are is not enough; it’s too

OSH metrics, I would not describe them late – you were actually there ages ago. Most as inspiring. Unfortunately, many business OSH performance and progress reports look leaders I have worked with have become backwards and present information on historical obsessed with the metrics, and when they events. This provides a limited insight into the notice them going in the wrong direction, they current state of affairs, and no predictive value. see it as a sign of failure instead of a learning To infl uence strategy and improve risk point. That then cascades down the business management practices, senior leaders in a negative way. The most effective way need both insight and foresight. to inspire leaders is to weave in personal Reports should tell a compelling experiences with the metrics – bring story about how OSH the metrics off the page and make them real with a compelling story. This brings emotion to the discussion and results in better approaches to safety. MORE THAN METRICS interventions contribute to organisational success and support business ambitions. This leads to stronger leadership buy-in.

Four industry experts turn traditional performance reporting on its head and suggest LYNDA CHRIS new ways to infl uence senior leader engagement. PARKINSON CMIOSH CLARK CMIOSH Health and safety lead, HB Projects Ltd SHE adviser, Although it is important to track,

Morgan Sindall Group measure and demonstrate to the C-suite Data can be used and represented in a variety and external bodies that we are managing trends of ways; it can also be manipulated to provide a false and identifying opportunities for improvement, it’s representation of an organisation’s safety performance not very inspirational. If a monthly board report is the only on the ground. Reporting leading and lagging indicators contact the health and safety team has with senior leaders, is no replacement for leadership engagement with the it’s unlikely that new initiatives will gain their backing. workforce. Observation is a critical skill needed by all There is real value in senior leaders – including health senior leaders. Workers will naturally change the way they and safety leaders – being seen ‘at the sharp end’, usually operate when they are under observation (work engaging with workers about the challenges they to rule). But when a person becomes accustomed to being face. Visible leadership and support from the observed, they will revert to their normal way of working top can make a real difference in implementing – once that occurs, the observations will then truly change, rather than chasing statistics.