Safety Performance Measurement

CHASNZ LAG Metrics

How and where to report

Our aim is to enable all organisations to voluntarily report their lag data through to CHASNZ. How this will be achieved, the mechanisms for reporting, and the frequency with which reporting would be requested have not yet been determined. The first step is to define the lag data that the sector would like to see collected, and to agree the calculation methodology and definitional criteria.

Details and Definitions

Lag indicators can be a source of debate and discussion- what is included, what is excluded – what counts. At CHASNZ, we think that lag indicators are only the start, they are just one small point of information that you can look at. Therefore, we have developed a guide below that outlines our view of “the detail”. If you are stuck and want to develop a more sector consistent method for collating lag indicator data- then we suggest that you use our definitions and information below as your guide. We acknowledge that this isn’t perfect, and that it may differ from other sources of information. We think that it’s better to put something out there, so that we can start then to look at benchmarking other information and lead indicators that are more valuable in helping us all to target our resources, keep people safe and healthy, and benchmark our performance against each other.

It is recommended that people involved in health and safety incidents report these either directly or indirectly to the organisation they are working for directly at that time. Some of these incidents will be classed as recordable from a lag metrics perspective.

Construction Leading Health, Safety and Well-being Indicators

In January 2020, CHASNZ published ‘Lag Indicator Guidance’ to meet the request of the construction sector to form a view on a standardised set of historical safety measures. It was acknowledged, at the time, that standardising lag indicators was only a start and there needed to be further investment in developing better measures that drove health and safety performance.

Construction in New Zealand has a historically higher rate of injuries than other sectors as well as construction in other developed countries in terms of injury rates and this has not significantly improved over the past ten years. Increased focus on historical measures of accidents and illness may have raised awareness but has not contributed to better health and safety performance.

Identifying a common set of leading indicators has been a difficult and uncertain focus area for many organisations globally. Construction as a high-risk industry is yet to develop a common set of accepted indicators. CHASNZ has utilised research from the U.K to develop this discussion paper for the New Zealand construction industry on what measures may be useful in predicting and preventing accidents and improving health in the workplace.

This document is a first step towards providing that guidance and with feedback from industry as well as further development it will be improved upon. It is intended that construction clients, designers, contractors, subcontractors and specialist trades will find this document relevant when seeking to develop key performance indicators.