Why is it that safety metrics always get such a bad wrap? We hear the voices from the back of the room… “what gets measured, gets manipulated,” so the outcry is that somehow measuring safety (other than the regulatory lagging indicators) is a waste of time and misleading.
The funny thing is I never hear anyone decrying all the business’s financial metrics, leading or lagging! If someone is caught manipulating those financial metrics, they can be criminally charged, and it happens FREQUENTLY at varying degrees (visit the USDOJ news release page). Yet, I have not heard the outcry from the back of the room to end all the financial business metrics, leading or lagging. Instead, we hold those who manipulate the financial metrics ACCOUNTABLE with consequences for their actions. In some cases, when this fraud impacts the general public, there may be new government legislation put in place to VALIDATE (e.g., inspect and audit) those metrics in “publically traded” businesses.
So here is the hard truth… MEASURE “safety” using the same means and methods we use to measure the financial health of the business. Those manipulating safety data will be held accountable to the same level as those found manipulating the financial data. If we think this is fairy tale thinking… remember that the banner we drove by coming into the plant this morning did not state that “Financials are number 1”.
