Goodhart’s law says…
“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”
This “law” is often used when denouncing poorly devised safety metrics and/or incentive programs. In most situations where there is a weak/immature Safety Process/SMS, the “law” makes sense; however, this is because, without strong leadership and a functioning Safety Process/SMS, organizations will inevitably and eventually turn “leading indicators” into a “numbers game,” just like they turned their lagging indicators into a numbers game to achieve what they defined as “safety success.”
But there is a simple solution to combat this “law”…
VERIFY and VALIDATE our safety metrics and the Safety Process/SMS that produced those metrics!
Let’s first understand what I mean by saying, “verify and validate our safety metrics.” Merriam-Webster dictionary says:
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To VERIFY is: “to establish the truth, accuracy, or reality.” To VALIDATE is “to recognize, establish, or illustrate the worthiness.” |
What does this look like in safety metrics, and how do we use it?