As you have figured out I am all about having a “safety process” rather than a bunch of “safety programs” and one thing I learn in my Six Sigma days is that a “safety process” MUST function exactly like our quality processes to be as successful. This means we HAVE TO continually “sample” our safety process, just like QC is pulling samples from the manufacturing process. OSHA recently provided a guide “The Use of Metrics in Process Safety Management (PSM) Facilities” to help those who are interested in establishing some “leading indicators” within their safety process. I have also received dozens of e-mails requesting more help with this effort and thought I would share one of my favorite resources on the topic from our friends across the pond – UK’s Health and Safety Executive. They have a guide that is a bit more detailed, Developing process safety indicators, A step-by-step guide for chemical and major hazard industries. This guidance is aimed at senior managers and safety professionals within major hazard organizations that wish to develop performance indicators to give improved assurance that major hazard risks are under control. Here are the guide’s six basic steps to setting up process indicators measurement system…
| Step |
Establish the organizational arrangements to |
Appoint a steward or champion Set up an implementation team Senior management should be involved |
| Step 2 |
Decide on the scope of the measurement system. Consider what can go wrong and where. |
Select the organizational level Identify the scope of the measurement system:
|
| Step 3 |
Identify the risk control systems in place to prevent major accidents. Decide on the outcomes for each and set a lagging indicator. |
What risk control systems are in place? Describe the outcome Set a lagging indicator Follow up deviations from the outcome |
| Step 4 |
Identify the critical elements of each risk control system, (ie those actions or processes which must function correctly to deliver the outcomes) and set leading indicators |
What are the most important parts of the risk control Set leading indicators Set tolerances Follow up deviations from tolerances |
| Step 5 | Establish the data collection and reporting system |
Collect information – ensure information/unit of measurement is available or can be established Decide on presentation format |
| Step 6 | Review |
Review performance of process management system Review the scope of the indicators Review the tolerances |