ELEMENT 4:

HEALTH AND SAFETY

MONITORING AND MEASURING
 Learning Outcomes
• ELEMENT 4: HEALTH AND SAFETY MONITORING AND MEASURING
4.1 Active and reactive monitoring
The differences between active and reactive monitoring

Active monitoring methods (health and safety

inspections, sampling and tours) and their usefulness:
• differences between the methods;
• frequency;
• competence and objectivity of people doing them;
• use of checklists;
• allocation of responsibilities and priorities for action
 Learning Outcomes
4.1 Reactive monitoring measures and their usefulness:
• data on accidents, dangerous occurrences, near misses, ill-health,
complaints by workforce, and enforcement action and incident
investigations
• Why lessons need to be learnt from beneficial and adverse
events
The difference between leading and lagging indicators.
 incidents,
 absenteeism,
 sickness rates,
 staff turnover,
 level of compliance with health and safety rules and procedures,
 complaints about working conditions
Unit IG 1: Element 4.1

ACTIVE MONITORING
AND
REACTIVE MONITORING
 Elements of evaluation

• Proactive monitoring ( Active Monitoring)

• Reactive monitoring

•Performance review (Performance Monitoring)

 Elements of evaluation
• Proactive monitoring: It monitors the achievement of
plans and the degree of compliance with standards
before an Accident, Incident on Ill Health.
• Reactive monitoring: It monitors the action taken and
the degree of compliance after an Accident, Incident on
Ill Health.
• Performance review: The process of assessing the
overall performance and monitoring results of an
organization, so as to evaluate the current performance
against standards and thereby taking necessary actions
to continually improve the system
 Active monitoring
Active monitoring is a System of monitoring to ensure
that health and safety standards are correct in the
workplace before accidents, incidents are caused.

Active monitoring Intension is to identify :

a/ conformance with standards , so that good
performance is recognised and maintained.
b/ non- conformance with standards can be identified,
and corrective action is taken.
 Active Monitoring

Methods of active monitoring

( ways of active monitoring)
1. Safety sampling
2. Safety Audit
3. safety tours
4. safety inspection
5. safety surveys.
6. Health Surveillance
7. Benchmarking
 Performance Standards
During Performance standards, What to be
checked during active monitoring?
i/ number and quality of risk assessment and covering
of work activities.
ii/ provision of H&S training to be scheduled
iii/ consultative meetings to be scheduled
iv/ workplace inspection to be schedule
v/ completion of safety review meetings to be
scheduled.
 Systematic Inspections
Observation Plant • Machinery.
• Vehicles.
Premises • Workplace.
• Environment.

Interviewing People • Working methods.

• Behaviour.

Examination Procedures • Safe systems.

• Method statements.
• Permits-to-work.
 Safety Inspections, Sampling,
Tours and Surveys
Safety Inspection
• Examination of workplace, statutory inspection, plant and
machinery, pre-use checks.
Safety Sampling
• Representative sample to judge compliance.
• Less time-consuming.
Safety Survey
• Detailed examination of one issue, topic.
Safety Tour
• High-profile inspection by managers.
• Can be used to observe behaviours, too.
 Planning of Safety Tours

• The reason for the tour e.g. law requires it

• The location or area
• Date, time and duration
• Tour members
• Type i.e. announced or unannounced
• Method – checklist or observation
• Results of previous tours
• Remedial action and timescales
• Company rules and standards
 Planning of Safety Tours

• The reason for the tour, e.g. law requires it

• The location or area
• Date, time and duration
• Tour members
• Type, i.e. announced or unannounced
• Method – checklist or observation
• Results of previous tours
• Remedial action and timescales
• Company rules and standards
 Other (Pro)active Monitoring
Methods
• Health Surveillance
- Monitoring worker health – a proactive measure.
- Shows effectiveness of controls.

• Benchmarking
- Comparison to other organisations.
- Can compare between sectors.
 Types of inspection
i/ Routine inspection

ii/ Statutory inspection.

iii/ Periodic inspection

iv/ Pre-use checks.

 Workplace Inspections Factors
Factors to consider:
• Type of inspection.
• Frequency of inspection.
• Allocation of responsibilities.
• Competence of the inspector.
• Objectivity of inspector.
• Use of checklists.
• Action planning for problems found.
• Training for inspectors.
 Example Inspection System
Bank head office:
• Purpose – monitor H&S standards.
• Frequency – monthly.
• Persons responsible – managers at different levels.
• Competence – one-day course.
• Inspection checklist – general checklist – tailored, if required.
• Follow-up arrangements – an action plan.
 Factors for determining frequency of
inspection.
i/ statutory requirement
ii/ level of risk and activities carried out in the workplace
iii/ risk assessment may suggest for inspection.
iv/ presence of vulnerable groups
v/ accident history and results of investigation.
vi/ Stakeholders requirements
Vii/ Insurance companies
Viii/ Worker’s Union
Ix/ Periodic inspection
x/ Customer requirements
 What are the factors for
determining frequency of Active
Monitoring?
 Factors for determining
frequency of Active Monitoring.

i/ As per the Statutory requirement;

ii/ Determine as per Level of risk and activities carried

out in the workplace;

iii/ Risk assessment may suggest for Active monitoring;

iv/ Presence of vulnerable groups at work place;

v/ More accident history and results of investigation;

 Factors for determining
frequency of Active Monitoring.

vi/ As per stakeholders requirements;

vii/ As per insurance companies;

viii/ Worker’s Union demand;

ix/ As per Customer requirements.

Typical topics to be inspected while
workplace inspection.
 Workplace Inspections
Typical topics to be inspected while workplace inspection:
• Fire safety.
• Housekeeping.
• Environment issues.
• Traffic routes.
• Chemical safety.
• Machinery safety.
• Electrical safety.
• Welfare facilities.
• Legal compliance
 What is Checklist?
• A checklist is a type of job
aid which is used to reduce
failure by compensating for
potential limits of human
memory and attention.
• It helps to ensure
consistency and
completeness in carrying
out a task.
• A basic example is the "to
do list".
 Advantages / Strength of Checklists
• Ensures all points covered.
• Form of written record.
• Faster & Quicker - Provides an immediate record of
findings and thus save time
• Allows for prior preparation and planning so that the
inspection can be structured and systematic
• Efficient approach- Reduces the chance that
important areas/issues may be missed
• Enables a consistent approach by those carrying out
the inspection
• Provides an easy method for comparison
Disadvantages / Weakness of Checklists
• Over-reliance on the checklist leading to a “blinkered”
approach
• Possibility that important risks might be missed
• Checklist not reviewed and updated even there are
changes to work processes and equipment Inspections
to become strictly routine with no “follow-up”
questions being asked
• Checklist system is to much objective and restrictive
with no scope for including peripheral issues.
• Untrained people may tempted to carry out
inspections.
• Inspection / Audit procedure could be affected by
human error .
Allocation of Responsibilities
Inspections must follow through into action.

Action required Responsible person Date Due

Repair damaged fire- Maintenance By 15 December 2019
extinguisher bracket technician

Recommended action Priority Timescale Responsible

Person
Tidy the office Medium 1 week Office Supervisor
Reactive Monitoring
 Reactive Monitoring
Reactive monitoring is a system of monitoring ,that
measures the failure of the good standards of
performance of health and safety after the accident.

 Reactive monitoring is the analytical views of all

performance indicators.
 Action can be taken only after an accident has happen.
 It discovers the trends and patterns of the
organisation.
 Means (Examples) of
Reactive Monitoring
 Incidents rate (accident rate),
 absenteeism,
 sickness rates,
 staff turnover,
 level of compliance with health and safety,
rules and procedures,
 Enforcement Action,
 complaints about working conditions,
 Medical Cost,
 Civil compensation claim.
 Basic Difference between
Reactive and Active Monitoring
Reactive monitoring Active Monitoring
• Using accident, • Ensure health and
incident and safety standards are
ill-health data to correct and being met
highlight areas before accidents, etc.
of concern after the are caused.
accident, incident or ill • Measures progress.
health.
• Measures failure.
Reactive and Active Monitoring
 Reactive Monitoring

• Reactive Monitoring deals with things that went

wrong.
• Accidents, incidents, ill health, other unwanted
events and situations:
– Highlights areas of concern.
– Things that have already gone wrong.
– Measures failure.
– Data collected over a period.
 Use lagging and leading indicators
Using leading and lagging indicators to measure safety performance can be an
effective way to prevent workplace incidents. This process involves measuring both
your bottom line safety results and how well your workplace is doing at accident
and incident prevention. By controlling leading indicators, such as the amount of
safety training you provide, you will control your lagging indicators, such as your
injury rate.
Measurement is an important part of any management process and forms the
basis for continuous improvement. Using lagging and leading indicators together
will help provide a solid, bigger picture on what is and is not working in your
occupational health and safety program. Therefore, you should plan to use a
balance of predictive leading indicators as well as the more outcome-based lagging
indicators. Every organization and workplace is unique, so it is important to look at
which indicators will provide you with the best information
 difference between leading and lagging
indicators for Performance Monitoring
Leading Indicators ( Active monitoring )

Leading indicators are proactive, preventative, and predictive

measures to identify and eliminate risks and hazards in the
workplace that can cause incidents and injuries. Examples include:
the percentage of managers with occupational health and safety
training,
the percentage of workers with health and safety training,
the frequency of health and safety meetings,
the frequency of ergonomic assessments, and
the frequency of safety audits.
 Why use leading indicators?
Leading indicators are focussed on future safety performance and continuous
improvement. These measures are proactive in nature and report what
employees and management are doing on a regular basis to prevent injuries.
Leading indicators help identify and understand the factors affecting the risk
of injury. Use of this information will help identify ways to prevent the
occurrence of work injury and illness.
Leading indicators that are connected to specific occupational health and
safety program goals introduce a real level of accountability for those goals.
But beyond tracking progress towards achieving specific goals, leading
indicators can also measure and monitor their relative importance of health
and safety within the organization.
Leading indicators can work to complement the more traditional outcome-
based measures of lagging indicators, and can be used to balance out some of
their limitations.
 Lagging Indicators

Lagging indicators measure a company’s

health and safety performance by tracking
accident statistics. Examples include:
• injury frequency and severity,
• lost workdays,
• incidents and near misses, and
• workers’ compensation costs.
Statistics (Data) collection and its use
Data collected and reported about:
• Accidents.
• Dangerous occurrences.
• Near-misses.
• Ill-health cases.
• Worker complaints.
• Enforcement action.
Above data assist in analysing:
• Trends – events over a period of time.
• Patterns – hot spots of certain types, e.g. injury.