Use of leading indicators: OSHA announces stakeholder meeting

Washington — OSHA has scheduled a stakeholder meeting on the use of leading indicators in workplace safety and health.

According to a notice published in the Sept. 30 Federal Register, a roundtable discussion will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 7 at the Department of Labor offices. Information gathered by the agency during the meeting will be used “to create additional tools that may help employers with developing and using leading indicators.”

OSHA describes leading indicators as “proactive and preventive measures that can shed light about the effectiveness of safety and health activities and reveal potential problems in a safety and health program.” The agency is particularly interested in feedback on the following questions:

• To what extent are leading indicators used in your workplace?
• Do you use leading indicators as a preventive tool for fixing workplace hazards, or as a tool for improving performance of your safety and health program?
• What leading indicators are most important in your workplace? Why were these indicators chosen?
• How do you determine the effectiveness of your leading indicators? How do you track your leading indicators?
• What leading indicators are, or could be, commonly used in your industry?
• What challenges, if any, have you encountered using leading indicators?
• How many employees are at your facility, and how many are involved in tracking leading indicators?
• How has the use of leading indicators changed the way you manage your safety and health program or other business operations?
• What should OSHA do to encourage employers to use leading indicators in addition to lagging indicators to improve safety management?

OSHA recently published a guidance document that provides an overview of leading indicators and illustrates a systematic method for using leading indicators.

The deadline to register for the meeting is Oct. 30.