Leading indicators is a current hot topic in safety programs.
I’ve noticed that there also seems to be differing and even conflicting information about exactly what are leading indicators in aviation safety management systems (SMS).
I’ve seen lagging indicators equated with
Leading indicators in risk management are a statistic-lover's playpen. The 3 main things you need to know to find leading indicators in aviation SMS are that leading indicators are:
If it's still unclear, see here the difference between leading and lagging indicators. Every aviation SMS will have different needs, goals, and objectives. Consequently, you can expect to focus on a different group of leading indicators than other operators in your industry segment.
A good rule of thumb is that the best types of leading indicators are defined by a number, such as an average or percent. Poor indicators are defined by “yes/no”, such as “presence of X,” or “provision of Y.” Here are 7 good tips to find leading indicators in aviation SMS.
I have maintained in the past that teamwork is the most important barrier your aviation risk management program has against safety incidents. Safety programs with employees who work well together are the most resilient and adaptable type of program. Any data regarding teamwork - especially proactive data - is absolutely indispensable to any organization.
Of course, the problem is, how do you measure things like trust, teamwork, and relationships in an SMS? Fortunately, there are several fairly universal leading indicators in aviation SMS, such as:
Companies with high turnover and a low average length of employment at your company, it's a pretty
Good indications that the working environment is not exactly conducive to teamwork include:
Communication can make or break your SMS. In communication, quality leading indicators should be looking at what goes into the potential of communication in your SMS. This would be elements like:
Finding leading safety indicators involves finding the mechanisms of communication, rather than the actual message of the communications, such as:
Employee preparedness basically means how well employees are prepared to practice risk management. Naturally, preparedness will revolve heavily around training. Three good examples are:
Employees need to hear how they are doing. The more feedback employees receive, the more proactive they will be – period-end-of-story.
The fact is that most SMS aren’t tracking response data between management and employees, and if that’s you then you should especially be paying attention.
Again, bad leading indicators would be yes/no things like, “having a feedback system” or “number of safety-culture surveys.” Much better are leading indicators that appraise the response performance between management and employees, like
Monitoring employee safety performance requires robust data gathering and retrieval technology, like an SMS database. Low-cost, commercially available SMS databases offer many opportunities for safety managers to collect and analyze employee safety performance. Tracking employee safety performance is not sustainable using spreadsheets or separate, disconnected point solutions that focus on a particular SMS activity, such as:
When your SMS is managed by a multitude of data collection tools, the effort to retrieve actionable data to make sound business decisions decreases markedly. The best practice here is to acquire an SMS database that facilitates data collection and report generation. This is your only sustainable option if you wish to benefit most from your SMS data.
Organizational weaknesses come in three types:
Being able to identify these weaknesses is a prime example of why leading indicators are so important. Organizational weaknesses perfectly illustrate the concept of identifying hazards and the associated risks that working together creates problems before the problem happens.
Great lead indicator examples to identify these three types of weaknesses are:
All of the above items bear a direct relation to situations that cause incidents. The more checklists, audits, hazard reports, etc. the less likely the organization will be exposed to hazard-related consequences.
Adaptability is an important area to focus on for leading indicators. Adaptability mainly represents your SMS' ability to respond to needs and safety concerns. Adaptability is a major concern for large or heavily prescriptive aviation SMS, as the bureaucracy involved in implementing change can be burdensome, and even crippling.
Great leading indicator metrics for adaptability involve seeing how quickly and how punctual your organization is in meeting goals on time, such as:
While not true of every SMS, safety promotion has strong correlations with safety culture - it almost goes without saying that safety promotion is the attempt to improve the safety culture.
When we are talking about leading indicators, we want to see data that indicates how "committed" employees are to the SMS. Some of the better leading indicators related to safety promotion include:
Leading indicators offer safety management teams snapshots of your safety culture over time. These predictive analytical tools are only applicable for mature aviation SMS implementations.
Safety management teams cannot evaluate trends and alter the course of the SMS until they have sufficient data to analyze. Leading indicators assist upper-level management in their decision-making processes. By "sufficient" data, there are two points I want to leave you with.
Mature SMS implementations can generate considerable amounts of safety data. Having the ability to collect, organize, store, and retrieve the data is the pain point of MOST mature aviation SMS implementations. This pain derives from inadequate planning or insufficient budgets for SMS database tools earlier in the SMS implementation.
If you are starting your SMS implementation, you will want to figure out your SMS data management strategy early on. This planning prepares your safety team for future data analysis tasks that allow your SMS to benefit from the predictive risk management phase of the SMS.
Do you need help? We are willing to help you succeed in your SMS goals and objectives by providing SMS database software designed specifically to manage all four SMS components.
Having trouble getting started with your leading indicators? Here's a list of 40 to stimulate your thought processes!
Do you need an easy way to track leading indicators or KPIs? Watch these short videos to learn how we can help you.
Last updated July 2024.