When it comes to keeping worksites safe, relying solely on past performance can be misleading. Many safety programs in industries like construction, manufacturing, and large-scale facilities management focus on what are called lagging indicators, metrics like total recordable incident rates (TRIR), experience modification rates (EMR), and days away, restricted duty, or job transfer (DART) rates. These numbers can reveal how a contractor has performed in the past, but on their own, they don’t provide a full picture of present or future safety risks.

In fact, relying too heavily on lagging indicators may actually hide existing risks on projects. A contractor with a high incident rate may have already taken steps to improve, like implementing stricter safety programs or enhancing worker training. Yet, lagging indicators don’t reveal these improvements. On the other hand, a contractor with a low incident rate might simply have avoided serious incidents due to luck rather than effective safety practices, potentially hiding risks that could impact future projects.

For instance, two contractors with similar low incident rates may have very different approaches to safety management. One might actively invest in training and hazard identification, while the other may simply have been lucky enough to avoid incidents. This article breaks down the limitations of lagging indicators, explains the value of leading indicators, and introduces behavioral indicators as a way to understand safety in real time.

Lagging Indicators: What They Are and Why They Aren’t Enough

According to OSHA, lagging indicators reveal the story of past incidents, like injury rates, illnesses, and fatalities, showing the frequency and severity of these events. They are backward-looking metrics that measure past safety performance.

Examples include TRIR, EMR, and DART rates, all of which reflect recorded incidents, injuries, or costs associated with past incidents. In high-risk industries, lagging indicators help determine if a contractor had accidents but still met safety standards in previous projects. For example, OSHA’s TRIR metric reports the total number of recordable injuries, which can reveal patterns over time.

The Limits of Looking Backward

Lagging indicators only reflect incidents that have already happened. They’re important, but they don’t account for current safety practices or proactive steps contractors may be taking to prevent incidents now. Lagging indicators can also paint an incomplete picture of a contractor’s safety culture.

“Today, EHS practitioners continue to rely on injury rates, absenteeism, and other lagging metrics despite the growing acceptance of the fact that these failure-focused measures are ineffective in driving continuous improvement efforts.” — The Campbell Institute of the National Safety Council

Variability and Misleading Data

Lagging indicators often fail to provide a statistically reliable measure for smaller contractors, where a limited base of work hours can disproportionately skew metrics like TRIR or EMR due to a single incident. This distortion makes it difficult to accurately evaluate the safety practices of smaller firms, potentially leading to unfair assessments or missed opportunities to engage capable contractors.

Small and medium-sized contractors often face unique risks due to limited resources, which can make EMR or other lagging indicators misleading when assessing smaller businesses. To capture a complete picture of a contractor’s safety practices, organizations need to go beyond these historical metrics.

While lagging indicators are valuable for showing past performance, they don’t tell the whole story. To get a more complete view of contractor safety, we need to look at metrics that offer a proactive glimpse into future risks.

Leading Indicators: Proactive Safety Insights

Leading indicators offer a proactive way to understand contractor safety. Unlike lagging indicators, leading indicators measure activities and processes that reduce risks before incidents occur. Examples include safety training completion rates, hazard assessments, and safety audits. These metrics reveal whether a contractor has systems in place to proactively address safety, rather than just reacting to incidents.

Why Leading Indicators Matter

Leading indicators provide a forward-looking view that lagging indicators lack. For example, contractors who invest in frequent safety training or conduct regular hazard assessments show a commitment to reducing risks. Leading indicators can also help predict future performance by evaluating a contractor’s safety processes and culture. According to a study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, contractors who score well on leading indicators can reduce recordable injury rates by up to 34%.

Examples of Leading Indicators

“Leading indicators offer a more useful gauge of EHS activity by providing early warning signs of potential failure and, thus, enabling organizations to identify and correct deficiencies before they mature into accidents and injuries.” — The Campbell Institute of the National Safety Council

By incorporating leading indicators, companies can identify contractors who are committed to managing risk, not just those with a good historical safety record. In dynamic sectors like construction and heavy industry, where shifting conditions and tight schedules amplify risks, leveraging predictive insights ensures safety isn't a reactive measure but a continuous, forward-looking strategy integral to project success.

By emphasizing a proactive approach, leading indicators help companies spot potential risks early on. But to fully understand contractor safety, we also need real-time observations of job-site behaviors.

Behavioral Indicators: Observing Safety in Real-Time

Behavioral indicators add another layer to safety assessments by tracking real-time behaviors on the job site. These observations reveal whether contractors follow established safety protocols, such as using personal protective equipment (PPE) correctly or adhering to hazard control measures. This type of monitoring allows safety teams to verify if a contractor’s safety practices align with their documented programs.

Collecting Behavioral Data

Behavioral indicators are often gathered through on-site inspections, where safety professionals observe contractors’ practices firsthand. For instance, a safety inspector might check if a contractor with a strong fall protection program is actually following it in the field. By observing practices like proper equipment use and adherence to safety protocols, teams can confirm whether a contractor is effectively managing safety in real-world conditions.

In high-risk industries, behavioral indicators offer critical insight. While a contractor might have a strong written safety program, observing actual behavior can reveal gaps between policy and practice. For example, if workers frequently bypass PPE protocols despite having a detailed PPE program, the data gathered through behavioral observations can highlight this inconsistency, alerting management to potential risks that may not show up in leading or lagging indicators.

Observing behaviors in real time can uncover gaps between policy and practice, adding an important layer of insight. With all three types of indicators, we can now build a comprehensive view of contractor safety.

Combining Indicators for Complete Contractor Risk Management

Using all three types of indicators, lagging, leading, and behavioral, gives companies a comprehensive view of contractor risk. While lagging indicators reflect past incidents, leading indicators reveal proactive safety measures, and behavioral indicators verify real-time adherence to safety protocols. Together, they create a richer picture of safety performance and risk.

Consider two contractors bidding on a project. Contractor A has a strong past safety record but lacks consistent training programs and safety audits. Contractor B has a few past incidents on record but has since implemented robust safety programs and consistently passes on-site safety inspections. By using a combination of lagging, leading, and behavioral indicators, companies can see that while Contractor A’s past performance looks good, Contractor B has taken proactive steps to manage safety risks effectively.

By adopting a comprehensive view, companies can identify contractors who are not only equipped to manage safety challenges but also demonstrate potential for growth and adaptability. This approach broadens the pool of viable candidates, especially critical in today's constrained labor market, by focusing on capability and commitment rather than excluding those who might lack a perfect historical record.

For instance, some companies choose to support contractors with higher incident rates if they demonstrate significant improvements through leading and behavioral indicators. This balanced approach can reduce risks and improve project outcomes by helping safety teams select contractors who prioritize proactive safety. With this foundation, let’s explore how Highwire’s platform supports this multi-layered approach.

Moving Beyond Lagging Indicators with Highwire’s Safety Solutions

Highwire offers a powerful way for organizations to track and manage contractor safety across lagging, leading, and behavioral indicators. Highwire’s platform uses a mix of real-time analytics, data verification, and AI-driven insights to give safety teams a holistic view of each contractor’s risk. Highwire’s Safety Score considers both past performance and proactive measures, allowing companies to select and support contractors who prioritize safety management.

By streamlining the collection and analysis of incident reports, field inspections, and prequalification assessments, Highwire’s platform helps organizations build safer, more efficient worksites. With tools like trend analysis and automated verification, safety teams can easily track contractor compliance and performance, making informed decisions based on reliable, multi-faceted data.

Ready to elevate your contractor safety standards? Discover how Highwire’s advanced analytics and powerful insights can help you go beyond lagging indicators and build a proactive, real-time approach to safety. Visit Highwire today to explore solutions that make safety smarter and projects safer.