THE BEGINNING OF EVERY NEW YEAR is a time for looking ahead. We consider what we want to accomplish and what we will do differently, both personally and professionally. As safety leaders, that activity takes on a special significance: Our "resolutions" help determine the quality of systems that protect people's lives and livelihoods. Knowing where to focus, however, is no easy task. Safety has grown far beyond the "programs" focus of past years. Emerging issues - the looming shortage of safety talent, the need for a strategic infrastructure, or resolving the tension between what we need from leaders and what we've conditioned them to deliver - are too complex for single-step solutions. The good news is you need not solve every aspect of an issue to make a big difference. Here are six actions that provide an excellent starting point for addressing some of today's most pressing safety challenges: Create an aggregate metric for serious injuries and fatalities - SIFs tend to have different causes than lower-severity injuries, and require different solutions to address them. Unfortunately, traditional metrics seldom provide adequate data for intervention. Institutionalize the concept of an SIF rate and give this rate high visibility. First, categorize incidents as having SIF exposure or not. Then, calculate a rate in the same way you would a regular incident rate but using the number of SIF exposure incidents. Gather data on this rate for the past two or three years and going forward.
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