Safety observation empowers an organization to identify hazardous activities at the worksite. The primary objective is to recognize and categorize at-risk behavior and activities. This allows us to implement corrective actions that optimize worker safety.

However, an ineffective interpretation of the safety observation data can lead to detrimental outputs. Therefore, businesses must analyze this information and make the necessary improvements. This guide will provide five tips on how to best leverage safety observation data.

1.    Measure Improvement

Analyzing essential data collected from the safety observation program can help you make better decisions.

With this approach, you can see whether the implemented safety measures have improved the number, propensity, and intensity of risks present. Using this information, companies can improve the existing safety measures.

2.    Share Learnings with Employees

After gathering valuable insights through the safety observation app, you can share and evaluate the wisdom with teams and managers. It’s an excellent way to reinforce safe behaviors so that unsafe measures can also be adjusted. This initiative can increase transparency with your employees, allowing workers to be more careful while performing dangerous operations.

3.    Contextualize Safety Observations

Surface-level reporting will prevent you from getting enriched data. So ensure that when making a record of a safety observation, don’t just include a simple statement. Instead, write the context and circumstances in which the observation is being made.

However, this doesn’t mean you must write a lengthy report, which can make the data too complex to analyze. The best safety programs include details for each recorded incident, such as:

• Place
• Task
• Date
• Weather
• Time
• Problem
• Proposed Solution

According to several studies, contextual safety observations can help you get detailed insights.

4.    Balance Both Negative and Positive Observations

Though recording observations frequently is encouraged, having just one pile of similar or familiar data will fail to provide value. To ensure your data set is well-rounded, prioritize recording negative and positive events. This will help give an accurate picture of the operations at your workplace.

5.    Have Frequent Safety Observation Campaigns

To ensure your safety observations are reliable, you need to make the practices regular. Unfortunately, 36 percent of business leaders admitted to using their gut feeling or unreliable data to make decisions, which can be a disaster. Conversely, routine observations can highlight recurring practices and distinguish them from one-time affairs.

Suppose you have to note whether workers comply with a safety measure, such as wearing masks. If you just observe for a day, the crew may be compliant because they know you’re observing them just for that day. But, the whole point of safety observations is to reinforce positive behaviors. Here are some basic reasons why you should regularly collect data and how you can use it:

• Better accuracy to get reliable results
• Making more accurate predictions of events that may occur in the future
• It makes decision-making more effortless, as you are better informed

In research, this is referred to as reliability, which entails that you can reproduce the same results if you conduct the study again. Essentially, you can ensure that your data is accurate if you see that the behaviors you initially recorded stayed consistent every time you performed a safety observation campaign.

Moreover, to get valuable data, observe a sample size that is relatively representative of your entire workforce. Send multiple observers to collect comprehensive data if you have a larger workplace.

You can use EHS software to make this process simpler. With SafetyIQ's platform, every team member can take up the role of an observer. Employees can identify dangerous acts or practices and submit them to the application. Next, the supervisors can evaluate the concerns to take the next appropriate steps. This way, the total sample size can be observed regularly.

In Conclusion

When you conduct safety observations, you get incomparable insight into how work processes are actually taking place. By keeping context and employees in mind, you can get actionable measurable data that can be used to make better safety decisions, improve processes, and save time and costs.

SafetyIQ provides an all-in-one solution to all your safety observation, data collection, and management needs for a variety of industries. We can help you better prioritize the safety of your employees and follow regulatory policies and legislation. Contact us today for more information!