Health and safety monitoring involves collecting data on how the business is performing in relation to health and safety and then analysing that information over time to identify any patterns and trends. An example would be collecting information from accident report forms, such as the type of injury, what work activity was being carried out, the location within the building where the accident happened etc. This information would be put into a spreadsheet and made into a graph or chart that would show up problem areas within the business that managers can focus on improving.

There are two types of monitoring that businesses should ensure they have in place: active and reactive. The activity described above would be an example of reactive monitoring. It happens after an incident has taken place. To bring about major improvements to health and safety performance, businesses should ensure that they have included active monitoring in their health and safety management system. Active monitoring takes place before an incident happens so that issues can be addressed that focus on prevention. An example of active monitoring would be looking at how many toolbox talks have been given during the previous three months and comparing that against a target that the business had previously set for itself.

A big mistake that many businesses make is focusing exclusively on reactive monitoring. If or when they do try to incorporate active monitoring, the wrong performance indicators are often selected and there can be challenges involved in actually rolling out active monitoring within the workplace as it can come across to the workforce as just more paperwork to complete.

Fortunately, we can help you to avoid these problems and implement health and safety monitoring systems that are appropriate and effective. Please get in touch to find out more.