Key takeaways:
How do you know if your safety program is working?
Most employers track injury rates. When the numbers are low, the program feels like it’s working. When they’re not, it’s hard to know where to start.
The problem is that injury rates only tell you what already happened. They don’t tell you whether your program is improving or positioned to prevent the next injury. Getting a real picture of safety program success means tracking both what’s happening and why it’s happening.
Tim Wilson, Senior Manager, Safety and Risk Services at MEM, works with employers across MEM’s regional footprint to evaluate their safety programs and help them turn data into action.
Start with goals that connect to the whole organization
Before you can measure success, you need to be clear about what you’re working toward at every level of the business.
“There should be a clear line of sight from the individual goals to the department goals to the corporate goals – how their behaviors and successes contribute to the success at all levels of the organization,” Wilson said.
That clarity should also account for where the company is in its safety journey. Goals that work well for a mature program may not be right for an employer building one from scratch. The ultimate destination – preventing controllable hazards from causing injuries – stays the same. The path to get there looks different for everyone.
Know what you’re actually measuring: Outcomes vs. efforts
Most employers gravitate toward outcome metrics – incident frequency rates, severity rates, and lost time. These numbers matter and are worth tracking, but they’re lagging indicators. They tell you what already happened, not what’s driving future results. To get ahead of injuries, you need a second layer: Effort KPIs that measure the behaviors producing those outcomes.
Effort KPIs: The leading indicators that give you something to act on
Effort KPIs measure the activities that should produce better outcomes – for example, safety training completion rates and near-miss reporting rates. These are things your team can do today that reduce the likelihood of an injury tomorrow.
“A well-developed effort-focused KPI incentivizes behaviors that drive metrics that should contribute to those more outcome-oriented KPIs,” Wilson said. “So, there’s a bit of a hierarchy between the two.”
The goal is to design KPIs that work together. When effort KPIs improve, outcome KPIs should follow. If the connection isn’t clear, it’s time to revisit how your goals are structured.
➡️ Here’s an example: Near-miss reporting rate is an effort KPI. The more near misses get reported, the more opportunities you have to address hazards, which should drive down incident rates over time.
| Effort KPIs (leading) | Outcome KPIs (lagging) |
| Safety training completion rate Near-miss reporting rate Job hazard analysis completion Safety observation participation | Incident frequency rate Injury severity rate Lost time frequency rate Work comp claim frequency |
📍 Read next: Return on Safety: Impact of Workplace Safety on Your Business KPIs >
How to calculate the ROI of a safety investment
Safety is often treated as a cost center. A straightforward ROI calculation can change that conversation.
The numbers behind safety ROI
Wilson described two sides of the equation:
- The cost of the investment. This typically includes purchase price, implementation, employee training, ongoing maintenance, and expected equipment lifespan.
- The potential cost of the injuries you’re working to prevent. These are the costs you’re saving with proactive prevention.
On the savings side, it’s easy to think only about the work comp claim. Wilson pointed to what he called the iceberg effect; most of the real costs are below the surface.
“You have the increased work comp premiums that you’re trying to avoid, lost productivity, training of others to fill in or cover shifts, equipment damage, admin time to conduct investigations and deal with your insurance company, OSHA inspections and fines,” Wilson said. “It’s nearly an endless list.”
Once you have both sides, the math is straightforward.
Expected ROI = Expected Savings – Cost of Investment
The key is making sure you’ve accounted for all the direct and indirect costs of any initiative.
See the ROI calculation in action
MEM policyholder Koonse Glass Company went through exactly this process after receiving a safety grant to purchase a vacuum lift for handling heavy glass panels. MEM Safety and Risk Consultant Brad Minor ran a full ROI analysis – factoring in implementation costs, productivity gains, and the realistic cost of strain and sprain injuries prevented. The result: A 191% return on their $33,000 investment over five years.
📍 Read next: Safety Equipment Investment Yields 191% Return for Koonse Glass Company >
Navigating return on safety analysis
If you’re an MEM policyholder, you don’t have to dissect the ROI calculation on your own. Our Safety and Risk Services team works with this type of analysis every day. Whether you’re evaluating an equipment purchase or a workspace redesign, your safety consultant can help you build out both sides of the equation to evaluate an initiative’s impact.
Turning data into action
Tracking the right metrics is only useful if it leads somewhere. Wilson’s advice: Make sure your KPIs actually make sense together.
Build KPIs that reinforce each other
KPIs should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. They should also be synergistic; success in one should make success in another easier to achieve.
“If your KPIs are all pointing toward the same ultimate goal, then we should see convergence and synergy between them as they approach that goal,” Wilson said. “Not maintaining that clear line of sight between the individual goals all the way up to the corporate goals – that’s one of the two big misses I most commonly see.”
Communication is the engine
Wilson’s most emphatic point had less to do with metrics and more to do with the foundation that makes safety programs work: Communication.
“Communication is a skill that has to be developed, and it is the engine that makes this entire process work,” Wilson said. “When it’s strong, even difficult changes feel manageable. And when it’s weak, even those good changes tend to fail.”
That means dialing in communication pathways across every layer of the organization. Leadership must set expectations. Frontline employees must understand why the goals matter. When people can see how their individual behaviors connect to company success, they’re more invested in the outcome.
📍 Read next: Safety Communication: Creating a Safety Strategy for All Audiences >
Measuring safety culture
Incident rates and KPIs are important. But there’s a broader question underneath them: Does your team truly believe in the safety program?
Culture is harder to quantify than claim frequency, but it’s not impossible to measure.
Wilson recommended cultural surveys as a practical starting point. The process is straightforward: Establish a baseline, take steps to improve, then resurvey at a defined interval – six months, a year – and assess your progress. If gains aren’t where you hoped, adjust your approach and repeat.
“It really starts by getting employees to understand why we do things a particular way,” Wilson said. “Then it’s about preparing them to help make decisions and really getting them to feel a sense of ownership: This is my safety program. I have equity in this. This is something I’m committed to the success of.”
The survey itself doesn’t need to be complex. A simple poll, even one employees complete on their phones, can give you a meaningful baseline to work from.
📍 Read next: Promoting a Culture of Safety: Sharing and Empowering Employees >
A safety measurement framework is only as effective as your culture
Measuring your safety program’s success isn’t about finding one number that tells the whole story. It’s about building a system where goals connect across the organization, effort and outcome metrics reinforce each other, investments can be evaluated honestly, and employees understand why it all matters.
For a closer look at how culture shapes safety decisions in the moment, check out: Workplace Culture and Engagement: The Keys to Company Safety >
Frequently asked questions: Measuring safety metrics
What’s the difference between leading and lagging indicators in workplace safety?
Lagging indicators measure outcomes that have already occurred, like injury frequency rates and lost time. Leading indicators measure the behaviors and activities that prevent injuries before they happen, such as safety training completion rates and near-miss reporting. Both matter, but leading indicators give you something to act on proactively.
How do I calculate the ROI of a safety investment?
Start with the full cost of the investment: Purchase price, implementation, training, maintenance, and expected lifespan. Then, estimate the realistic cost of the injuries you’re working to prevent, including indirect costs like premium increases, lost productivity, replacement training, equipment damage, and admin time. Subtract the investment cost from your expected savings to get your net return.
What are effort KPIs and how are they different from outcome KPIs?
Outcome KPIs measure results, like incident rates, severity rates, and claim frequency. Effort KPIs measure the activities that drive those results, like safety training participation, job hazard analysis completion, and near-miss reporting rates. A well-designed safety program tracks both, with effort KPIs structured to reinforce and predict improvements in outcome KPIs over time.
How do I know if my safety program goals are set up correctly?
There should be a clear line of sight from individual employee goals to company-wide objectives. If employees can’t see how their daily behaviors connect to department and corporate goals, the goals aren’t structured effectively. Goals should also be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound – and they should evolve as your program matures.
How can I measure safety culture?
Cultural surveys are a practical starting point. Establish a baseline survey, implement improvements, then resurvey at a defined interval – six months to a year – to assess progress. The goal isn’t just to track numbers; it’s to understand whether employees feel genuine ownership of the safety program and understand why safety practices matter.
Why is communication so important to safety program success?
Even a well-designed safety program with strong metrics will underperform if its goals aren’t clearly communicated across the organization. Communication creates the shared understanding that makes accountability possible at every level – from leadership setting expectations to frontline employees understanding why their behaviors matter. It’s the mechanism that turns good goals into actual behavior change.
What indirect costs should I account for when calculating the cost of a workplace injury?
Beyond the work comp claim itself, workplace injuries carry significant indirect costs: Increased insurance premiums, lost productivity, training costs for replacement employees, equipment damage, administrative time for investigations, and potential OSHA fines. These indirect costs can substantially exceed the direct claim costs, which is why they’re essential to include in any honest ROI or cost-avoidance analysis.
How can MEM help me evaluate the ROI of a safety investment?
MEM’s Safety and Risk Services team works with policyholders on exactly this type of analysis. Your safety consultant can help you build out both sides of the ROI equation – investment costs and injury avoidance savings – and identify where to invest for the greatest impact. MEM also offers a Safety Grant Program that matches policyholder investments in approved safety initiatives up to $10,000.