How do leading indicators improve safety?
Many EHS teams are stretched thin maintaining compliance and meeting reporting requirements, often still relying on lagging indicators. This reliance means safety is often managed by looking in the rearview mirror—measuring what has already gone wrong. By the time an incident is reported, it’s too late to prevent harm.
To advance safety maturity, some organizations have decided to balance these traditional metrics with proactive leading indicators. This shift from reactive reporting to active prevention was the focus of a recent Sphera webinar featuring Louis Engel, Head of Global EHS at Sika, a global leader in specialty chemicals. Louis Engel shared how his organization is evolving its safety culture by focusing on the future.
The limitations of lagging indicators
Lagging indicators, such as Total Recordable Injury Rates¹ (TRIR) and lost-time injury rates, are essential for corporate and regulatory reporting. Most common lagging indicators include:
- Lost-time injury rates
- Total recordable injury rates
- OSHA recordable incidents
- Total lost time
- Workers’ compensation claims
- Property damage costs
However, these metrics only reflect the outcomes of past events. As Louis Engel noted, “Lagging indicators show where you’ve been, not where you’re going. Relying solely on them is like driving while looking only in the rearview mirror.”
These metrics measure the cost of failure. True risk prevention requires a forward-looking approach.
The power of leading indicators
Leading indicators are proactive, process-oriented measures that signal potential risks before incidents occur. They allow organizations to identify early warning signs, focus on high-risk areas and encourage preventive action. It is crucial to note that effective leading indicators will vary significantly by company; each organization must evaluate and select metrics that accurately reflect its specific leading needs and operational context. By monitoring indicators like training completion, hazard observations and near-miss reports, teams can shift from a culture of compliance to one of caring.
Potential relevant leading indicators include:
- Completion of EHS training
- Closure rates of audit findings and incidents or observations
- Hazard observations and near-miss reporting
- Employee participation in safety programs
These indicators provide the data needed to raise red flags early, connect metrics to corrective actions and improve accountability across the organization.
Sika’s approach: From vision to global implementation
Sika employs over 34,000 people across 102 countries and more than 400 factories. Despite its industrial scale, Louis Engel emphasized, “We are a people-first culture. Our employees are our most important asset. That’s why EHS is built into the core of our DNA.”
Sika has established ambitious EHS targets for 2028, including zero fatalities and a strengthened safety culture. Achieving these goals requires a strategic blend of leading and lagging indicators.
Louis Engel highlighted three criteria for selecting effective leading indicators:
- Integrated: Use measurements that fit into existing management systems.
- Measurable & Simple: Metrics must be easy to define, track, and understand.
- Action-oriented: An indicator must trigger a corrective or preventive action.
Sika’s Global EHS team set up a core set of six indicators, which regional teams then reviewed and agreed. This collaborative process ensured ownership and alignment across more than 100 countries. Louis Engel acknowledged that shifting mindsets from reactive reporting to proactive monitoring was a primary hurdle. “It’s not about collecting more data,” he stated. “It’s about collecting the right data to empower the right people to take the right action.”
What underpins proactive safety?
Data alone does not create a safe workplace. Louis Engel stressed that culture is the most critical element. Sika built its EHS transformation around four pillars: leadership, employee engagement, continuous improvement, and performance review.
“Safety is a marathon, not a sprint”
Finally, Louis Engel constantly tells everyone and anyone that safety is a marathon, not a sprint. Balancing leading and lagging indicators isn’t a one-time project. It’s an ongoing journey. Teams must align on shared goals, invest in culture and stay committed for the long run.
Lagging indicators remain essential for performance assessment, but leading indicators empower organizations to protect their people before incidents occur. Together, they provide a complete view of safety performance—past, present, and future —and form the foundation for a truly proactive safety culture.
Get more details and watch our expert-led webinar, featuring Sika’s Global Head EHS, now available on demand. Access practical strategies and proven approaches to elevate your safety outcomes.
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Advancing safety with AI
As organizations push further towards more proactive and predictive safety programs, AI is creating new opportunities to strengthen and accelerate this transformation. Emerging AI capabilities can help teams anticipate and address risks before they escalate by enriching incident reports and observations with missing context, conditions and details. This reduces manual effort, improves accuracy, and speeds up investigations and root-cause analysis.
When combined with robust leading indicators, AI amplifies the ability to detect patterns, forecast risks and prioritize interventions—moving safety programs from reactive control to truly preventive safety. By enhancing analytics and enabling smarter decision-making, AI becomes a natural extension of a forward-looking safety strategy.
Explore our on-demand webinar: From reactive to proactive—How AI is redefining safety. Learn how AI is reshaping safety management by moving organizations from reactive incident response to proactive risk prevention. Watch now
Step forward into proactive safety
Don’t wait. Discover how SpheraCloud Health and Safety Management Software solutions can help you integrate leading indicators to build a proactive safety culture. Contact us today to learn more about our software and expertise.
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¹TRIR: The Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) measures the number of recordable incidents per 200,000 hours or 1,000,000 hours worked.
