Leading indicators of occupational health and safety: An employee and workplace level validation study

• Published in: Safety science 2016-06, Vol.85, p.293-304
• Main Authors: Shea, Tracey, De Cieri, Helen, Donohue, Ross, Cooper, Brian, Sheehan, Cathy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Benchmarking; Indicators; Leading indicators; Occupational health; Occupational health and safety; Organizations; Performance measurement; Psychometrics; Rasch analysis; Safety; Scale validation; Workplaces
• ISSN: 0925-7535; 1879-1042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ssci.2016.01.015

•We identify 10 features of leading indicators of OHS performance.•Among the 42 measures reviewed only 5 incorporated most, but not all, 10 features of leading indicators of OHS performance and only one – Organizational Performance Metric (OPM) – addressed most of the 10 features in a short easy to administer form.•The OPM-MU is a psychometrically sound measure that could be used as an initial ‘flag’ of the leading indicators of OHS and has the potential to be a benchmarking tool for workplaces both within and across organizations. There is growing interest in advancing knowledge and practice on the use of leading indicators to measure occupational health and safety (OHS) performance in organizations. In response we present psychometric analysis of the Organizational Performance Metric – Monash University (OPM-MU), which is a recently developed measure of leading indicators of OHS with several adaptations made as part of our investigation. Based on a national survey conducted with 3605 employees in 66 workplaces from several major organizations in Australia, we applied classical test (exploratory factor analysis) and item response (Rasch model analysis) theories to conduct a psychometric evaluation of the OPM-MU. Results revealed that the OPM-MU displayed good psychometric properties and evidence for both construct and criterion validity at employee and workplace levels. The OPM-MU could be used as an initial ‘flag’ of the leading indicators of OHS and has the potential to be a benchmarking tool for workplaces both within and across organizations. This paper represents an important advancement in the field of leading indicators of OHS performance and demonstrates that the OPM-MU is a promising new tool with demonstrated reliability and validity.