Workplace Health and Safety Strategy:
Outcome Monitoring Framework - Document for Consultation

Phase One: Measures Based on Current Available Information

Phase One consists of indicators where measurement information is currently available, or can be collected/analysed at minimal cost. There are a total of 25 measures proposed, monitoring against 15 of the 37 strategy outcomes. These measures cover most of the 'high level' outcomes identified in the outcomes hierarchy reasonably well (with work-related illness data being the notable exception, as discussed below).

These measures are drawn from a number of key data sources maintained by a range of government agencies (detailed in Appendix B). Phase One of the monitoring framework could be implemented immediately and continued until 2015 (assuming that the responsible agencies continue to collect the data).

Each outcome has one or more indicators and related measures. Using more than one indicator or measure (where available) may allow different aspects of the outcome to be monitored, or provide information from different perspectives or sources. Some of the indicators are positive - that is, if the Strategy is successful, we would generally expect to see an increase in the measure (for example, in the number of trained health and safety representatives). Other indicators, such as workplace fatality and injury rates, are negative, with a decrease in the measure indicating an improvement in workplace health and safety.

The monitoring framework is intended to provide high level monitoring of overall outcomes against the strategy. This will enable stakeholders to have a general sense of whether health and safety outcomes are tracking in the right direction. However, the Department also intends to undertake further analyses (where possible) of the available sources of data (including Statistics NZ data, and our own administrative records) to help identify trends at the industry, occupation, vulnerable group and/or hazard level.

Proposed outcome monitoring framework Phase 1: measures based on current information

Preventive Workplace Cultures

Outcome	Indicator	Measure	Why this measure?
Practical information, guidance and support on health and safety is available to employers/employees	Information, support and guidance is provided through proactive engagements [increase]	Rate of forums and information visits provided by the Department of Labour per 1000 NZ workplaces	The Department of Labour has a primary role in providing health and safety information to workplaces. The availability of health and safety information is increased when the Department makes proactive visits to workplaces or presents at forums.
	Employers and employees have access to information, guidance and support from the Department on request [increase]	Rate of health and safety information requests to Department of Labour via phone, email or website per 1000 employers/employees	The Department of Labour makes a range of health and safety information available to the public via their website and contact centre. The number of calls, emails or website hits requesting health and safety indicates that this information is being accessed by employers/employees.
Increased participation in health and safety representative training	Employee participation in H&S training [increase]	Training providers report cumulative number of people completing health and safety representative training funded by government	Training providers keep administrative records of attendance, and are accountable to their funders. These records are likely to be the most accurate indication of the actual number of people who have been trained. Because some of the people trained may no longer be employed, this measure cannot be used to accurately derive a rate for trained representatives in the workplace.
Employees have increased awareness of the impact of workplace illness and injury, and legal obligations	Employees' awareness of the incidence and impact of illness/injury [increase]	People's self-reported awareness of personal risk of injury at work	This measure, from the NZIPS Safety Culture Survey, gives an indication of how aware people are of their own risk of workplace injury.
Employees have increased knowledge of effective health and safety systems and processes	Employees' knowledge of health and safety [increase]	Percentage of employers who report that employees participated in health and safety training in the last financial year	The Business Operations Survey (Employment Practices Module) asks employers whether any of their staff recently participated in health and safety training. It is expected that as a result of attending training, employee knowledge of health and safety systems/process will increase.
Employees have increased capability to develop health and safety systems and processes	Employees capability to participate in developing health and safety systems and processes [increase]	Percentage of earners who believe that they can personally make a difference to their own and others workplace health and safety	The NZIPS Safety Culture Survey asks respondents if they believe they can personally make a difference in their own and others safety in the workplace. This question gives an indication of employees' perceived capability to contribute to health and safety in their workplace. However, it should be noted that the answer to this question may be affected factors other than capability (e.g. perception of employer responsiveness)
Employees have increased and more effective participation in development/ improvement of 'preventive workplace cultures'	Amount and quality of employee participation in health and safety activities in the workplace [increase]	Employer report of whether business has formal practices for employee participation in health and safety	Employees' ability to participate effectively in developing health and safety systems and practices in their workplace are likely to be increased if the workplace has formal processes for participation in place. The Business Operations Survey (Employment Practices Module) asks employers whether they have such formal processes in place.
Employers/ managers have increased and more effective participation in development/ improvement of 'preventive workplace cultures'	Amount and quality of employer participation in health and safety activities [increase]	Employer report of whether business has formal practices for employee participation in health and safety	Such formal processes usually also involve commitment and input from the employer, so having these processes in place is an indicator of employer involvement in developing a culture of health and safety in the workplace.
Workplaces (government and private sector) adopt and improve health and safety systems and practices	Level of good health and safety systems and practices (including reduction/ management of hazards) in workplaces [increase]	Employers self report of whether business has selected health and safety systems/practices in place [increase]	Business with a commitment to health and safety are more likely to have implemented a range of health and safety systems/practices. The Business Operations Survey (Employment Practices Module) asks employers whether their business has a limited range of systems/practices in place. Although the question is not comprehensive, it does cover practices relating to two of the WHSS priority areas (airborne substances and psychosocial work factors), and occupational health monitoring.
		Employees perception of how well health and safety risks are managed in their workplace [increase]	Another source of information about the quality of a workplace's of health and safety systems is employee perception. The 2008 Survey of Working Life supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey asked employees to rate how well they thought that health and safety risks were managed in their workplace. If better systems and processes are adopted, this should result in more positive employee perception.
		Proportion of eligible businesses participating in ACC discount programmes [increase]	Participation in ACC programmes requires businesses to meet a minimum standard of health and safety practice in their workplace. An increase in the proportion of eligible businesses participating would therefore indicate an increase in participation in activities that contribute to the development of preventive workplace cultures.
		Proportion of eligible central government agencies participating in the ACC Partnership Programme or ACC Workplace Safety Management Practices programme. [increase]	Participation in these ACC programmes requires government agencies to meet an audited minimum standard of health and safety practice in their workplace. An increase in the proportion of central government agencies in these programmes would therefore indicate an increase in participation in activities that contribute to the development of preventive workplace cultures.
Workplaces are safer	Risk of a NZ employee/ employer experiencing a workplace injury or illness [decrease]	Rate of notified incidents/complaints about workplace health and safety received by the Department of Labour per 1000 NZ workplaces	The Department of Labour is the agency responsible for investigating most workplace health and safety incidents in New Zealand. A reduction in the rate of notified health and safety incidents and complaints received by the Department may indicate that workplaces have become safer. However, because notification of incidents is voluntary this indicator should be interpreted with caution. Note that the Civil Aviation Authority and Maritime Safety Authority also have a role in investing incidents and accidents at sea and in the air. Data from these agencies could also be reported against this indicator.
People (employees/employers) are healthier	Work toll - incidence rate, and severity of injury and illness [decrease]	Rate of work-related fatalities /100,000 FTEs [decrease]	Statistics NZ uses ACC data to calculate the annual rate of work related fatality. Information about the rate (rather than number) of fatalities is important, as it takes into account changes in the size of the workforce to give a more accurate picture of New Zealand's health and safety performance.
		Rate of work-related fatal injuries/100,000 person years at risk [decrease]	NZIPS uses ACC data to calculate this fatality figure annually. It differs from the Statistics NZ figure by being 'age standardised' - that is the rate takes into account changes in the age composition, as well as the size, of the workforce, and by being expressed as a three year moving average.
		Rate of work-related serious non-fatal injury/100,000 person years at risk	NZIPS uses ACC and Ministry of Health data to calculate this serious injury figure annually. It is also 'age standardised', and focuses only on serious injury.
		Rate of ACC claims for work related injuries/1000 FTEs [decrease]	Statistics NZ uses ACC data to calculate the annual rate of all work-related injury claims. Information about the rate (rather than number) of injuries is important, as it takes into account changes in the size of the workforce to give a more accurate picture of New Zealand's health and safety performance.Note that this figure includes claims for work-related illnesses compensated by ACC.
		Rate of ACC entitlement claims for work related injuries/1000 FTEs [decrease]	Entitlement claims include payments for death, weekly compensation and rehabilitation. These claims are a sub-set of claims which are at the more serious end of the injury scale. Monitoring this information, in conjunction with the NZIPS serious non-fatal injury rate will provide further information about changes to the rate of severe injuries in the workplace.
		Proportion of ACC work-related claims for work related illness or disease	ACC provides cover work-related gradual process injuries and infections or diseases caused at work. Statistics NZ figures indicate the number and proportion of ACC work-related ACC claims that fall into these categories. While the information this provides about workplace illness is limited, it is currently the only detailed, annual data which is available (see discussion of workplace illness monitoring in Phase Two below).
Workplaces are more productive	Workdays lost due to work related injury or illness [decrease]	Rate of ACC compensated lost work days due to work-related illnesses and injuries /100,000 workers [decrease]	The WHSS explicitly links health, safety and productivity in its vision statement. One indicator of the impact of health and safety on productivity is the rate of compensated absences from work (sick leave or ACC payments). While there are no statistics available on the amount of sick leave taken in NZ (except for the public service), information on the number of days of weekly compensation paid by ACC can be sourced from Statistics NZ.

Government Leadership and Practices

Outcome	Indicator	Measure	Why this measure?
Inspection and enforcement activities are efficient and effective	Effectiveness of inspection and enforcement activities. [increase]	Proportion of Department of Labour inspection and enforcement activities that result in positive changes in workplace health and safety practices.	The Department of Labour is responsible for ensuring that workplace health and safety legislation and regulations are adhered to in NZ workplaces, through its inspection and enforcement activities. If these activities are effective, then we would expect to see a high (and increasing) proportion of workplaces making positive changes as a result of the Department's interventions. The Department monitors the effectiveness of its inspection and enforcement activities by following up with workplaces 6 months later to ascertain if the compliance or enforcement requirements identified have been satisfactorily addressed.

Industry Leadership and Community Engagement

Outcome	Indicator	Measure	Why this measure?
Communities have increased awareness of workplace illness and injury	Community members' awareness of workplace illness and injury [increase]	Community members' belief that 'everyone is at risk of injury in the workplace'	The NZIPS Safety Culture survey is designed to provide information about the general public's attitudes and beliefs towards injury in NZ. The design of this survey makes it a useful source of information about 'the community'. One of the questions in the survey asks people whether they believe that 'everyone is at risk of injury in the workplace'. An increase in positive responses to this question is likely to indicate a higher level of community awareness of workplace illness and injury.
Communities have increased knowledge about workplace health and safety	Community members' knowledge about health and safety [increase]	Community members belief that workplace accidents and injuries are preventable	Again, this measure is drawn from the NZIPS Safety Culture survey. While the survey does not specifically ask about workplace health and safety knowledge, it does ask whether respondents believe that workplace accidents and injuries are preventable. Positive answers to this question indicate that community members have some understanding that the causal factors of workplace accidents can be addressed (presumably through better health and safety practices)
Community support for improving workplace health and safety increases	Community members' support for improved health and safety practices [increases]	Community members belief that keeping people safe from injury at work is something we must all take responsibility for as a society	The NZIPS Safety Culture asks whether 'society' is responsible for preventing injury at work. A positive response to this question suggests that community members see workplace health and safety as important, and something that needs to be addressed.
		Community members who identify the workplace as an area where they would most like to see reduction in injury	Another NZIPS Safety Culture question asks people to say where they would 'most like to see a reduction in injury'. An increase in the number of people identifying the workplace as one of these areas suggests both heightened awareness of workplace injury and greater support for improving workplace health and safety.

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