Using Performance Appraisals To Hold Supervisors Accountable For Safety

December is the season of not just holidays but performance appraisals. And for OHS coordinators, that typically means evaluating how well supervisors performed their safety duties in the past year. To establish real accountability, supervisor performance appraisals should be based on measurable factors that you clearly explain at the start of the year; appraisal results should also have a direct impact on bonuses, raises and other awards. There are four key metrics for measuring supervisors’ safety performance:

1. Objective measures, such as performance of sound, dust or temperature level readings and other specific safety-related tasks listed in the supervisor’s job description;
2. Subjective measures, such as opinions of key people who work with the supervisor;
3. Quantitative measures, such as an audit score that uses a standard set or scale of numbers; and
4. Qualitative measures such a rating of how effective the supervisor’s safety meetings or training sessions are.