Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Built Environment

Abstract

Improving safety programs has been a focus of organizations for decades. Historically, focus has been directed towards lagging indicators such as recordable incident rates and experience modification rate (EMR). While these remain beneficial, they are only one component of the broader framework. In recent years, companies have started to examine what occurs prior to an incident, which are known as leading indicators. The research into leading indicators is promising, however research into the area is limited. The focus of this study is to identify which leading indicators are most strongly associated with improved incident rates in the construction industry specifically. The study conducted analyzes 400 compliance criteria from more than 260 construction companies. Utilizing SPSS, two modeling approaches were utilized to analyze the data: OLS (Ordinary Least Squares) which analyzed domain scores relative to safety outcomes, and Elastic net which was utilized to identify the individual audit items most strongly associated with safety outcomes. Based on the analysis, at least one composite bestpractice domain score was significantly associated with Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), suggesting that specific safety management practices are associated with overall injury and illness trends. However, their relationship with multi-year days away, restricted or transferred (DART) rates remain unclear. Organization should prioritize leading indicators within the categories of management leadership, corrective action and systematic workplace analysis. Individual areas of focus should include improved communication, encouraging the reporting of near-misses and hazard analysis.

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