Hunting for Hazards
A mining operation set a KPI: 10 hazards per day. So workers went hunting for problems instead of doing their actual job.
The Problem
10 hazards a day. Every day.
A construction operation set a KPI: safety officers must report 10 hazards per day. So every morning, officers walked the site looking for things to report. A loose bolt here, an unmarked cable there. They hit their numbers. Management saw 'high reporting rates' as success.
The Disconnect
The metric became the goal.
Leadership wanted visibility into site safety. They measured it by counting hazard reports. So workers optimised for the metric — not for actual safety. Meanwhile, the daily operational work that actually keeps sites safe was getting rushed because everyone was busy hunting for hazards to meet quota.
The Solution
Record the state of things.
What if recording the state of things WAS the work? Not 'go find 10 hazards,' but 'complete your daily plant inspection and record what you see.' Healthy dipstick? Record it. Worn brake pads? Record it. Everything gets captured — good and bad — because you're documenting reality, not hunting for problems.
The Insight
The metric shapes the behaviour.
When you measure hazards reported, you get hazard hunting. When you measure work completed and state recorded, you get actual operational visibility. Hazards surface naturally as part of the work — not as a quota to game. Measure what actually matters: is the work getting done and documented?