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Leading indicators are proactive measures that signal how safe conditions and behaviors are likely to influence future performance. Near-miss reports fit that idea because they capture potential hazards or unsafe acts before an injury actually occurs, allowing teams to intervene with fixes, training, or engineering controls before harm happens. This focus on prevention and early action is what makes near-miss reporting a leading indicator.

In contrast, the other metrics track outcomes after incidents have occurred. Injury rate shows how often injuries happen, lost-time days reflect the severity and time lost due to injuries, and workers’ compensation claims indicate costs after an incident. These are important, but they describe what happened rather than predicting or preventing what could happen next.