Which item is a lagging indicator of process safety performance?

• A. Regulatory findings
• B. Near misses investigated
• C. Safety training hours
• D. Process uptime

Answer: (A)

Lagging indicators look backward at what has already happened in process safety, showing the outcomes and consequences of safety performance. Regulatory findings come from audits and inspections and reveal past safety gaps and compliance issues that have been identified by authorities. They reflect the results of how well safety practices were implemented, not the activities taken to improve them, which is why they are the best example of a lagging indicator. In contrast, near misses investigated are actions taken to learn and prevent future events (leading indicators), safety training hours represent ongoing efforts to build safety capability (leading), and process uptime measures operational performance and reliability, which does not directly measure past safety outcomes.