Which statement about lead indicators and lag indicators is correct?

• A. Lead indicators measure outcomes; lag indicators measure proactive activities.
• B. Lead indicators measure predictions about future failures.
• C. Lag indicators measure immediate corrective actions.
• D. Lead indicators measure proactive activities; lag indicators measure outcomes.

Answer: (D)

Lead indicators are proactive measures that track the activities you perform to prevent incidents, while lag indicators capture the actual outcomes that result from those activities. This means lead indicators monitor what you do to manage risk—things you can influence directly, such as safety training completion, near-miss reporting, pre-job risk assessments, and timely preventive maintenance. Lag indicators, by contrast, reflect what happened—incidents, injuries, process upsets, downtime, or environmental releases that occur after the fact.

So the correct statement aligns with this distinction: proactive activities are what lead indicators measure, and outcomes are what lag indicators measure. The other descriptions mix up what each type tracks—for example, treating lead indicators as predictions about future failures or viewing lag indicators as immediate corrective actions.