What patterns are there in our health and safety findings?
CHART 1: Agency/Center locations are plotted across the x-axis on the bottom. The number of health and safety findings by Agency/Center are plotted on the y-axis.
In the spring of 2019, ABC Head Start* decided to conduct a thorough review of health and safety findings with the goal of identifying opportunities for quality improvement and improving training. They decided to use data visualization to enhance their analysis and highlight patterns in their health and safety data.
ABC Head Start had previously used a manual approach to collecting data on health and safety findings and did not aggregate the data across centers. Any health and safety findings were reported and addressed at the center level only. Using data visualization on the health and safety data revealed a number of interesting patterns including what centers had the highest rates of health and safety findings as well as the number and status of these findings.
(*ABC Head Start is a generic name we use in the Playbook when a program does not wish to be identified.)
ANALYSIS
ABC Head Start began to conduct health and safety reviews and record the results in the DataSay system. To review their progress, they clicked on the Analysis Tab, they selected the Health and Safety Findings Report within that tab and viewed the results.
The two following visualizations revealed that the overwhelming majority of health and safety findings were occurring at one location and in two particular areas of health and safety.
Chart 1 shows that Agency 011 had the vast majority of findings, significantly more than any other at ABC Head Start.
Chart 2
Another way that ABC Head Start viewed their health and safety data was by the various types of findings. Chart 2 shows their findings organized by question on their health and safety assessment. ABC Head Start learned that, across centers, the greatest number of findings were around a single question about equipment safety: “Are the facilities, materials, and equipment free of hazards that may cause harm to children, families, or staff?” The second highest area of concern was around sanitation issues.
RESULT
Using this dashboard, the program was able to quickly see overall patterns in their health and safety issues. They could identify where the greatest problems were and what the biggest problems were.
As a result, the program reviewed their policies and procedures around playground safety and classroom sanitation. They increased the frequency of monitoring of playgrounds and sanitation facilities. They also decided to conduct additional staff training around sanitation procedures.
Because the data is easy to visualize and review frequently, they decided to conduct weekly data reviews on health and safety and compare findings to see if the policy and monitoring changes resulted in improved outcomes. ABC Head Start plans to monitor the data over the next program year to see if their new approach of increased training and monitoring is working to reduce health and safety findings. They expect to see the number of findings around playgrounds and sanitation facilities drop. If not, they will reassess. If they will do, they will target the next highest areas of health and safety findings with a similar process.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
AUDIENCE: Management, Leadership
LEVEL OF ANALYSIS: Center
DIFFICULTY: Basic
CONTENT AREA: Health and Safety
DATA SOURCES: DataSay
CONSIDERATIONS AND CAVEATS: To have this level of data available, the program conducted all its health and safety reviews within the DataSay platform. Reviews conducted outside the system or not entered into the system would not have data represented.
TECHNICAL APPENDIX
As long as health and safety reviews are conducted and reported within the DataSay platform, this information is available directly in the program. These visualizations can be found by clicking on the Health and Safety Findings Report within the Analysis Tab.
Questions about this use case? Email them to analytics@nhsa.org and we’ll get in touch with the author for you!