Understanding Total Recordable Incident Rates
OSHA conducts investigations on organizations that have high incidence rates of industrial accidents. However, the
nature of the work and specific work environment is also considered. Companies are compared only to others
within the same industry, so “good” and “bad” rates are relative, but the general aim is to keep rates as low as
possible.
These rates involve “recordable injuries and illnesses”, which OSHA defines as any work-related incidents that
result in death, loss of consciousness, days away from work, restricted work, medical treatment beyond first aid, or
transfer to another job.
When incident rate numbers are high, this is a red flag for a poor safety environment. Not only does your company
suffer large repercussions from OSHA, but the impact will be felt across your business, as:
Costs increase (high amount of paid time off or workmen’s compensation, hiring temporary employees,
legal fees, increased insurance premiums).
Investors lose interest and potential customers take their business to companies that have better safety
records.
Workers look elsewhere for employment where they believe they will be better taken care of.
Quality of work decreases.
It’s important to note that OSHA Incident Rates are “lagging indicators”. This means that they indicate events from
the past and aren’t necessarily representative of any procedures or incidents in the future. While they are a useful
tool to measure how successful your safety program is, you cannot use them to make predictions.
OSHA DART Calculator Basics
The OSHA DART rate is a safety metric that is commonly used by OSHA to audit high-risk industries. This rate is
also a useful tool for EHS managers, who can use DART to evaluate the type of impact injuries or illnesses make
on a business over time.
What is a DART incident? These are types of occupational injuries and illnesses that specifically result in “Days
Away, Restricted, or Transferred”; employees end up remaining away from work, restricting their work activities, or
transferring to a different job location within a year.
For example, an employee may have sprained their back while on the job and must refrain from any heavy lifting.
DART Rate Calculations
Calculating the OSHA DART rate involves a formula that defines the number of recordable incidents that resulted
in days away, restrictions, or transfers per 100 full-time employees.
A good DART rate is ideally lower than the TCIR/TRIR rate a company possesses. The BLS reports an average
DART of 1.5 for every 100 full-time workers in the private industry. A key factor to lowering DART rates and
keeping workers safe is implementing a well-maintained safety culture.
The DART rate differs from the TCIR/TRIR rate in that it includes only those OSHA recordable injuries or illnesses
that resulted in days away, transfer, or restricted duty, while the TCIR calculates the number of all recordable
injuries and illnesses.
Understanding the Lost Time Incident Rate Calculation
What counts as a Lost Time Incident (LTI)? Any injury or illness sustained by an employee that results in a loss of
productive worktime. In this case, the worker must take time off to recover, or they must complete modified duties
as they are physically unable to perform typical operations. This can range from temporary injuries that impact the
employee for a few days, to permanent conditions and disabilities that prevent them from ever being able to
complete the same tasks again. The most common event that leads to lost time is suffering a strain.
Lost Time Incidents provide an overview of how workforce injuries end up impacting a business’s productivity. They
form the basis for performance and safety metrics such as Lost Time Injury Incidence Rates (LTIIR) and Lost Time
Incident Frequency Rates (LTIFR), which calculate how many events happened throughout a specific period by
hours worked or by number of employees, respectively.
Calculating the Lost Time Incident Rate
It’s common to use a Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate calculator to understand the impact of Lost Time Incidents
on your company. The LTIFR formula is:
The LTIIR formula is:
As with other incident rates, a good Lost Time Incident Rate is one that is as low as possible. Ideally, companies
aim for a rate that is lower than their industry average.
Understanding the Lost Workday Incident (LWDI) Rate Calculator
Once it has been determined that an injury or illness on the job should be classified as a Lost Time Incident, then
the number of “lost workdays” assigned to the case is the number of days that the employee could not come to
work because of the incident.
For example, if an employee broke their wrist on Monday and had to miss the next three days, returned to work on
Friday to be given limited work tasks, and missed two more days several weeks later to get their cast removed, the
total number of lost workdays is five.
A Lost Workday Incident (LWDI) considers the number of days of missed work, not days that involve restricted
tasks. The day the illness or injury occurred is not counted as a lost workday, and the total number possible for lost
days due to a single incident is capped at 180.
OSHA Defines Lost Workday
As defined by OSHA, a “lost workday case” is a case that involves days away from work beyond the date of the
onset of diseases or occurrence of injury. It should be noted that OSHA no longer uses the term “lost workday” for
recordkeeping. However, some employers and safety managers may find it beneficial to keep track of their LWDI.
How to Calculate Lost Workday Incident Rate
Determining your Lost Workday Incident Rate is simple with a LWDI calculator, which calculates your rate using the
incident rate formula:
The Benefits of Safety Rate Calculators
Together, all these rates provide a comprehensive picture of how safe a company is. They are often used to
estimate safety performance, then to develop programs and policies for future prevention.
Using a one-stop safety rate calculator that includes lost time cases, lost workdays, DART cases, total recordable
incidents, and total hours worked is an effective way to evaluate safety and take into account several different
factors that may influence incidence rates.
Reducing the Injury Frequency Rate
This rate measures how many injuries there are in a period of time. In many cases it is a good general indicator of
a workplace’s health and safety environment.
There is a difference between the frequency rate and the severity rate of injuries. The frequency is how often
incidents occurred, while the severity is measured using the number of days of work lost. The formulas are:
Injury frequency rate:
Injury severity rate:
Reporting the OSHA Incident Rate
It’s important to maintain safety paperwork and adhere to regulations about recording and reporting incidents.
There are three forms for reporting the OSHA Incident Rate that employers need:
Form 300, “Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses”
Form 300A, “Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses”
Form 301, “Injuries and Illnesses Incident Report”.
In 2016, OSHA published a final rule stating that establishments with 250 or more employees are required to
submit form 300A only, rather than all three. The agency also requires that all businesses, no matter the size or
industry, maintain and keep 300, 300A, and 301 forms for five years.
Summing Up: Recordable Incident Rates
The aim of using OSHA incident rates and maintaining a successful safety program is to promote workers’ well-
being. Workplace injury prevention strategies should be prioritized, and the key to this is the collection and analysis
of data such as incident rates.
By evaluating your company’s safety performance and focusing on prevention, operations will continue to be
successful as workers are kept happy and healthy.
