Frequently Asked Questions About Injury Rates
Are COVID-19 Cases OSHA Recordable?
Per OSHA, COVID-19 can be a recordable illness if a worker is infected as a result of performing their work-related duties. However, employers are only responsible for recording cases of COVID-19 if all of the following are true:
- The case is a confirmed case of COVID-19;
- The case is work-related (as defined by 29 CFR 1904.5)
- The case involves one or more of the general recording criteria set forth in 29 CFR 1904.7 (e.g., medical treatment beyond first aid, days away from work).
What Does Your TRIR Calculator Do?
Our OSHA Incident Rate Calculator helps you calculate your OSHA Total Recordable Injury Rate (TRIR).
What Hours Should I Include?
"Hours worked" should include hours worked by all employees (include non-employees that your company supervises) over a 12-month period, but not hours such as vacation, sick leave, holidays, etc. (even if such hours were paid). If actual work hours are not available for employees paid on commission, by salary, or by the mile, etc., hours worked may be estimated on the basis of scheduled hours or 8 hours per workday.
Do I Include Injuries, Illnesses and Hours Associated with Temporary Workers?
Per OSHA FAQ 31-1, your Company must record the recordable injuries and illnesses of temporary employees if your Company supervises them on a day-to-day basis. Day-to-day supervision occurs when "in addition to specifying the output, product or result to be accomplished by the person's work, the employer supervises the details, means, methods and processes by which the work is to be accomplished". In such cases, you also get to include the temporary worker's hours when determining your TRIR.
What If We Do Not Track Employee Hours?
If actual work hours are not available for employees paid on commission, by salary, by the mile, etc., hours worked may be estimated on the basis of scheduled hours or 8 hours per workday.
How Do I Calculate TRIR For a Specific Month?
You would use 16,667 hours in the numerator (i.e. top of equation) of the TRIR equation instead of 200,000. This is the equivalent of 12/200,000 and effectively normalizes your total recordable injury rate for 100 full-time employees per month instead of 100 employees per year.
What Makes an Injury Recordable?
Per OSHA, work-related occupational injuries and illnesses must be recorded if it results in one or more of the following:
What Makes an Injury/Illness "Work-Related"?
An injury or illness is presumed to be work-related if:
- It results from events or exposures occurring in the work environment; or
- An event or exposure in the work environment is:
- A discernable cause of the injury/illness; or
- A "significant aggravation" to a pre-existing condition.
What Is a "Significant Aggravation"?
A "significant aggravation" of a preexisting condition occurs if it results in:
- Death, loss of consciousness, or DART days provided that the preexisting injury or illness would likely not have resulted in death but for the occupational event or exposure; or
- Medical treatment in a case where no medical treatment was needed for the injury or illness before the workplace event or exposure, or a change in medical treatment was necessitated by the workplace event or exposure.
What Is "Medical Treatment Beyond First Aid"?
OSHA considers ANY treatment of an injury/illness other than the activities specifically listed in 1904.7(b)(5)(ii) to be "Medical Treatment beyond first aid". Put another way, if any treatment not included on this list was provided, the injury or illness is recordable under OSHA.
Why Does the TRIR Formula Include 200,000?
This is to normalize your facility's results to a workplace with 100 workers working 40 hours per week for 50 weeks per year. This allows companies of different sizes to fairly compare their injury rates.
How Can I Lower My Company's TRIR?
There are a number of things to consider when evaluating how to lower your Company's TRIR. These include:
- Most importantly, reducing the number of injuries your employees are having by:
- Implementing a proactive and effective safety and health program.
- Evaluating where injuries are occurring and implementing targeted programs to reduce injuries in those areas.
- Ensuring your safety program has management and 1st line supervisor commitment.
- Ensuring your employees are engaged and have ownership in your safety program.
- Secondly, ensuring your employees have access to good first aid and medical care that effectively treats injuries and illnesses without unnecessarily making them OSHA Recordable (e.g. do not prescribe prescription pain medication when over-the-counter Advil will work).
- Evaluating your Company's injury and illness data may also help improve your TRIR score. For example:
- Have you included "all" employee hours?
- Have you included injuries and illnesses that were not truly recordable?
What Is My NAICS Code?
Your NAICS (or North American Industry Classification System) code may be looked up on the United States Census Bureau Website.
What Other Free Tools Do You Have?
Click on the links below to view our other calculators.
Who Can I Ask for Help With OSHA Recordkeeping?
In addition to offering EHS Incident Reporting Software to help track and manage injuries and illnesses, our company also provides OSHA Recordkeeping assistance in the form of expertise, OSHA recordkeeping reviews, and OSHA recordkeeping form preparation. Please call us at (720) 547-5102 to learn more.
How Incident Reporting Software Can Help
Incident Reporting Software streamlines and simplifies your processes for reporting, tracking, and investigating incidents, which results in:
More Timely Reporting - Incidents and hazards are more likely to be reported in a timely fashion using our efficient incident reporting app.
Improved Performance - Timely reporting results in more efficient responses and corrective action implementation. This reduces the potential for future injuries, eliminates downtime, and improves culture. Faster reporting also helps ensure injured or ill employees have quicker access to appropriate medical care, which can help get them back to work sooner.
Reduced Risk - Built-in tools are used to efficiently determine root causes and assign, track, and verify corrective actions to ensure risks are quickly identified and addressed.
Lower TRIR and DART Rate - Learning about injuries and illnesses more quickly enables employers to get involved with the medical care early on. This early involvement can help ensure employees receive the correct medical care but avoid common frustrations, such as clinics prescribing unnecessary medications or physical therapy.
Improved Employee Engagement - When the process for reporting incidents, near misses, and unsafe conditions is simple and efficient; employees are more likely to get involved and proactively report concerns. Additionally, software provides an easy means to provide employees feedback on the corrective and preventive actions taken in response to their concerns.
Trend Identification - Standardized forms gather consistent information and improve incident management around the globe. This allows for better trending and improved visibility of areas/activities that need help/resources.
If you need help calculating your company's OSHA TRIR rate, please call (720) 547-5102.
