Workplace injuries can drastically drain employers of valuable funds. In 2020 alone, businesses across the U.S. spent about $164 billion in work injury costs. And the costs don’t stop there; about 2.3 million people worldwide have work-related accidents every year.
Most workplace accidents and injuries are completely preventable. A crucial step of prevention is to report when and how these injuries occurred. Doing so can help employers recognize patterns and develop a plan of prevention — which could mean offering more training sessions or buying new equipment.
Your TRIR, or total recordable incident rate, is a calculation that can help you recognize whether you need to make changes to your workplace.
What is TRIR and why is it necessary?
Every single business and employer in the United States is required by law and OSHA to keep records of any employee injury, illness, and death that occurs in the workplace. Businesses are not required to report minor injuries or illnesses that only require first aid attention.
You need to report employee injuries if:
- They require treatment by a medical professional.
- They result in a loss of consciousness.
- They cause the employee to miss days of work.
- They limit a worker’s ability to fulfill their workplace obligations.
TRIR measures workplace health and safety and is used to compare the safety performance of peer companies. It can also be used within an organization to evaluate its overall safety. However, a TRIR calculation does not take into account the severity of injuries — only their frequency.
How do you calculate TRIR?
TRIR calculations take the number of employee injuries and illnesses and report it against the total number of workers. You can calculate your company’s TRIR by performing the following steps:
- Multiply — To start, multiply the total number of OSHA recordable cases by 200,000. The 200,000 number is crucial to the calculation and is constant, no matter the size of your organization.
- Divide — Divide the result from above by the total number of field hours worked by all workers. You should include the hours of both employees and contractors.
- Calculate — Depending on your company’s size and industry, your TRIR calculation can vary. Generally, the lower the rate the better. Companies should aim for a TRIR rate of 0.
Work-Fit can help you lower your TRIR calculation
Knowing your TRIR calculation can help you plan strategies, policies and protocols to limit the frequency of injuries in your workplace. To lower your TRIR, you can:
- Carry out a workplace safety assessment.
- Introduce new training programs.
- Inspect all safety equipment.
- Ensure proper signage across the workplace.
Many companies also hire third-party contractors to help them avoid injury costs and a poor reputation associated with a high TRIR calculation. Work-Fit offers on-site injury prevention and management for your employees. Our injury prevention program, as well as our employee wellness program, can help you reduce workplace injuries and save money.
Contact our team today to work with us to lower your TRIR number, find out more information about our services, and learn how we can help keep your employees working fit.
