The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires most employers to keep a record of serious work-related injuries and illnesses. These records are used to track workplace safety and to identify trends that can help prevent future incidents. The OSHA Recordable Incident Rate (RIR) is a key metric used to measure a company's safety performance. It helps employers understand their injury and illness frequency relative to their workforce size and the hours worked.
To calculate your OSHA Recordable Incident Rate, you need three key pieces of information:
Number of OSHA Recordable Cases: This is the total count of work-related injuries and illnesses that meet OSHA's recording criteria. This includes fatalities, days away from work, restricted work or transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or diagnosis of a significant injury or illness.
Total Number of Hours Worked: This is the sum of all hours that all employees worked during the calendar year. For salaried employees, you can typically count 8 hours per day. Ensure this number accurately reflects all hours worked by all employees for the entire year.
Total Number of Employees: While not directly used in the primary RIR formula, understanding your workforce size is crucial for context and for complying with OSHA reporting thresholds.
The formula for the OSHA Recordable Incident Rate is:
Rate = (Number of Recordable Cases × 200,000) / Total Employee Hours Worked
The "200,000" in the formula represents the number of hours that 100 employees working full-time (40 hours per week) for 50 weeks a year would work (100 employees × 40 hours/week × 50 weeks/year = 200,000 hours). This standardizes the rate so you can compare your company's safety performance to industry averages.