Evaluating a company’s safety performance can be difficult without a good basis for comparison. For instance, if staffing company A had three injuries last year, is that good? Most would say yes, simply because three is a relatively low number. However, if you found out that staffing company A only has three employees? Do those three injuries still represent a safe workplace?
Total recordable incident and Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART) rates are used to help provide clear data to properly evaluate these scenarios. These rates give you a current snapshot of safety performance, while using actual hours worked as a base. Total recordable incident and DART rates can be calculated quickly, requiring only a few pieces of information.
What do you need to calculate these rates?
All the information you need to calculate these rates can be found from the OSHA 300A summary form, which includes the total hours worked during the year and the number of recordable injuries experienced. Most companies are required to complete and post this form at their facility each year from February 1st to April 30th. For companies that are required to electronically report, this information can also be accessed from OSHA’s website here.
How does your total recordable incident rate differ from DART rate?
The total recordable incident rate is a measure of frequency, indicating the number of injuries that occurred without distinguishing severity. The DART rate is also a frequency measure but only focuses on measuring severe cases. The injuries that the DART rate represent are those that required days away from work or restricted duty/job transfer.
How to calculate these rates
To calculate the total recordable incident rate, take the total number of recordable cases, multiply by 200,000, and then divide by the total number of hours worked. The DART rate follows a similar formula but uses the number of cases that resulted in days away or restrictions (total of numbers H and I) instead of all incidents.
What do these rates signify?
Ultimately, the incident rates represent the number of injuries per 100 full-time workers. For example, if the incident rate is 8, the company is experiencing 8 injuries for every 100 employees.
How can these rates be utilized?
One way incident and DART rates are commonly used is to measure safety performance on a regular basis. Comparing your incident rate from one year to the next can demonstrate the effectiveness of your risk management program, considering any growth or decline that your business has experienced.
In the staffing industry, these rates can also be used to determine a company’s safety compared to others in their industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) compiles average incident rates for various industries annually, serving as a benchmark for comparison. For example, if a prospective client that manufactures footwear has an incident rate of 7, and the BLS industry average is 4.7, it suggests that this company may not have a robust safety program in place and might require further evaluation or safety assistance before a staffing company should place employees there.
As different as clients can be in the staffing industry, there are effective tools available to help determine whether you’re placing employees in safe working environments and how effective a prospective risk management program has been. To learn more, check out our safety toolkit.
