Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) is a safety metric that shows how many OSHA-recordable injuries and illnesses a company has per 100 full-time workers in a year. It is calculated by multiplying the number of recordable cases by 200,000 and dividing by the total hours employees worked during the same period.
TRIR is one of the most widely used lagging indicators in occupational safety. Customers, insurers and prequalification services often ask for it, and many organizations use it to compare performance across sites, years and industries.
What Is Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR)?
TRIR measures the frequency of work-related injuries and illnesses that meet the OSHA recording criteria in 29 CFR Part 1904. OSHA itself does not use the name "TRIR" in the regulation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) calls the same figure the "total recordable cases (TRC) incidence rate," and OSHA uses the generic term "incidence rate." You may also see it called the OSHA recordable rate, total case incident rate (TCIR) or total recordable frequency rate.
The number of cases in the formula comes directly from your OSHA 300 Log. Every case entered on the log counts, whether it involved days away from work, restricted duty, a job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid or another recording trigger. Under 29 CFR 1904, a case is generally recordable if it is work-related, is a new case and results in death, days away, restricted work or transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant diagnosed injury or illness. See recordable injury for the full criteria.
Employers covered by OSHA recordkeeping (generally those with more than 10 employees in non-exempt industries) already have the data needed to calculate TRIR. OSHA explains who must keep records and which forms to use on its Injury and Illness Recordkeeping page.
How to Calculate TRIR
The TRIR formula is:
TRIR = (Number of recordable cases x 200,000) / Total hours worked by all employees
The 200,000 figure is a normalizing constant. It represents 100 employees working 40 hours per week for 50 weeks per year. Using it converts your raw count into a rate per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, so a 50-person shop and a 5,000-person manufacturer can be compared on the same scale.
Worked Example
Consider a hypothetical distribution company with these figures for the calendar year:
- Recordable cases on the OSHA 300 Log: 6
- Total hours worked by all employees: 480,000
The calculation is (6 x 200,000) / 480,000 = 1,200,000 / 480,000 = 2.5. This means the company experienced 2.5 recordable injuries or illnesses for every 100 full-time workers during the year.
Which Hours to Include
Use actual hours worked, not hours paid. Exclude vacation, sick leave, holidays and other paid time off. Include overtime. Count hours for all employees you are required to record cases for, which can include temporary workers you supervise day to day. If you do not have exact hours for some groups, such as salaried staff, estimate them consistently and document your method.
Why TRIR Matters
TRIR gives a single, standardized number that most stakeholders understand. It is used in several ways:
- Contractor prequalification: General contractors and facility owners often set a maximum TRIR for bidders.
- Benchmarking: Companies compare their rate against the BLS industry average for their NAICS code.
- Trend tracking: A rising rate over several periods can signal a weakening safety program.
- Insurance and cost: Recordable injuries often become workers' compensation claims, which influence premiums and your experience modification rate.
- Reporting: Many organizations include TRIR as a key performance indicator in board, ESG or annual safety reports.
TRIR Benchmarks
A "good" TRIR depends on your industry. High-hazard work such as construction, warehousing and nursing care typically runs higher rates than office-based services. According to BLS, the total recordable case incidence rate for all U.S. private industry was 2.3 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers in 2024. Industry-specific rates are published in the BLS Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program, broken down by NAICS code and establishment size.
When you benchmark, compare against the same NAICS code and the same year. A rate below the industry average is a positive sign, but it does not prove your controls are effective, especially for a small workforce.
TRIR vs. DART Rate vs. LTIR
TRIR is often reported alongside related rates that use the same 200,000-hour formula but count different subsets of cases:
- TRIR: counts every recordable case.
- DART rate: counts only cases with days away from work, restricted duty or job transfer. It reflects severity better than TRIR.
- Lost time incident rate (LTIR): counts only cases with days away from work. See lost time injury.
Because DART and LTIR cases are subsets of recordable cases, TRIR is always equal to or higher than both. Looking at all three together shows whether incidents are frequent but minor or fewer but more serious.
Limitations of TRIR
TRIR is useful, but it has well-known weaknesses that safety leaders should understand before relying on it alone.
It Is a Lagging Indicator
TRIR measures harm that has already happened. It does not show whether hazards are being found and controlled today. Pair it with leading indicators such as near miss reports, inspection completion and corrective action closure rates.
Small Numbers Swing Widely
For small companies, one case can move the rate dramatically. A 25-person company working about 50,000 hours a year would go from 0 to 4.0 with a single recordable injury. Year-to-year changes at this scale often reflect chance rather than a real change in risk.
It Does Not Reflect Severity or Fatality Risk
A finger laceration requiring stitches and a serious crush injury each count as one case. A low TRIR can coexist with exposure to high-consequence hazards, which is why many organizations also track serious injury and fatality (SIF) potential separately.
It Can Be Gamed
When TRIR is tied to bonuses or contract awards, there is pressure to under-record cases or manage injuries to avoid recording triggers. OSHA's anti-retaliation provisions at 29 CFR 1904.35 require a reasonable reporting procedure that does not discourage employees from reporting injuries.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using hours paid instead of hours worked: This inflates the denominator and understates your rate.
- Counting first aid cases: First aid as defined in 29 CFR 1904.7 is not recordable and should not be included.
- Omitting supervised temporary workers: If you must record their injuries, include their hours too.
- Mixing time periods: Cases and hours must cover the same period, usually the calendar year.
- Not updating after reclassification: If a case is later determined not to be recordable, or a new case is added, recalculate.
Best Practices for Improving TRIR
- Get the data right first. Train the people who make recordability decisions and audit the OSHA 300 Log regularly.
- Analyze the cases behind the number. Group recordables by body part, task, location and cause to find patterns.
- Investigate to root cause. Use root cause analysis rather than stopping at "employee error."
- Apply stronger controls. Prioritize elimination, substitution and engineering controls following the hierarchy of controls.
- Encourage reporting. Reward hazard identification and near miss reports, not injury-free streaks.
- Review trends quarterly. Use rolling 12-month rates to smooth out short-term swings.
How SMS360 Helps
SMS360's OSHA Injury and Incident Calculator lets you enter your recordable cases and hours worked to calculate TRIR, DART rate and related figures in a few seconds. For ongoing tracking, incidents recorded in SMS360 can feed dashboards and reports, so safety teams can monitor rates by site and period without rebuilding spreadsheets each year.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good TRIR?
There is no universal target, because acceptable rates vary by industry. Compare your rate with the BLS average for your NAICS code and year. According to BLS, the 2024 average for all U.S. private industry was 2.3 per 100 FTE workers. Many companies aim to stay below their industry average and to show a downward trend over several years, while also tracking leading indicators.
Is TRIR the same as the OSHA recordable rate?
Yes. TRIR, OSHA recordable rate, total case incident rate and the BLS "total recordable cases incidence rate" all describe the same calculation: recordable cases multiplied by 200,000, divided by hours worked. The name differs by organization, but the inputs and formula are the same.
Why is 200,000 used in the TRIR formula?
The 200,000 constant equals 100 full-time employees working 40 hours a week for 50 weeks a year. Multiplying by it converts your case count into a rate per 100 full-time workers, which allows fair comparisons between companies of different sizes and against national statistics.
Do first aid cases count toward TRIR?
No. Only cases that meet the OSHA recording criteria in 29 CFR Part 1904 are included. Treatments listed as first aid in 29 CFR 1904.7, such as bandages, non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength and cold or heat therapy, do not make a case recordable on their own.
How often should TRIR be calculated?
Most companies calculate TRIR annually for the OSHA 300A summary period and for prequalification. Many also calculate it monthly or quarterly using a rolling 12-month window. This gives earlier warning of trends while reducing the swings that come from small monthly case counts.
