KARE Safety Award | Safety Request Form | Safety Links
How To Compute & Use OSHA Incidence Rates
There is a direct relationship between safety, quality, productivity and profitability in business today. The most effective safety programs take a proactive approach by identifying and controlling workplace hazards before they become a workers' compensation claim. KARE's safety management team is trained in up-to-date risk assessment techniques, including job hazard analysis, task analysis and ergonomics, and offers the following services:
Occupational safety and health planningRisk evaluation and controlOn-site safety surveys and recommendationsSafety consultationsModel Safety ProgramsIncident investigationsFree Safety Video Training LibraryFree group or worksite WorkshopsSpecifically designed safety programs
KARE's Model Safety Program, an invaluable resource, is available at no charge to all KARE insureds. Topics addressed in the Model Program include safety management administration, effective record keeping, dealing with blood borne pathogens, fleet safety, hazard communications, and how to create a light duty policy program. (For a more complete listing of topics, view the entire table of contents.) The Model Safety Program may be obtained on disk or in printed form. To request your copy, use our online Safety Request Form, or call Jerry Binkley or Larry Maze at 502-244-7176 or 800-781-7808.
All KARE insureds have access to our extensive Safety Video Training Library. There are currently over 75 titles available for loan. These videos provide practical safety information and instruction on a wide variety of relevant topics and are a useful training tool. To request a video(s), use our convenient online Safety Request Form, or if you prefer, you may fax Leana Phillips or Toni Ann McKenney at 502-489-6445. (NOTE: If you are sending a fax, please be sure to include your name, company name, address, the video number and title, and your KARE policy number.) You may also call 1-800-781-7808 to request videos.
Each year, the KARE safety staff conducts Free Safety Workshops for KARE insureds. The goal of these workshops is to provide you with an opportunity for ongoing instruction and improvement in the workplace safety arena. To determine the most valuable topics, we survey workshop attendees after each program. The topics of the greatest interest to attendees then become the subject matter for the following year's workshops. Some examples of past workshop topics are:
Written Safety ProgramsHazard Communication ProgramsHow to Implement an Awareness Campaign to Combat Material Handling ClaimsThe Top 25 City KOSHA Standards for General and Construction IndustriesPersonal Protective EquipmentOSHA Program Overview We also ask attendees to critique the program to let us know of any needed improvements. To date, our safety workshops have been very well received, and the comments submitted by attendees have been quite positive. Below is a sampling of comments from past attendees:
"Very good information!"
Larry Simpson, News Publishing
"Information that I have received from these programs has already given our company a more positive outlook on safety management in our workplace."
Marty Miller, Chapel House of Grayson
"I found the program to be effective and thought provoking."
Rod Bell, Sanitation District #1
"Program was very informative. More programs such as this would be beneficial to my company."
"Very helpful to myself and my employees. I learned a lot of things to help me be a better manager."
"I have learned a lot about improving safety and making my workplace safer, and also how to communicate with my people about safety."
"Excellent program -- enjoyable!"
Rita Scott, Mount Saint Joseph
"Thank you! Well done."
Sam Compton, SRSI
In addition to these free workshops, KARE policyholders who are also Kentucky Chamber of Commerce members, receive deep discounts on all Chamber seminars, workshops, conferences, and publications. Please see the Chamber's web site for a current list of safety-related seminars and workshops.
Each year, KARE recognizes a select group of its policyholders for doing an outstanding job in safety and loss control management. (This year, 34 organizations earned this distinction.) To qualify to receive the annual KARE safety award, an organization must:
Maintain a loss ratio of less than 25%Maintain a designated safety professional on staffMaintain a light duty return-to-work programRemain in compliance with all federal and state OSHA regulations
As an aid to safety management, incidence rates can be used to show the relative level of injuries, illnesses or lost work days among different industries, firms, or operations within a single firm. The common exposure base enables one to make accurate inter-industry comparisons, trend analysis over time or comparisons among firms regardless of size. Calculating these rates for your business can help determine both problem areas and progress in preventing work-related injuries and illnesses.
Incidence rates take on more meaning for an employer when the injury and illness experience of the firm is compared with that of other employers doing similar work with workforces of similar size. Information available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) permits detailed comparisons by industry and size of firm.
Use the following formula to calculate your firm's injury and illness record:
N/EH x 200,000
Where:
N = Number of injuries and/or illnesses or lost workdays
EH = Total hours worked by all employees during calendar year
200,000 = Base for 100 full-time equivalent workers
(working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year)
The following links will provide additional useful information on this topic:
OSHA Safety & Health Management System eTool -Provides online calculators for:-- Estimated Annual Accident Costs-- Impact of Accidents of Profit and Sales-- Injury and/or Incident RatesU.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics -Excellent resource. Provides detailed instructions forcalculating and using OSHA incidence rates andgives examples.BLS Incidence Rates by State -Provides PDF-format tables showing incidents andillnesses by industry for each state. This page alsoprovides contact information for the individualresponsible for keeping occupational safety andhealth data for each state.
The following are excellent resources for additional safety-related information:
Gateway for Safety & Health Information Resources -http://www.osh.netKentucky Injury Prevention & Research Center -http://www.kiprc.uky.eduKentucky Labor Cabinet -http://www.kylabor.netKentucky Occupational Safety & Health Program -http://www.kylabor.net/kyosh/National Safety Council -http://www.nsc.orgOccupational Safety & Health Administration -http://www.osha.govOn-Line Safety Library -www.safetyinfo.comOSHA Information -http://www.oshadata.comProfessional Ergonomics Solutions -http://www.ergoweb.comAbout KARE | Agent Locator | Regulatory News | Newsletter Archive
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