What Is TRIR? Formula, Calculation and Examples

How to Use TRIR to Make a Positive Impact

The health and safety of your workforce should always remain a core focus, and ensuring your business maintains a safe work environment is a large part of this effort.

If your company is using safety management software, you will likely have your company-wide safety data already stored in your central knowledge management system. Having this information readily available in the event of an OSHA inspection can lend credibility to your efforts to maintain a low TRIR.

In addition, using EHS software to track your TRIR score and other parts of your EHS program can help you determine a potential problem before it earns attention from OSHA. You get a better idea of your safety performance and can make adjustments as you go.

3 Ways to Lower Your TRIR

The business of managing safety programs at work is a lot like what’s happening in the medical world: both industries have taken a more holistic view of keeping people safe and well.

In both cases, that translates into a more integrated perspective with a focus on prevention. For companies interested in lowering their TRIR, the key to prevention lies in the collection and analysis of massive amounts of data.

That simply wasn’t possible just a few years ago, but with today’s new breed of advanced EHS software, it’s not only possible—it’s painless, enjoyable and effective. But even the best software in the world can’t compensate for an environment that’s not conducive to safety. With that in mind, here are three ways to lower your TRIR.

1. Determine Your Safety Culture

This involves some Big Picture thinking, but basically you want to pinpoint the collective attitude towards workplace safety at your company. Ask these questions:

• Are we thinking about how to prevent accidents?
• Is everyone motivated to report near misses and first aids?
• Is management prepared to handle reports of safety gaps?
• Is everyone on board with the idea of preventing incidents before they happen?
• How do we view safety?  Is it the safety person’s job or does everyone participate?

2. Lock onto a Solid Incident Investigation Process

When incidents occur, you’ll want to already have a secure process in place for an effective investigation. Managers as well as front line workers and everyone else should know what steps to take in order to ensure all the right data and safety metrics get collected in the right way.

3. Incident Review and Correction

If an incident does occur, it’s important to handle it correctly, but even more important to learn from it. If you have solid records and a firm command of how events play into recordable incidents, you can prevent future incidents.

To see how EHS Insight can help you monitor and achieve a better TRIR score, request a free trial of our all-in-one EHS software solution today.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does TRIR stand for and why does it matter?

TRIR stands for Total Recordable Incident Rate. It is an OSHA-defined metric that measures the frequency of recordable workplace incidents per 100 full-time employees annually. It matters because it benchmarks your company's safety performance against industry peers, influences insurance premiums, and can trigger OSHA inspections.

What is the TRIR formula?

The OSHA-approved formula is: TRIR = (Number of Recordable Incidents × 200,000) ÷ Total Hours Worked. The 200,000 constant represents the total hours 100 employees would work over 50 weeks at 40 hours per week.

What types of incidents count toward TRIR?

Recordable incidents include: work-related injuries or illnesses requiring medical treatment beyond first aid, cases involving days away from work, restricted work or job transfer, loss of consciousness, and significant diagnoses by a healthcare professional.

Should vacation and leave hours be included in the total hours worked?

No. Only actual hours worked should be included. Vacation, sick leave, FMLA, military leave, and bereavement leave must be excluded from the total hours worked calculation.

What is a good TRIR score?

A good TRIR is relative to your industry. The national average across private industry was approximately 2.3 per 100 full-time workers in 2024. Companies should compare their TRIR against Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data for their specific NAICS code.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, 2023-2024 (released Jan 22, 2026) and Table 1, 2024 Incidence Rates by Industry. Rates are cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers.

Compare your TRIR to the rate for your own NAICS code, not the national average. A TRIR of 2.5 is above average for construction but below average for manufacturing.

How does a high TRIR affect my business?

A high TRIR can lead to increased OSHA oversight and surprise inspections, higher insurance premiums, disqualification from bidding on federal or high-standard contracts, reputational damage that affects talent sourcing, and reduced attractiveness to clients who evaluate vendors by safety performance.

Is TRIR the same as RIR?

Yes. Recordable incident rate (RIR), total recordable rate (TRR) and total case incident rate (TCIR) all use the same formula and the same OSHA recordable cases.

Does TRIR include first aid cases?

No. First aid cases, as defined in OSHA 29 CFR 1904.7(b)(5)(ii), are not recordable and do not count toward TRIR.

How often should I calculate TRIR?

Calculate it at least annually for your OSHA 300A summary. Most EHS teams also track a rolling 12-month TRIR monthly to catch trends early.