1. What Are Frequency And Severity Rates?

Frequency and severity rates are key occupational safety metrics that measure workplace incident occurrence and impact. The frequency rate calculates how often incidents occur per standard work hours, while the severity rate measures the impact of those incidents in terms of lost work days.

2. How Does The Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the standard formulas:

Where:

• \( Incidents \) — Number of recordable incidents (unitless)
• \( Lost Days \) — Total days lost due to incidents (days)
• \( Hours \) — Total hours worked by all employees (hours)
• \( 200000 \) — Standard base hours (equivalent to 100 employees working 40 hours/week for 50 weeks)

Explanation: These formulas standardize incident rates to allow comparison across different organizations and time periods regardless of workforce size.

3. Importance Of These Metrics

Details: Frequency and severity rates are critical for evaluating workplace safety performance, identifying trends, benchmarking against industry standards, and implementing targeted safety improvements.

4. Using The Calculator

Tips: Enter the total number of recordable incidents, total lost work days, and total hours worked by all employees during the measurement period. All values must be valid (incidents ≥ 0, lost days ≥ 0, hours > 0).

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What constitutes a "recordable incident"?
A: Recordable incidents are work-related injuries or illnesses that meet OSHA recordkeeping criteria, including those requiring medical treatment beyond first aid, resulting in restricted work, or causing lost work days.

Q2: Why use 200,000 as the base hours?
A: 200,000 hours represents 100 employees working 40 hours per week for 50 weeks, providing a standardized benchmark for comparing safety performance across organizations of different sizes.

Q3: What are typical industry benchmark rates?
A: Benchmark rates vary significantly by industry. Generally, lower rates indicate better safety performance. Industry-specific benchmarks are published by organizations like OSHA and BLS.

Q4: How often should these rates be calculated?
A: Most organizations calculate these rates monthly, quarterly, and annually to track trends and measure the effectiveness of safety programs.

Q5: What's the difference between frequency and severity rates?
A: Frequency rate measures how often incidents occur, while severity rate measures the impact or cost of those incidents in terms of lost work time. A company can have a low frequency but high severity rate, or vice versa.