What is TRIR, and why do operators ask for it?

BLS gives the formula as:

(Number of injuries and illnesses x 200,000) / Employee hours worked = Incidence rate

The 200,000 "represents the equivalent of 100 employees working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year." That base is what lets a 12-person crew and a 400-person company be compared on the same scale.

BLS's worked example: a company with 7 recordable cases and 400,000 hours worked has a rate of (7 x 200,000) / 400,000 = 3.5. If 3 of those cases involved days away, job transfer or restriction, the rate for those more serious cases (often called DART) is (3 x 200,000) / 400,000 = 1.5.

BLS says to use the hours all employees actually worked, and not to include nonwork time even when it is paid, such as vacation, sick leave and holidays. And notice how sensitive the number is for a small company: with low total hours, a single recordable case moves TRIR a lot.

The numerator comes from your OSHA 300 log, so the rules for what goes on the log decide your TRIR. Under 29 CFR 1904.7, a work-related injury or illness is recordable if it results in any of these:

• death
• days away from work
• restricted work or transfer to another job
• medical treatment beyond first aid
• loss of consciousness
• a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional

First aid alone does not make a case recordable. That line between first aid and medical treatment is where most recordkeeping mistakes happen, in both directions.

Small employers have a partial exemption. Under 29 CFR 1904.1, if your company had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year, you do not need to keep OSHA injury and illness records unless OSHA or BLS tells you in writing that you must. Oil and gas extraction and support activities are not on the list of partially exempt industries in Appendix A to Subpart B, so most oilfield service companies with more than 10 employees keep the log. Operators may still ask a small company for its injury data even when OSHA does not require a log.

Prequalification questionnaires commonly ask for TRIR, DART, fatalities and the experience mod for the last three years, along with copies of the OSHA 300A summaries. The 300A is the annual summary you must post from February 1 to April 30 of the following year, certified by a company executive (29 CFR 1904.32).

The operator is using TRIR as a screen. Each operator sets its own thresholds and decides what to do when a contractor is above them. Some ask for an explanation and a corrective action plan rather than turning the contractor away.

For context, BLS publishes national rates by industry. For 2024, BLS reports a total recordable rate of 0.8 for support activities for oil and gas operations (NAICS 213112), 1.3 for drilling oil and gas wells (NAICS 213111), and 2.3 for private industry overall. Those are national averages, not an operator's requirement, and a small company's rate can swing far more from year to year.

TRIR and your insurance program are measured differently but driven by the same events.

• Your experience mod is built from workers comp claims and dollars, weighted toward how often claims happen. A run of small recordable injuries hurts both numbers. See what an experience mod is.
• Your loss runs show the same injuries from the insurer's side. Reviewers sometimes compare the two. See what a loss run is.
• Serious events have their own clock. Under 29 CFR 1904.39, a work-related fatality must be reported to OSHA within 8 hours, and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours. That reporting duty applies even to employers partially exempt from keeping the log.

If your TRIR is high, the fix is in the field, not on the certificate. A written safety program, a return-to-work process and good incident investigation help both numbers. See whether a safety program lowers premiums.