TRIR = (number of OSHA recordable cases × 200,000) ÷ total hours worked by all employees.
The 200,000 is 100 full-time workers' annual hours (100 workers × 40 hours × 50 weeks), so the result reads as recordable cases per 100 full-time workers per year, comparable across company sizes. Or skip the arithmetic: our free calculator does TRIR, DART, and LTIR at once.
A worked example
A drywall contractor ran 24 field and office employees last year. Payroll shows 46,800 total hours actually worked. The 300 log shows two recordable cases: one laceration that needed sutures, one sprain with restricted work.
TRIR = (2 × 200,000) ÷ 46,800 = 8.5
Three notes on doing this right:
- Cases come straight off the 300A: the total of columns G, H, I, and J. Only recordable cases count; first-aid-only cases don't, and neither do near misses.
- Hours means hours actually worked by everyone: field, office, part-timers, supervised temps. No vacation, holiday, or sick hours. If payroll can't produce it, OSHA's 300A package includes an estimation worksheet, and employees × 2,000 hours is the rough cut.
- Use the same year for both numbers. Last calendar year's cases over last calendar year's hours, matching your posted 300A.
The sibling rates: DART, LTIR, EMR
- DART counts only the more serious subset: cases with days away, restricted work, or job transfer (columns H + I), times 200,000, over hours. It answers "how often does an injury actually pull someone off their job?"
- LTIR narrows further to days-away cases (column H only).
- EMR isn't computed from your log at all. It's the experience modification rate your workers' comp carrier calculates from claims history. Prequal forms often ask for TRIR, DART, and EMR together, but only the first two come from this math.
What's a good TRIR?
Compare against your own industry, not a universal number. The current federal benchmarks, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey for calendar year 2024 (released January 2026):
| Benchmark (2024, per 100 full-time workers) | Rate |
|---|---|
| Private industry, all sectors, total recordable cases | 2.3 |
| Construction, total recordable cases | 2.2 |
| Construction, DART cases | 1.3 |
Source: BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Table 1, 2024.
Practical reference points on top of the statistics: staying under your industry average reads as solid; many general contractors screen subcontractors somewhere around a TRIR of 3.0, though every GC sets its own bar and some ask for trends rather than a single year. If a number decides whether you can bid, ask the GC what they screen on.
The small-crew asterisk
At 46,800 hours, a single recordable case is a TRIR of 4.3 all by itself. Two cases put our drywall contractor at 8.5, nearly four times the construction average, off one bad month. That's arithmetic, not negligence: small denominators swing hard, and sophisticated GCs know it. What you can control is the record behind the number: classification decisions that are defensible case by case, three years of history that shows the trend, and a story you can tell with dates and documents. What you can't do is make the number pretty by leaning on people not to report; OSHA's rules prohibit retaliation for reporting injuries (1904.35), and suppressed cases surface at the worst possible times.
Rates that are always current, never a scramble
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Quick answers
Is a TRIR of zero believable?
For a small company, absolutely. At 20 people, plenty of honest companies run multiple clean years. Pair the zero with real records (a posted 300A showing zeros, talks, sign-offs) and it reads as diligence rather than missing paperwork.
Do subcontractors' or temps' injuries go into my TRIR?
The log follows day-to-day supervision (1904.31). Staffing-agency workers you supervise day to day go on your log, and their hours belong in your denominator. A subcontractor running its own crew keeps its own log.
Which year do GCs want?
Typically the last full calendar year, and often the last three, straight off your 300As. That's also the pattern insurers use, which is why keeping five years of records pays for itself at bid time.
Primary sources (checked August 4, 2026): BLS SOII Table 1, 2024 rates · BLS news release, 2023-2024 · 29 CFR 1904.7 (what's recordable) · 29 CFR 1904.31 (covered employees)
SiteSafetyHQ is an independent product, not affiliated with OSHA or BLS. Workflow help, not legal advice.