Serious Injury Frequency Rate
What Does Serious Injury Frequency Rate Mean?
The serious injury frequency rate is a calculation used in the workplace to determine the number of injuries sustained by employees over a specific period, typically based on working hours. This rate reflects the safety of the working conditions for the company’s employees.
Insuranceopedia Explains Serious Injury Frequency Rate
The serious injury frequency rate is calculated by determining the number of injuries per 1,000,000 working hours. For example, if 200 injuries occur during 1,000,000 working hours, the serious injury rate would be 0.0002%. Note that working hours exclude paid vacations.
This calculation provides insight into the safety of a workplace and can help assess the effectiveness of safety programs. Because insurers use figures like this when they price workers’ compensation insurance, a high serious injury frequency rate can push a company’s premiums up year after year. It’s one of the factors that feeds into how much small business insurance costs for companies in physically demanding industries. Additionally, insurance companies offering group insurance for employees may use this data to evaluate premiums and, in some cases, even deny coverage.
