OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulates workplace safety in the United States. Incidence rates for injuries, illnesses or adverse events can be used to compare different worksites. A high incidence rate may be used to determine if an on-site inspection is needed to evaluate safe working practices.
incidence rate =
= (number of injuries during time period) * (200,000) / (total number of hours worked by all employees during time period)
where:
• 200,000 = 40 * 50 * 100 = number of hours worked by 100 employees in a year, assuming 2 weeks of vacation
The rate is the number of injuries if 100 workers worked a year full time:
(incidence rate for 100 worker•years) / (200,000 hours in year) = (number of injuries seen in period) / (number of hours worked in period)
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