Safety & Workforce worked example

OSHA Incident Rate with recordable incidents of 2.5 cases: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop recordable incidents to 2.5 cases, then walk the calculation through step by step. Calculate OSHA incident rate for Safety & Workforce from recordable cases and total hours worked, using the OSHA 200,000-hour basis.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Recordable incidents: 2.5 cases (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 5)
  • Total hours worked: 500,000 hr (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: OSHA incident rate = recordable cases × 200,000 ÷ total hours worked.
  • Incident rate works out to 1 per 100 workers at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Cases works out to 2.5 cases at these inputs.
  • Hours worked works out to 500,000 hr at these inputs.
  • Full-time equivalents works out to 250 FTE at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where recordable incidents sits at 5 cases and the headline result is 2 per 100 workers, this scenario comes in 50% below the baseline at 1 per 100 workers.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to recordable incidents, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It only counts OSHA-recordable cases as defined in 29 CFR 1904 — first-aid-only events are excluded, so an honest rate depends entirely on correct recordability determinations.

Results at a glance

  • Incident rate: 1 per 100 workers (headline result)
  • Cases: 2.5 cases
  • Hours worked: 500,000 hr
  • Full-time equivalents: 250 FTE

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live OSHA Incident Rate calculator, set recordable incidents to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.