If you’re sitting in your favorite restaurant and have a clear view into the kitchen, do you take a look? Of course, you do. Knowing where your food is coming from and who’s preparing it can tell you a lot about the meal you’re about to consume.

The same is true for modular buildings.

Just as a peek into a restaurant kitchen reveals the quality of food you can expect, understanding a manufacturer’s commitment to safety provides insight into the quality of the modular building that will protect your personnel. Knowing that your manufacturer values a culture of safety and is unwilling to take risks or cut corners provides valuable insight into the building you hope will someday protect you and your personnel.

As one of the world leaders in producing hardened and robust modular buildings, safety—yours and ours—is the driving force behind everything we do.

But telling you that and actually showing you are two completely different things.

Luckily, there is an easy way to look behind the curtain at our operation and others like ours by simply reviewing an organization’s Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) score.

What is a TRIR score?

Developed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the TRIR scoring system is a formula used across industries to quantify an organization’s overall safety. The formula evaluates the number of accidents that have occurred at an organization compared to the total man-hours worked. Accidents mean recordable work-related injuries or illnesses that require medical treatment beyond first aid.

To better understand the TRIR and what it says about an organization, let’s take a deeper look at how it works.

Basically, if a company has no on-the-job injuries (with treatment beyond first aid), its TRIR score would be 0.00.

However, if an accident does occur, the data is entered into the following formula: 

Total number of recordable injuries/illnesses, per 100 employees X 200,000, divided by the total employee hours worked during the year.

(The number 200,000 is derived from 100 employees working 40 hours a week for 50 weeks a year).

To provide a real-world example of how this works, the 2022 TRIR formula used for our parent company, RedGuard, was:

4 X 200,000, divided by 625,137

In this example, the number four indicates that for every 100 employees, four had a recordable injury or illness.

So, in doing the math, RedGuard’s TRIR score for 2022 is: 1.28.

With a TRIR of 1.28 for 2022 compared to the industry average of 5.6, RedGuard demonstrates a strong commitment to safety. This makes sense, being a company that manufactures buildings that protect your investments and personnel.

However, one TRIR score only gives you a snapshot of a company’s safety record for one year. A better way to judge a company’s overall track record is by looking at its TRIR score compounded over several years.

For example, if you looked at the years 2015-17, the formula used to calculate RedGuard’s TRIR score was:

12 X 200,000, divided by 1,538,462 (total hours worked) = 1.56

This means RedGuard’s average three-year TRIR score for those years was 1.56. Our current three-year average is even lower at 0.93. That's a trend in the right direction.

Why is a TRIR score important?

Even though a TRIR score is a lagging indicator, or a sign that becomes apparent only after a large shift has taken place, it can be a valuable tool to evaluate and quantify a company’s safety performance, both internally and externally. And TRIR scores that approach or exceed industry averages can trigger comprehensive and time-consuming OSHA inspections.

But, beyond that, what does a high or a low TRIR score really mean?

A high TRIR score indicates:

• A weak safety culture and ownership
• No safety commitment from management or employees
• OSHA visits with thousands of dollars in fines (violations remain on record/ISN, Avetta, etc., for five years)
• Increased injuries, workers' compensation claims, and settlements
• Higher workers' compensation premiums
• Ineligible to apply for SHARP Certification (OSHA Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program)
• Low morale, low engagement, zero recognition, and job satisfaction

A low TRIR score indicates:

• A safety culture that values personal ownership
• Safety commitment from the top down and bottom up
• Only random OSHA visits for special emphasis, with low or no violations
• Eligible to apply for SHARP Certification
• Few worker’s compensation claims within a given year
• Lower insurance premiums
• High morale, high engagement, recognition, and job satisfaction

How can you use TRIR scores to your advantage

As a customer, you have the right to hold your vendors to the same standards of safety that you set for yourself. The best way to do this is to establish a minimum TRIR score for everyone you work with.

For example, some oil and gas companies will even go so far as to dictate that if your TRIR score isn't at or below their 1.5, the vendor will be unable to:

• Bid on any future work
• Perform any work on the site
• Enter the site at all

While this may sound extreme, remember that the safety of others can dramatically affect your own. Choosing a vendor with a low TRIR score safeguards your workforce and ensures the integrity of your projects. 

Final Thoughts on TRIR

An organization’s TRIR score is a peek into its overall culture. The score not only shows you whether or not a company values safety, but whether they actually walk the walk. By working with an organization with a low TRIR score, like CoverSix Shelters, you are ensuring a dedication to safety throughout the supply chain which will protect employees and result in an end product that will provide you with improved peace of mind.

To learn more about CoverSix and our culture of safety, contact us today.