How to Lower Your Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR)

Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) measures the “loss of shift work wherein any job site injury results in the associated employee missing out on one shift.”  It is believed to indicate shortcomings in injury prevention performance and we can provide some of the best tips on how to reduce your workplace’s LTIFR.   

What is a lost time injury?

A lost time injury occurs when an employee is injured in such a way that they are rendered unable to carry out the regular duties of their job for a minimum of one complete shift or workday.  The calculation of a business’s lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) is done by multiplying the total number of LTIs by one million, and then dividing the resulting number by the total number of hours that were worked during the reporting period.

The LTIFR is generally considered the company’s most significant measure of safety performance.  To help improve your workplace safety performance and reduce injury frequency rates, these are some steps you can take:

1. Give workers the appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment). This is necessary to ensure they can do their jobs safely. 
2. Ensure workers thoroughly understand the requirement to adhere to safe work practices through education and awareness promotion.  Host toolbox talks and encourage your workers to take part in safety committees.
3. Nurture a safety culture, ensuring that safety is the company’s top priority.
4. Carry out risk assessments when new machinery or a new worker is introduced or the job task changes. This is necessary to identify any possible risk to workers and hazards.
5. Make sure that workers have all the physical and psychosocial capacities necessary for safe performance of their assigned job tasks. This must be done through having them undergo fit-for-duty (pre-employment or functional) assessments.
6. Recognise individuals and teams who encourage others to observe safe working practices and who practice them themselves. Consider rewarding these people for their efforts.
7. Make sure that workers who fail to adhere to measures and protocols for workplace safety face the consequences that have been set in your policies.
8. Ensure that workers correctly use equipment and machinery and properly follow workplace rules and procedures for safety.
9. Ensure there are robust injury response processes in place (IRC). 
10. Ensure  Job Task Analysis (JTA) are developed for NTD's (nominated treating doctors) to assess suitable duties to reduce time lost.

Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR)

Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) is another metric for tracking medically treated injury numbers that some feel is more accurate and effective than the LTIFR.  Make sure to track TRIFR in addition to LTIFR.  The TRIFR system ensures that there is equal treatment for all safety incidents.  The other benefits of this system include the fact that it can:

• Improve statistical accuracy;
• Enhance the prevention of job site injuries through better organisational risk profile towards this area;
• Favour TRIFR-focused suppliers, helping ensure that their processes are the same in approach;
• Encourages more acute insight with regard to job site safety hot spot identification;
• Improves governance through instituting broader scope in detailed incident reporting as well as an understanding of new and emerging OHS risk factors.

Taking Control of Your LTIFR Rate

While the LTIFR rate is a significant one that can affect the reputation and functioning of your business, there are many things you can do to help reduce it.  We have set out numerous steps that you can take to improve in this area, thus making your workplace safer.

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact us here or on 1300 OHS RTW. 

References

“What can companies do to reduce their lost time injury frequency rates?” www.safeopedia.com/what-can-companies-do-to-reduce-their-lost-time-injury-frequency-rates/7/5086

“Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate – Under Fire As An Incomplete Safety Monitoring Process”, www.assignar.com/workforce/manage-lost-time-injuries-reduce-frequency-rate