TRIR is the one safety number almost every prequalification platform and procurement team looks at. If you bid work through ISNetworld, Avetta, or Veriforce, your TRIR follows you everywhere. Here’s what it means and why it matters.
What TRIR is
TRIR stands for Total Recordable Incident Rate. It measures how many OSHA-recordable injuries and illnesses your company had per 100 full-time workers over a year.
The formula: TRIR = (number of recordable incidents × 200,000) ÷ total hours worked. The 200,000 represents 100 employees working 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year — it normalizes the rate so a 10-person shop and a 500-person contractor can be compared.
What number clients want to see
It varies by industry, but as a rule of thumb: many hiring clients set their threshold at or below the industry average published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for your NAICS code. A TRIR meaningfully above your industry average will trigger flags, conditional approvals, or outright disqualification. Below average, you’re competitive. Well below, it becomes a selling point.
How TRIR wins or loses bids
- Prequalification platforms grade you on it automatically — it feeds directly into your letter grade or approval status.
- A high TRIR can require written explanations, corrective action plans, or exclusion from bidding entirely.
- Insurance underwriters look at the same history, so a high rate costs you twice: lost bids and higher premiums.
Bringing your rate down
You can’t change last year’s numbers, but you can change the trajectory. Accurate recordkeeping matters first — many contractors over-record because they can’t distinguish recordable injuries from first-aid cases. Beyond that, the fundamentals: hazard analysis before high-risk tasks, real near-miss reporting, and training that targets your actual incident patterns.
One caution: never suppress legitimate recordables to protect your rate. Clients audit, OSHA penalizes, and a falsification finding is far worse than a high TRIR.
Where we fit
Seneca Safety Partners helps contractors get their recordkeeping right, explain their history to hiring clients, and build the programs that prevent the next incident. Qualify. Maintain. Protect.