A woman on the phone seeking assistance for a man who was hurt at work

ISN, a company involved in contractor and supplier information management, released its Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) Insights report, which was created to support companies with safety initiatives.

Over the past 20 years, the United States has seen a steady decline in overall recordable incident rates, according to a company press release touting the report. However, the rate of SIFs, separate from other incidents, has not shown a similar decline.

To create the report, ISN leveraged its platform data along with new technology to analyze over 55,000 recordable incidents from 2017, 2018 and 2019. The analysis provides historical data on SIFs involving contractors and direction on where companies can take action to mitigate the risk of these incidents moving forward.

Highlights from the SIF Insights report include: 

Leading Indicators For SIFS

Organizations are more likely to experience higher SIF rates if contractors work at heights of six feet or higher, bring chemicals on site, work with rigging material handling, or perform welding, cutting or hot work. 

Factors Reducing Occurrences Of SIFs

Organizations are less likely to experience SIFs if contractors work in a process safety management (PSM) facility, if the employer has established an environmental program, or employs a paramedic at the work site or during large projects.

Developing A Culture Of Safety

In addition to contractor characteristics and incident-specific data, information on safety culture and employee and contractor perceptions at an organization are key leading indicators for SIFs. In fact, 75 percent of the surveyed hiring clients believe improving safety culture and value alignment is an effective approach to reducing SIFs.

“The primary priority for any organization that works with contractors is that all workers return home safely to their families every day. While companies have been successful at minimizing on-site incidents, they are still searching for ways to reduce serious injuries and fatalities across locations and high risk job roles,” said Brian Callahan, president and chief operating officer at ISN. “By leveraging the data collected in the SIF Insights report, companies and contractors can continue to develop actionable strategies that mitigate the risk of SIFs.”

ISN's report can be accessed by filling out the form shown here.