As more and more is written about the value added of safety and of safety being a good business practice, we have continued to receive requests to provide background information on the calculations and programs used in our value added estimates and reports. Specifically, we have had several requests to provide information regarding the cost calculations contained in the DuPont™ Safety Yardstick program. Here is the explanation as provided by DuPont™

The National Safety Council (NSC) is the source of injury information used for cost estimates in the DuPont™ Safety Yardstick program. Each year, based on the data supplied by those organizations that report such information to the NSC, the NSC issues a report called Injury Facts® which are the Council's annual compilation of that data on fatal and nonfatal injuries that occur in the workplace.

The basic data supplied in Injury Facts® is used to compute an estimated average injury cost figure. This, of course, is merely an estimate - other specific factors around the state in which in the injury occurred, the degree at which the organization helps the employee get back to work, and other factors can and do affect this number.

Using the NSC Data in, say, 1999... The NSC estimated that, within their reporting organizations, there were 3.8 million injuries requiring days away from work (disabling injuries). The total injury costs were estimated at $122.6 billion. Therefore, the Lost Workday Case "cost index" is $122.6 billion/3.8 million, or $32,263 per lost workday case. Per this index, one could take their number of lost workday cases, multiply by $32,263, and get an estimate of their total injury cost.

The "cost index" is then calculated for all recordable injuries by taking the $32,263 times 2.0 (the average LWC rate) divided by 8.0 (the average recordable injury rate -- all per NSC) to get a figure of $8066 per recordable injury. Per this index, one could take their number of recordable injuries, multiply by $8066, and get another estimate of their total injury cost.

For the final "cost index" based on the total time lost, the total injury costs ($122.6 billion) is divided by the number of lost days (80 million) to get $1532. Per this index, one could take their total number of lost days, multiply by $1532, and get a third estimate of their total injury cost.

Finally, an average of these three methods is taken to provide a single, average estimate.

[Additional questions should be addressed to: National Safety Council, 1121 Spring Lake Drive, Itasca, IL 60143-3201, (630) 285-1121; Fax: (630) 285-1315; info@nsc.org]

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