Lost Time Injury

A lost time injury (LTI) is something that results in a fatality, permanent disability, or time lost from work. It could be as little as one day or a shift off work being lost, or months of rehabilitation. It can arise from a small incident, like a paper cut, or from a notifiable event such as a fall from height.

According to Section 36 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (Part 2, Subpart 2), every New Zealander has the right to go home at the end of each working day unharmed, as this subsection states:

The primary duty of care of a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU):

1. A PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of—
   (a) workers who work for the PCBU, while the workers are at work in the business or undertaking; and
   (b) workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the PCBU, while the workers are carrying out the work.

According to Statistics New Zealand figures, ACC processed 231,100 claims for work-related injuries in 2017. Clearly, more needs to be done to ensure employers are adhering to the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 requirements, and workers finish their shifts injury-free.

Lost time injury frequency rates’ (LTIFR) are used to calculate how a company health and safety system is performing, by calculating the number of LTIs multiplied by 1 million, divided by the number of person-hours worked in the period.  However, this should not be the only method used to calculate a company’s internal ratings; companies also need to consider other factors, such as training, tracking of initiatives, near-miss reporting, and audit results. These factors being considered, reported upon, and worked on as a team with ongoing monitoring, will help in the company achieving a positive result, both in their workplace health and safety, and also team morale.

Our online health and safety system, GOSH,  is designed to help you to get all aspects of your health and safety running smoothly.  You can customise modules and packages to suit your industry and your company’s specific health and safety requirements, track visitors to your site(s), stay up-to-date with your company’s health and safety status from anywhere, anytime, and run reports on your health and safety performance.

So, if you’re looking for a better way to measure performance, contact the team at Working Wise today on 04 499 0710, or by completing our online contact form.