The DART rate—which stands for Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred—is an OSHA-mandated metric that measures how many workplace injuries or illnesses result in either days away from work, restricted duty, or a job transfer per 100 full-time equivalent workers. It is calculated using the formula:
Here, “200,000” equates to 100 employees working 40 hours per week for 50 weeks—standardizing the rate. This specific answer appears right away to satisfy informational search intent.
What does “DART Rate” Mean in Workplace Safety?
The term DART Rate refers explicitly to the rate of workplace injuries and illnesses that are severe enough to prompt one of three outcomes:
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Days Away From Work: Situations where the affected employee cannot work the next day(s) after the injury/illness.
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Restricted Work Activity: When an employee returns but is limited in performing regular duties.
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Job Transfer: When an employee is reassigned due to temporary or permanent impairment.
This metric is more targeted than general incident rates like TRIR (Total Recordable Incident Rate), capturing not just injuries but those that materially disrupt an employee’s ability to perform regular work. DART rate zeroes in on incidence severity and operational impact.
DART rate is critical for compliance: OSHA uses it to monitor workplace safety, while companies benchmark performance and proactively reduce risk. A rising DART rate may lead to OSHA scrutiny or investigations. Additionally, the DART rate can influence workers’ compensation premiums and business reputation.
How is the DART Rate Calculated Step by Step?
The calculation follows a straightforward yet impactful formula:
Steps:
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Count DART incidents — Injuries or illnesses meeting OSHA recordable criteria that led to days away, restricted duty, or job transfer. Note that multiple outcomes from one incident count as a single case.
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Tally hours worked — Include all actual work hours by employees (and supervised non-employees such as temps), excluding vacation, sick leave, holidays, etc.
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Apply the formula — Multiply incidents by 200,000, divide by total hours.
Illustrative Example Table:
| Scenario | DART Incidents | Hours Worked | Calculation | DART Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small company | 5 | 400,000 | (5 × 200,000) ÷ 400,000 = 1,000,000 ÷ 400,000 | 2.5 |
| Mid-size business | 25 | 400,000 | (25 × 200,000) ÷ 400,000 = 5,000,000 ÷ 400,000 | 12.5 |
| Construction firm | 20 | 2,424,705 | (20 × 200,000) ÷ 2,424,705 ≈ 4,000,000 ÷ 2,424,705 | ~1.65 |
This table illustrates how DART rate scales relative to injury severity and workforce size.
Why is Calculating the DART Rate Important?
Understanding and calculating your DART rate matters for several interlinked reasons:
1. Regulatory Compliance and OSHA Oversight: OSHA tracks DART as a key performance metric. High DART rates—especially relative to industry norms—can trigger inspections. OSHA prioritizes enforcement based on these rates.
2. Benchmarking and Risk Management: Comparing your DART rate with industry averages gives you a feel for your safety culture. The BLS reports an average private-industry DART of around 1.5 to 1.8 in recent years. Representing workforce safety through trend analysis helps you identify areas for intervention.
3. Financial Implications: Higher DART often means increased workers’ compensation claims, insurance premiums, and potential legal exposure. Clients and partners may scrutinize your DART as part of supplier safety assessments.
4. Operational Impact: Even restricted-duty cases, while not days away, still disrupt productivity, staffing, and morale. The DART rate captures this operational cost more fully than TRIR.
5. Strategic Safety Culture: Tracking DART helps organizations assess the effectiveness of return-to-work programs, training, safety audits, and culture initiatives. A declining DART reflects improving safety performance.
How is the DART Rate Different from TRIR (Total Recordable Incident Rate)?
While both DART and TRIR are OSHA-driven metrics, they serve different analytical purposes:
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TRIR counts all recordable injuries or illnesses per 100 full-time workers— including those only requiring medical treatment or first aid.
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DART counts only those more severe cases resulting in days away, restricted duty, or job transfer. Naturally, DART is a subset of TRIR and should be lower. If they are similar in value, that signals every incident severely impacted operations—a red flag.
TRIR shows incident frequency, while DART illustrates incident severity and its operational aftermath. Both together give a holistic view of safety performance.
What is a “Good” DART Rate, and How to Interpret it?
A “Good” DART rate depends on your industry, size, and risk profile:
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Private-industry average hovers around 1.5 to 1.8 per 100 workers. Aim to be at or below this average.
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High-risk industries (e.g., construction, mining) naturally trend higher; comparisons must use industry-specific benchmarks.
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Organization size matters: small employers may have distorted rates due to low denominators—OSHA considers business size when interpreting DART.
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A rate significantly above the norm indicates workplace hazards not being controlled; a strangely low rate—especially if near zero—may warrant questions about underreporting.
Rather than focusing solely on hitting a number, prioritize trend improvement, comparisons over time, and context-specific safety thresholds. The DOE, for example, uses DART and TRC rates in contractor performance evaluations—highlighting the importance of continual safety improvement.
How Can You Improve or Reduce Your DART Rate?
Reducing DART requires a committed, holistic safety culture and systematic actions:
1. Enhance incident reporting and recordkeeping accuracy: Ensure surveillance catches all recordable incidents—don’t miss restricted duty cases or improperly logged events. An accurate denominator (hours worked) is equally critical.
2. Implement return-to-work and transitional duty programs: Cases that result in restricted duty are preferable to days away from work. They help keep employees engaged, reduce lost productivity, and lower DART.
3. Conduct regular safety training and audits: Identify hazards, improve hazard control, and retrain staff on safety protocols. Use DART data to uncover patterns and root causes.
4. Use leading indicators: Pair DART (a lagging indicator) with proactive measures: safety walkthroughs, near-miss reporting, and employee engagement. DOE recommends performance strategies combining DART, TRC, and these leading indicators.
5. Leverage EHS software: Automation helps ensure accuracy in incident logging, calculations, and trend reporting.
6. Benchmark and communicate: Compare your organization to peer companies, share results, and drive leadership to prioritize safety investments.
Summary Table – Key Facts about DART Rate
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What does DART stand for? | Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred |
| Why multiply by 200,000? | Represents the equivalent of 100 workers × 40 hrs/week × 50 wks/year |
| What does DART measure? | OSHA-recordable incidents that disrupt an employee’s work availability |
| How to calculate it? | (DART cases × 200,000) ÷ total hours worked |
| Benchmark range | ~1.5–1.8 in private industry |
| Why does it matter? | OSHA oversight, cost control, safety culture, operational continuity |
| How to improve it? | Better reporting, RTW, safety culture, audits, benchmarking |
Final Thoughts
Each DART case represents a moment when an individual’s health, productivity, and well-being intersect with corporate systems. So think of DART as your safety story metric—not just a compliance checkbox. Use it to amplify training, storytelling, empathy, and proactive prevention in your workplace. Celebrate improvements, invest in prevention strategies that center on employee care, and treat restricted-duty cases as opportunities for human-centred accommodation rather than just metrics to manage.
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