Templates and records · ISO 45001 · Clause 9.1.1
ISO 45001 accident rate indicators record
The figures that tell management whether prevention is working: accidents, days lost and, above all, indicators that look ahead of the harm.
In one sentence
The accident rate indicators record sets out what is measured in health and safety, by which method, against which criterion it is judged and what result each period produces, because ISO 45001 requires the organisation to determine how performance is monitored and measured, evaluate it and retain evidence of the results (9.1.1); frequency and severity rates are the core, but they are not enough without leading indicators.
- Where the standard requires it
- ISO 45001 · Clause 9.1.1 Clauses are cited using the numbering of ISO 45001:2018, the current edition, which includes the 2024 amendment on climate change.
- Type of information
- Mandatory record Documented information to be retained (9.1.1)
- Who fills it in
- Health and safety practitioner HR supplies the hours worked; the analysis goes to the management review
- When
- Every month or quarter Often enough to allow a response; trend analysis at least once a year
- How long it is kept
- Set by the organisation ISO 45001 sets no retention periods (7.5.3). Spanish Law 31/1995 also requires prevention documentation to be kept available to the labour authority (art. 23), so it is wise not to destroy anything while the role or risk it refers to still exists.
What the standard requires
What ISO 45001 demands and what it leaves to your judgement
The standard requires you to decide what is monitored —legal compliance, activities related to hazards and risks, progress towards objectives and the effectiveness of controls—, with which methods, against which criteria, when, and when the results are analysed.
It does not impose specific indicators. Lagging ones, such as accident frequency or severity, measure what has already happened; leading ones, such as inspections carried out, near misses reported or training kept up to date, let you act beforehand. A system that only measures accidents arrives too late.
Where measuring equipment is used —sound level meters, gas detectors—, its calibration or verification must be ensured and that evidence retained too.
Structure
Fields the template should include
- Indicator, formula and data source
- Type: lagging or leading
- Period, value obtained and comparison with the previous one
- Criterion or target it is compared against
- Hours worked and average headcount for the period
- Accidents with and without sick leave, and working days lost
- Near misses reported and inspections carried out
- Trend analysis and conclusion
- Resulting actions and their link to objectives
Example
Example: quarterly dashboard for a 140-person plant
Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Period | First quarter of 2026 · 61,200 hours worked |
| Accidents with sick leave | 2 (3 in the same quarter of 2025) |
| Frequency rate | 32.7 lost-time accidents per million hours (49.0 in 2025) |
| Working days lost | 19 · severity rate 0.31 per thousand hours |
| Near misses reported | 24 against a target of 20 · the rise is the intended trend |
| Safety inspections | 11 of 12 planned |
| Health and safety training up to date | 96% of the workforce |
| Conclusion | Frequency is falling; both lost-time accidents were in the warehouse, which also accounts for 9 of the near misses |
| Action | Housekeeping campaign in the warehouse tied to the 2026 health and safety objective |
At the audit
Mistakes auditors commonly flag
- Only lost-time accidents are measured: the system has no leading indicator at all.
- Rates calculated from estimated hours that differ every quarter and cannot be compared.
- Indicators have no criterion or target, so no conclusion is ever drawn.
- Accident-free periods are rewarded, which discourages people from reporting near misses.
- The results never reach the management review or the objectives.
In Kimobox
How this record is kept in Kimobox
- 1Accident rates are calculated from the recorded accident reports, with no manual work every quarter.
- 2Process indicators are defined with their target and the system calculates the follow-up.
- 3Health and safety objectives are linked to their indicators, with an owner and a date.
- 4The management review starts with the health and safety data already aggregated.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us before getting started
How is the frequency rate calculated?
The number of lost-time accidents divided by the hours worked in the period, expressed per million hours. What matters is always applying the same formula and the same source of hours so that periods can be compared.
What is a leading indicator?
One that measures preventive activity before any harm occurs: inspections carried out, near misses reported, planned measures closed on time or training kept up to date. The standard does not use that name, but it does require the effectiveness of controls to be monitored, and these indicators are how you do it.
Should the indicators be shared with the workforce?
The standard requires relevant information about the system to be communicated and workers to participate. Sharing the indicators and their trend is a simple way of showing that.
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Sources
Where each figure comes from
References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.
- ISO 45001:2018 — Occupational health and safety management systems — Requirements with guidance for use ISO · 2018 ed., with Amd 1:2024
- Ley 31/1995 of 8 November on the prevention of occupational risks BOE-A-1995-24292 · Consolidated text