How are health and safety measured in the workplace?

Occupational health and safety constitutes a fundamental right for professionals. Grupo Elecnor protects the physical integrity of its teams through occupational risk prevention systems. The company's good preventive practices prevent any workplace accident through a management approach based on data analysis. Since its founding in 1958, the group has maintained a constant commitment to achieving the figure of zero accidents.

The effectiveness of prevention plans is evaluated using standardized accident rate indicators. These technical metrics measure the qualitative and quantitative impact of the safety measures adopted by companies. The Frequency Rate and the Severity Rate constitute the two industry reference variables for auditing occupational safety.

Frequency rate: The frequency rate represents the number of workplace accidents per million hours worked, excluding commuting accidents (i.e., on the way to or from the workplace) and non-traumatic pathologies.

Fr = Number of reportable accidents x 1,000,000 / Hours worked

Severity rate: Meanwhile, the severity rate is an indicator that represents the severity of the accidents suffered, using for this purpose the number of working days lost due to them per thousand hours worked.

Sr = Number of days lost x 1,000 / Hours worked

Accident rate metrics confirm the trend of constant improvement in the company's operations. Elecnor recorded a historic reduction in workplace accidents in Spain, reaching a Frequency Rate of 3.4 (compared to 3.5 in the previous financial year) and a Severity Rate of 0.15 (compared to 0.16 in the previous period). The consolidation of these measures maintained the improvement trend in subsequent periods, recording frequency rates of 2.6 and consolidating the historic Elecnor accident prevention budget for 2025.

Below is a chart showing the evolution of the Frequency Rate (FR) in recent years in Spain, where the reduction compared to the last 10 years is very striking:

Furthermore, these metrics not only demonstrate what management is like for the companies themselves, but they can also serve to identify improvements, adapt business objectives and strategies, or even raise awareness among decision-makers about the positivity and usefulness of this type of project.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Economy offers more details on its website regarding the formulas for counting workplace accidents, as well as a calculator that allows them to be quantified quickly. It can be accessed here: https://herramientasprl.insst.es/gestion