Safety and health in the steel industry: Data report 2023
For terminology definitions and calculations, please refer to the worldsteel publication Safety and health principles and definitions available at mommado.com
Foreword
worldsteel’s safety and health benchmarking is based on balanced and collective metrics.
Monitoring and reporting on accidents and diseases globally ensures adequate risk-based prioritisation and focused global efforts to guarantee the availability of adequate and effective risk controls. Openness and transparency are key to improving safety and health in the steel industry. The safety statistics for 2022 were derived from data provided by 55 organisations, representing 60% of worldsteel members. In terms of crude steel production coverage, worldsteel collected data covering 487 Mt of crude steel, corresponding to 26.6% of global crude steel production. In terms of general industry performance, this report shows progress, with lagging indicators reaching record lows. However, despite this cause for cautious optimism, it is important to recognise that 90 fatalities were reported to worldsteel in 2022. Our immediate focus needs to remain on the reduction and elimination of fatalities across our industry.worldsteel’s position on lagging indicators
The most popular lagging indicators, such as Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) or Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR), will be kept within the worldsteel reporting framework and as a reference of the industry’s general performance. However, comparisons between organisations or local sites should not be made using LTIFR or TRIFR. Below are the main reasons:- These indicators correlate poorly with the severity of accidents and injuries and do not provide a valid or reliable measure of safety and health controls and initiatives.
- The size of an organisation (number of hours) positively impacts injury frequency rates. The number of hours worked (global and regional) don’t allow a comparison on a like-to-like basis.
- Although worldsteel has a definition for Lost Time Injury (LTI) and Total Recordable Injury (TRI), companies vary in their definition of what constitutes an LTI and TRI.
Potential Serious Injuries and Fatalities (PSIF)
A Serious Injury is a permanent impairment or life-altering state, or an injury that, if not immediately addressed, will lead to death or permanent or long-term impairment.
A Potential Serious injury or Fatality is a near miss incident that could have resulted in a serious injury or fatality if not for specific barriers or countermeasures or if one factor around the event had been changed.
A precursor of PSIF is a high-risk situation in which control methods are absent, ineffective, or not complied with, and if allowed to continue, would potentially result in a fatality or serious injury.
The number of individual sites reporting to worldsteel the use of the PSIF framework has increased in recent years. The figures below only include data from companies/sites reporting PSIFs and combine contractors and employees.Figure 1: Potential Serious Injuries and Fatalities triangle 2022 for employees and contractors
Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR)
Total Recordable Incidents comprise Fatalities (F), Lost Time Injuries (LTI), Restricted Work Cases (RWC) and Medically Treated Injuries (MTI). In the data survey, restricted work cases and medically treated injuries are reported separately. Working hours are counted only on sites that have reported at least one restricted work case or medically treated injury.
Figure 2: Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate 2017-2022
Employees | Contractors | Combined | |
2017 | 5.39 | 3.06 | 4.40 |
2018 | 4.67 | 3.27 | 4.05 |
2019 | 4.01 | 3.72 | 3.88 |
2020 | 4.09 | 2.72 | 3.49 |
2021 | 4.44 | 3.15 | 3.82 |
2022 | 4.21 | 3.07 | 3.66 |
Figure 3: Safety pyramid 2022
Attribute | Value |
1. Fatalities | 78 |
2. Lost time injuries | 2399 |
3. Restricted work cases | 1010 |
4. Medical treatment injuries | 4240 |
5. Minor injuries | 14668 |
6. Near misses (incidents) | 192932 |
7. Unsafe acts and situations | 3205987 |
Figure 4: Safety pyramids 2022 for employees and contractors
PYRAMID | Value |
1. Fatalities | 25 |
2. Lost time injuries | 1609 |
3. Restricted work cases | 608 |
4. Medical treatment injuries | 2896 |
5. Minor injuries | 11475 |
6. Near misses | 166158 |
7. Unsafe acts and situations | 2794724 |
PYRAMID | Value |
1. Fatalities | 53 |
2. Lost time injuries | 790 |
3. Restricted work case | 402 |
4. Medical treatment injuries | 1344 |
5. Minor injuries | 3193 |
6. Near misses | 26774 |
7. Unsafe acts and situations | 411263 |
Table 1: Ratio Lost Time Injury vs Fatality 2004-2022
Cause | Lost Time Injuries (LTIs) | Fatalities | Ratio LTI per 1 Fatality |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 227 | 136 | 1.67 |
Explosion | 228 | 92 | 2.48 |
Rail | 216 | 73 | 2.96 |
Fire | 320 | 74 | 4.32 |
Electrical | 425 | 76 | 5.59 |
Structural failure | 325 | 55 | 5.91 |
Fall from height | 1849 | 306 | 6.04 |
On site road vehicle | 856 | 125 | 6.85 |
Forklift | 286 | 33 | 8.67 |
Overhead crane | 885 | 99 | 8.94 |
Moving machinery | 3003 | 291 | 10.32 |
Hot metal | 718 | 63 | 11.40 |
Falling object | 1896 | 164 | 11.56 |
Other mobile equipment | 790 | 52 | 15.19 |
Off site road vehicle | 322 | 13 | 24.77 |
Hot substances | 460 | 15 | 30.67 |
Product loading | 650 | 17 | 38.24 |
Product handling storage | 1936 | 38 | 50.95 |
Exposure to chemicals | 172 | 3 | 57.33 |
Manual tasks tools | 2416 | 7 | 345.14 |
Slip, trip and fall | 3300 | 6 | 550.00 |
Lost Time Injury (LTI) analysis
Lost Time Injury (LTI). Any work-related injury resulting in the employee or contractor being unable to return to work for their next scheduled work period. Returning to work with work restrictions does not constitute a Lost Time Injury status, no matter how minimal or severe the restrictions, provided it is at the employee’s next scheduled shift. However, if an Injury deteriorates and time is later lost, an LTI should be recorded. Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) is calculated by combining Fatalities (F) and LTIs.
Figure 5: Number of Lost Time Injuries, 2013-2022
Contractors | Employees | |
2013 | 1282 | 4500 |
2014 | 1330 | 3710 |
2015 | 1151 | 3366 |
2016 | 925 | 3129 |
2017 | 743 | 2835 |
2018 | 923 | 2429 |
2019 | 1002 | 2211 |
2020 | 846 | 2021 |
2021 | 870 | 2075 |
2022 | 843 | 1634 |
Figure 6: Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR), 2013-2022
Employees | Contractors | Combined | |
2013 | 2.00 | 0.94 | 1.60 |
2014 | 1.76 | 0.88 | 1.39 |
2015 | 1.48 | 0.72 | 1.17 |
2016 | 1.21 | 0.64 | 1.01 |
2017 | 1.25 | 0.52 | 0.97 |
2018 | 1.03 | 0.56 | 0.84 |
2019 | 0.94 | 0.65 | 0.83 |
2020 | 0.98 | 0.66 | 0.85 |
2021 | 1.05 | 0.59 | 0.85 |
2022 | 0.85 | 0.45 | 0.65 |
Figure 7: Causes of Lost Time Injuries 2013-2022
Attribute | Value |
Slip, trip and fall | 440 |
Manual tasks tools | 413 |
Moving machinery | 119 |
Product handling storage | 117 |
Fall from height | 105 |
Falling object | 95 |
On site road vehicle | 50 |
Hot substances | 48 |
Overhead crane | 46 |
Hot metal | 43 |
Object in the eye | 38 |
Other mobile equipment | 36 |
Forklift | 25 |
Product loading | 23 |
Exposure to chemicals | 22 |
Explosion | 19 |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 14 |
Electrical | 13 |
Fire | 13 |
Off site road vehicle | 10 |
Structural failure | 8 |
Rail | 7 |
Unknown | 6 |
Attribute | Value |
Slip, trip and fall | 1762 |
Manual tasks tools | 1265 |
Moving machinery | 949 |
Fall from height | 659 |
Falling object | 518 |
Product handling storage | 449 |
Overhead crane | 252 |
On site road vehicle | 245 |
Hot substances | 238 |
Hot metal | 204 |
Unknown | 150 |
Other mobile equipment | 144 |
Object in the eye | 136 |
Electrical | 121 |
Off site road vehicle | 97 |
Exposure to chemicals | 94 |
Product loading | 91 |
Forklift | 84 |
Fire | 76 |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 69 |
Rail | 61 |
Explosion | 55 |
Structural failure | 46 |
Attribute | Value |
Slip, trip and fall | 2943 |
Moving machinery | 2606 |
Manual tasks tools | 2134 |
Falling object | 1643 |
Fall from height | 1636 |
Product handling storage | 1429 |
Overhead crane | 738 |
Other mobile equipment | 655 |
On site road vehicle | 644 |
Unknown | 629 |
Hot metal | 545 |
Product loading | 466 |
Hot substances | 417 |
Electrical | 334 |
Object in the eye | 289 |
Off site road vehicle | 270 |
Forklift | 260 |
Fire | 256 |
Structural failure | 256 |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 191 |
Rail | 176 |
Explosion | 156 |
Exposure to chemicals | 150 |
Figure 8: Causes of Lost Time Injuries in 2022 for employees and contractors
Causes of Lost Time Injuries – contractors 2022
Value | |
Slip, trip and fall | 123 |
Manual tasks tools | 78 |
Fall from height | 70 |
Falling object | 47 |
Product handling storage | 37 |
Moving machinery | 34 |
On site road vehicle | 32 |
Unknow | 32 |
Other mobile equipment | 20 |
Overhead crane | 15 |
Product loading | 14 |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 12 |
Hot substances | 9 |
Electrical | 8 |
Exposure to chemicals | 8 |
Rail | 7 |
Structural failure | 7 |
Fire | 5 |
Hot metal | 5 |
Forklift | 3 |
Object in the eye | 3 |
Explosion | 2 |
Causes of Lost Time Injuries – employees 2022
Attribute | Value |
Slip, trip and fall | 304 |
Manual tasks tools | 211 |
Moving machinery | 93 |
Falling object | 61 |
Product handling storage | 61 |
Fall from height | 45 |
Overhead crane | 30 |
Hot metal | 29 |
Hot substances | 29 |
Object in the eye | 28 |
Other mobile equipment | 27 |
On site road vehicle | 24 |
Forklift | 14 |
Product loading | 13 |
Explosion | 11 |
Off site road vehicle | 10 |
Fire | 8 |
Exposure to chemicals | 7 |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 7 |
Electrical | 6 |
Rail | 5 |
Structural failure | 4 |
Unknown | 3 |
Fatality analysis
Death from a work-related injury, certified by a medical professional. Fatality Frequency Rate (FFR) is calculated on the number of Fatalities per million man hours.
Figure 9: Number of Fatalities 2013-2022
China (indirect data) | Contractors | Employees | |
2013 | 35 | 77 | 65 |
2014 | 20 | 66 | 44 |
2015 | 32 | 69 | 53 |
2016 | 27 | 57 | 45 |
2017 | 15 | 49 | 40 |
2018 | 22 | 48 | 70 |
2019 | 19 | 49 | 32 |
2020 | 15 | 50 | 34 |
2021 | 16 | 55 | 45 |
2022 | 12 | 53 | 25 |
Figure 10: Fatality Frequency Rate 2013-2022
Employees | Contractors | Combined | |
2013 | 0.029 | 0.057 | 0.039 |
2014 | 0.021 | 0.044 | 0.030 |
2015 | 0.023 | 0.043 | 0.032 |
2016 | 0.017 | 0.040 | 0.025 |
2017 | 0.018 | 0.034 | 0.024 |
2018 | 0.030 | 0.029 | 0.029 |
2019 | 0.014 | 0.032 | 0.021 |
2020 | 0.016 | 0.039 | 0.025 |
2021 | 0.023 | 0.037 | 0.029 |
2022 | 0.013 | 0.028 | 0.020 |
Figure 11: Causes of Fatalities 2013-2022
Attribute | Value |
Moving machinery | 11 |
On site road vehicle | 10 |
Structural failure | 10 |
Fall from height | 9 |
Falling object | 4 |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 4 |
Hot metal | 4 |
Product handling storage | 4 |
Electrical | 3 |
Forklift | 3 |
Explosion | 2 |
Hot Substances | 2 |
Other mobile equipment | 2 |
Overhead crane | 2 |
Rail | 2 |
Fire | 1 |
Manual tasks tools | 1 |
Attribute | Value |
Fall from height | 74 |
Moving machinery | 69 |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 52 |
On site road vehicle | 39 |
Overhead crane | 28 |
Falling object | 27 |
Fire | 23 |
Structural failure | 20 |
Electrical | 15 |
Explosion | 15 |
Hot metal | 12 |
Other mobile equipment | 11 |
Rail | 11 |
Forklift | 8 |
Hot substances | 8 |
Product handling storage | 7 |
Exposure to chemicals | 3 |
Manual tasks tools | 3 |
Off site road vehicle | 3 |
Product loading | 2 |
Slips, trips and falls | 2 |
Attribute | Value |
Fall from height | 172 |
Moving machinery | 150 |
On site road vehicle | 80 |
Falling object | 78 |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 72 |
Overhead crane | 51 |
Explosion | 48 |
Structural failure | 37 |
Electrical | 35 |
Hot metal | 35 |
Fire | 31 |
Rail | 31 |
Other mobile equipment | 28 |
Forklift | 19 |
Hot substances | 17 |
Product handling storage | 13 |
Product loading | 9 |
Manual tasks tools | 7 |
Off site road vehicle | 7 |
Slips, trips and falls | 6 |
Exposure to chemicals | 3 |
Unknown | 1 |
Figure 12: Causes of employee Fatalities in 2022
Attribute | Value |
Moving machinery | 5 |
Structural failure | 5 |
On site road vehicle | 3 |
Forklift | 2 |
Rail Employees | 2 |
Electrical | 1 |
Explosion | 1 |
Falling object | 1 |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 1 |
Hot metal | 1 |
Hot substances | 1 |
Product handling storage | 1 |
Figure 13: Causes of contractor Fatalities in 2022
Attribute | Value |
Fall from height | 9 |
On site road vehicle | 7 |
Moving machinery | 6 |
Structural failure | 5 |
Falling object | 3 |
Gassing and asphyxiation | 3 |
Hot metal | 3 |
Product handling storage | 3 |
Electrical | 2 |
Other mobile equipment | 2 |
Overhead crane | 2 |
Explosion | 1 |
Fire | 1 |
Forklift | 1 |
Hot substances | 1 |
Manual tasks tools | 1 |
Process Safety Management (PSM) analysis
Process Safety Management (PSM) is a blend of operational, engineering and management skills focused on preventing catastrophic accidents and near misses, particularly explosions, fires, structural collapse, and damaging releases associated with a loss of containment of energy or dangerous substances such as molten metals, fuels, and chemicals.
Table 2: Significant events benchmark
Typical process safety events | Quantity | Main causes |
Fires | 761 | Inadequate Inspections Falling of Spatter Electric Flash Inadequate engineering design Strip offset/friction on cold rolling mill Poor Housekeeping Poor material quality Splashing of Slag Electrical equipment failure Inadequate preparation of hot work Small stockpile fires in recycling yards/scrap bins Condition of the integrity of fuel Oil injection pipes and hoses Continuous casting plant hydraulic fire BOF Molten metal splash, Chemical reaction due to the entry of fuel carbon into the combustion chamber of the electric furnace Liquid metal leakage |
Explosions | 35 | LNG Gas explosion Basket scrap having some pressurised cans. Hydrogen explosion Blast when loading the furnace with scrap metal. Flammable gas accumulation Mixing blast furnaces gas and gasoil in the boiler (human error + technical ability to do the mix) |
Molten metal and water reactions | 78 | Water in the slag drum and slag handling Ladle Breakouts, Spills, Splashes Rainwater/snow in scrap bucket when charging Rapid phase change Water in scrap metal Torpedo car derailment event Water leakage from the furnace roof’s delta area leading to water accumulation on molten slag and falling attached slag pieces from roof Blast Furnace molten metal release related to channel damage |
Gas and liquid releases (flammable, toxic or asphyxiant gases) | 998 | Reformer Gas header rupture due to erosion. Mechanical integrity (erosion/corrosion), valves, flanges, and pipelines. Lack of maintenance Hydraulic systems Gas leakage through pipelines/flanges. CO release due to feeding mixed gas hose bottom flange cladding leakage. Leakage of Ammonia through Cylinder Assembly Corrosion |
Figure 13: Process Safety Management maturity assessment results 2022
Sickness absence
Sickness absence [Percentage] is calculated as the total number of hours of sickness absence per total work hours. This indicator is only calculated for employees.
Table 3: Sickness absence per region 2015 – 2022
% Sickness Absence | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Asia/Pacific | 0.12 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.19 | 0.15 | 0.05 | 0.11 | 0.54 |
CIS | 0.75 | 1.26 | 1.41 | 0.6 | 1.38 | 1.88 | 1.73 | 2.33* |
Europe | 1.11 | 2.02 | 2.26 | 1.92 | 3.32 | 3.89 | 4.36 | 5.59 |
North America | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.23 | 0.22 | 0.42 | 0.14 | 1.31 |
South America | 0.3 | 0.53 | 0.48 | 0.43 | 0.75 | 0.46 | 0.42 | 3.03 |