For terminology definitions and calculations, please refer to the worldsteel publication Safety and health principles and definitions available at worldsteel.org

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 85 fatalities were reported to worldsteel in 2022. Our immediate focus needs to remain on the reduction and elimination of fatalities across our industry.

Qatar Steel

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.

These two indicators should not be part of individual, team or organisation objectives, bonuses, or incentives as they can foster a negative attitude towards reporting, limiting the organisational ability to learn and improve.

Safety and health reporting frameworks are evolving. To keep up, our industry must invest resources and time to better monitor safety and health performance. This will result in more effective and reliable data to reflect the true story and the challenges of our operations and people.

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

* In 2022 there were 85 fatalities reported to worldsteel. In order to preserve the ratios within the PSIF section of this report, Fatalities reported by
organisations that were not able to provide PSIF information have been excluded from this analysis.
** All other injuries includes Restricted Work Cases (RWC), Medically Treated Injuries (MTI) and Minor Injuries (MI)
Tata Steel
TenarisConfab - Brazil

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 4.8 4.0 4.5
2018 6.3 2.9 4.9
2019 6.2 2.9 4.8
2020 4.3 2.4 3.6
2021 4.93 2.69 4.02
2022 4.82 2.55 3.75

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

* In 2022, there were 85 fatalities reported to worldsteel. In order to preserve the ratios within the TRIFR section of this report, Fatalities reported by organisations that were not able to provide TRIFR information have been excluded from this analysis.

 

Safety pyramids can be used to compare the shape of a company’s incident triangle. In case the company triangle is narrower, it could mean that not all incidents are reported, or that fatality prevention requires more attention. It should be noted that the average incident triangle is not necessarily optimal; it should probably be wider. Reducing the number of more minor incidents does not directly reduce the probability of severe incidents, but having those reported allows action to be taken to mitigate risks that might otherwise cause severe incidents.

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 injuries vs fatalities 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

The types of injuries with the smallest ratio between lost time injuries and fatalities are covered by process safety events.

Companies should act if they are experiencing lost time injuries of this nature. A PSIF approach should be used, and leading and lagging process safety-focused metrics should be in place.

The table shows the ratio between lost time injuries and fatalities by cause. Small ratios mean that per fatality, there are, on average, only a small amount of lost time injuries; a big ratio indicates there are many lost time injuries per fatality. If these were drawn as an incident triangle for each cause, the triangles for the small ratios would be very narrow.

These ratios show that to prevent fatalities, it is more important to undertake comprehensive and robust incident investigations and instigate preventive measures for those incidents with a low ratio. It is precisely these incidents that are most likely to lead to Fatalities without effective prevention. These ratios also emphasise the usefulness of categorising potential serious injuries and fatalities among other incidents. Please see the next chapter for further information on this.

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 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

The following graphs show the distribution of causes separated by employees and contractors.

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

The top five causes of lost time injury in 2022 for both employees and contractors were: slipping, tripping and falling, use of manual tools, moving machinery, product handling and falling from height.

Engineer among the cold rolled coils

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 11 55 45
2022 7 53 25

* Data received from China via Sinosteel Wuhan Safety & Environmental Protection Research Institute (SEPRI) does not distinguish between employees and contractors. Data received directly from Chinese worldsteel members does and is included in the analysis.

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

The following graphs show the distribution of causes split by employees and contractors.

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

Note: events registered as ‘other’ or ‘Unknown’ are not included.

Ternium steel worker driving a forklift

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.

The manufacturing of steel involves processes with intrinsic hazards that need careful management. The measures required to control these hazards are often complex. The focus of process safety management is not limited to protecting the people within the company but also includes the environment, assets, and the surrounding community.

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

 

HBIS steel coils

Figure 13: Process safety management maturity assessment results 2022

The Process safety management maturity analysis was derived from data provided by 28 organisations, representing 30% of worldsteel members.

Increasing maturity in process safety management can be observed. The industry has grown in experience and expertise in process safety management; however, there is an important area of improvement for element 15 (measurement and metrics). Process safety KPIs are different from occupational safety KPIs. This issue has led to requests from worldsteel members to provide effective indicators for benchmarking and monitoring purposes. In the past, worldsteel has referenced well-accepted frameworks (e.g., RP API 754); however, a specific set of indicators and guidance will be developed.

Two steel workers in a steel plant

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.

 

The following table shows the sickness absence per region.

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

 

* In 2022, CIS data is derived from member companies/sites located in Ukraine and Kazakhstan

Ternium worker in a steel plant