Why Is My Business Having So Many Lost Time Injuries

TL;DR: A lost time injury (LTI) occurs when an employee must miss work due to a job-related injury, costing companies time, money, and productivity. This blog explains why LTIs often stem from underlying job design issues rather than isolated incidents, and how ergonomics can uncover and fix the real causes.

Main points:

• The root causes of LTIs, especially overexertion injuries from lifting, repetitive motion, and awkward postures
• Why traditional LTI reporting misses critical context about tasks and environments
• How ergonomic assessments and job analyses reveal hidden physical strain
• Proven ergonomic interventions that reduce overexertion, MSDs, and long-term injuries
• Practical strategies to lower your lost time injury frequency rate and build a lasting culture of safety

A lost time injury (LTI) happens when an employee misses work due to a job-related injury. These injuries cost businesses time, money, and productivity. They can also lower morale and increase turnover.

You may notice your LTI numbers rising. But without clear data, it's hard to know why. Many injuries don’t happen from a single incident. Instead, they build over time from poor posture, forceful movements, or long hours of repetitive tasks. To fix the problem, you need to look at what’s really causing it, not just the injuries, but the jobs themselves.

What’s the Root Cause of Lost Time Injuries?

The most common cause of lost time in the workplace is overexertion injury. These include lifting, pulling, pushing, or carrying loads that strain the body. Over time, these motions wear down muscles and joints, especially in high-demand roles.

Back injuries don’t represent a minor cause of lost work time. It one of the leading causes. Even minor injuries and muscle strains can sideline workers for days or weeks if not addressed early.

Other risk factors for workplace injury include:

• Poor workstation design
• Lack of job rotation
• Repetitive motions
• Awkward postures
• Poor lifting techniques

Why Your LTI Reporting Might Be Telling an Incomplete Story

LTI reporting helps track injuries and time lost, but it rarely explains why those injuries happen. Most reports focus on the outcome, not the conditions that cause the outcomes.

You might know how many injuries occurred, but not which tasks led to them. Or what changes could have prevented them. Common gaps in LTI data include:

• Missing context about the job or environment
• Lack of detail on how the injury occurred
• No follow-up to track recurring issues

How Ergonomics Can Address the Real Problem

Ergonomics focuses on fitting the job to the worker, not forcing the worker to fit the job. It helps uncover hidden strain in everyday tasks.

An ergonomic assessment looks at how employees move, lift, reach, and stand. It identifies risks that lead to lost time injury and helps fix them before they cause harm.

Custom job analyses go even deeper into your safety performance. They break down each task to find sources of physical stress, like excessive force or awkward posture. This type of review turns vague injury or illness trends into specific, fixable issues.

Targeted Ergonomic Interventions That Work

Once risks are identified, targeted changes can reduce or remove them. Small adjustments often make a big difference. Examples of effective interventions:

• Adjusting work heights to reduce reaching
• Using carts or lifts to avoid heavy lifting
• Rotating tasks to limit repetitive strain
• Teaching better body mechanics

These changes directly reduce overexertion injuries in the workplace. Many LTIs also stem from conditions like Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) and Sciatica. These develop slowly and worsen with time. Ergonomic fixes help prevent them from becoming long-term problems.

Strategies to Reduce Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate

To reduce lost time injury frequency rate, you need both short-term fixes and long-term habits. You’ll need to start with your work tasks and how your employees perform them, then focus on and overall cultural shift. Consider these steps:

• Break down physically demanding tasks into smaller steps
• Redesign workstations to support neutral postures
• Automate repetitive or forceful movements when possible
• Use adjustable tables or lift-assist devices
• Ensure tools fit the task and the worker's hand size
• Maintain equipment to avoid breakdowns that lead to unsafe workarounds
• Offer hands-on training for proper lifting and movement
• Use visual aids to reinforce safe practices
• Set up observation checklists for supervisors
• Track and review incidents for patterns
• Encourage workers to report early signs of strain, not just full injuries
• Ask workers for input on what’s causing discomfort
• Run quick ergonomic surveys or check-ins
• Let teams test and refine new setups
• Use modified duties to ease injured workers back safely
• Keep communication open during recovery
• Follow up post-return to prevent re-injury

All of these actions help reduce risk. But more importantly, they show your team that safety is a priority. Over time, these steps lead to fewer injuries, better morale, and lower costs.

Ergonomic changes aren’t one-time fixes, and a culture of prevention helps build a safer work environment. Tracking results and making adjustments over time is what keeps work-related injury rates low.

Ready to Stop the Cycle of Lost Time?

If your team keeps getting hurt, the issue may not be the people: it’s the work itself. Don’t wait for another injury to take action.

Let ErgoScience identify the root causes of your lost time injuries with customized job analyses and ergonomic intervention plans.