Workforce metrics: safety, turnover, diversity and pay
Intuition
Workforce data tells you a lot about how a company is run. A plant with frequent injuries usually has weak controls elsewhere too. High staff turnover means constant hiring and training costs and lost experience. A company with very few women, or a large pay gap, may be missing talent and may face growing pressure from customers and investors.
The BRSR now gives Indian analysts standard workforce data for the top 1,000 listed companies, and some of it is independently checked under BRSR Core. The skill lies in calculating the right ratios, reading them against peers and trends, and checking whether contract workers are included.
Mechanics
The main metrics
| Metric | Formula | Where in the BRSR | Reading it |
|---|---|---|---|
| LTIFR | Lost time injuries × 10,00,000 ÷ person-hours worked | Principle 3, safety incidents table | Lower is better; compare employees and workers separately |
| TRIR | Recordable injuries × 2,00,000 ÷ hours worked | Principle 3 (recordable injuries are reported; the rate is calculated) | Captures less serious injuries too |
| Fatalities | Count of work-related deaths | Principle 3 | Any death is serious; check contractors |
| Turnover rate | Leavers ÷ average headcount × 100 | Section A, question on turnover | Compare with peers in the same period |
| Gender diversity | Women ÷ total headcount × 100 | Section A, workforce table | Look at levels: board, senior management, employees, workers |
| Women's share of wages | Gross wages paid to women ÷ total wages × 100 | Principle 5 (a BRSR Core indicator) | Should be compared with women's share of headcount |
| Gender pay gap | (Median male pay minus median female pay) ÷ median male pay × 100 | Principle 5, median remuneration by gender | Positive means women earn less at the median |
| Training | Training hours ÷ number of employees | Principle 3 shows the share trained; hours come from sustainability reports | Look at skills training, not only mandatory courses |
Reading safety numbers
- LTIFR in the BRSR is per one million person-hours worked. TRIR is often quoted per 2,00,000 hours (about 100 full-time workers for a year), so check the base before comparing.
- A very low LTIFR alongside fatalities is a warning sign: it can mean minor injuries are not being recorded.
- Report workers and contractors separately. In heavy industry, most deaths often occur among contract workers.
Reading turnover
- BRSR turnover uses leavers divided by the average of opening and closing headcount.
- High turnover in IT services or retail can be normal for the sector. Compare with peers in the same quarter or year.
- A sudden fall can be good news, or a sign of a slowdown in hiring across the industry.
Reading diversity and pay
- Compare women's share of wages with their share of headcount. If women are 20% of staff but earn 10% of wages, they are concentrated in lower-paid roles.
- The median pay gap removes the effect of a few very high salaries, but it does not compare equal work. It shows how pay is distributed.
A real example
Ambuja Cements' BRSR for FY 2025-26 shows LTIFR of 0.08 for employees and 0.55 for workers, three worker fatalities, and women making up 3.13% of permanent employees. The higher worker LTIFR and the fact that all fatalities were among workers show why employees and workers must be read separately.
Sources
From the research
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