{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsafetyofwork.com%2Fepisodes%2Fep-136-what-is-the-symbolic-purpose-of-injury-rates-tfRvgj1j","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Ep 136: What is the symbolic purpose of injury rates?","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/85340d78-f14a-4b44-aed5-cfed7f27676b/28db8f5c-92e3-41ba-8ede-de086cfca836/sow_ep_712x.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"<iframe src=\"https://player.simplecast.com/0c2ded0d-6d6f-43fb-9cf6-dc8326a30900\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" title=\"Ep 136: What is the symbolic purpose of injury rates?\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"></iframe>","height":200,"description":"In this episode, David Provan and Drew Rae examine a 2025 paper published in the Journal of Safety Research — \"Signs of safety: An investigation of how OHS professionals interpret injury metrics,\" authored by James Pomeroy and Colin Pilbeam. Drawing on twenty interviews with experienced safety professionals and analyzed through a semiotic lens, the research explores how metrics such as lost time injury frequency rates and total recordable injury rates are used and interpreted within organizations. Despite well-documented statistical and conceptual limitations, these metrics remain dominant indicators of safety performance. The paper asks not whether they work as measures, but what symbolic work they are actually doing inside organizations."}