An EMR (experience modification rate) is a multiplier applied to a contractor’s workers’ compensation premium, based on its actual injury claims compared with the claims expected for a company of its size and trade. 1.0 is average. Below 1.0 means fewer or less costly claims than expected; above 1.0 means more. Apex’s EMR is 0.47.
How an EMR is calculated
A rating bureau (the NCCI in most states, and state bureaus in others, such as the WCIRB in California) compares a contractor’s reported payroll and workers’ compensation losses with the losses expected for the same payroll in the same job classifications. The calculation typically uses three years of history and leaves out the most recent year, so today’s EMR reflects work that finished a while ago. The formula weighs how often injuries happen more heavily than how expensive a single claim is, which is why a steady record of small incidents moves the number more than one bad day.
Why owners ask for it
It is a useful filter. An EMR is calculated by a third party, it is hard to manipulate, and a high one is a real warning sign. That is why vendor-approval teams and platforms such as NetVendor, RealPage and Compliance Depot ask for it, and why ours goes out with every bid.
What the number does not tell you
- It only counts the contractor’s own employees. Injuries to residents, visitors or other trades do not appear in it.
- It looks backwards. It describes the last few years of work, not the plan for your building.
- It says nothing about the property. An open trench, a blocked exit or a loose fastener on a walkway can hurt a resident without ever touching the EMR.
The questions that matter on an occupied property
- Is there a site-specific safety plan for this building, covering access, staging, fall protection and the hazards that only exist when residents are present?
- What does the site look like at the end of each day? Walkways clear, openings closed, no exposed fasteners or unguarded edges overnight.
- How are residents told what is happening, and where the safe route is?
- Who owns safety on site? A named superintendent, or a visiting officer?
- Are trade partners prequalified before they arrive, and are near misses reported, not only injuries?
How we run it
An EMR of 0.47 is the result of recording the small things and fixing them, not the goal. Every Apex project gets a written site-specific plan, daily job hazard analyses, a superintendent who is accountable for safety, prequalified trade partners, and a site restored for residents every night. Your risk team can have the file on request.
