EMR: the safety number that decides your bids
Experience Modification Rate is the only safety KPI that shows up directly on your premium and on the prequalification form. Miss the threshold and you are out before price is discussed. Here is how it works and how to move it.
Experience Modification Rate
1.00 is the industry-expected baseline. This contractor sits at 0.89, down from 1.05 last year — a claims history better than expected, and a premium that reflects it. Below 1.0 unlocks bid lists; above 1.0 closes them.
The cost of a high EMR
An EMR above 1.0 does two things at once: it multiplies your workers-comp premium upward, and it disqualifies you from the prequalification lists that gate the best work. It is the rare safety metric that hits both the cost side and the revenue side of the business.
How to bring it down
EMR rewards fewer and less-severe claims over a rolling three-year window. That means the levers are upstream: strong near-miss reporting, fast corrective-action closeout, and return-to-work programs that keep a minor injury from becoming a lost-time DART case. Improvements compound over one to three policy years.
A worked example
Two identical framers, each with $2M in payroll, pay very different premiums. At an EMR of 0.85 one pays roughly 15% below the manual rate; the other at 1.20 pays about 20% above it — a swing of tens of thousands of dollars on the exact same scope of work. And because EMR uses a rolling three-year window, a single serious claim keeps inflating the modifier until it ages out — which is why prevention this year is a discount you collect for the next three.
EMR never lives alone. Read it beside your TRIR (the recordable-rate headline), your DART (severity), and the national OSHA citation priorities. The full picture is on the construction safety KPI pillar.
EMR questions
What is a good EMR for construction?▾
Below 1.00. An EMR of 1.00 is the industry-expected baseline; below it means your claims history is better than expected for your trade and payroll. Best-in-class contractors run 0.80 or lower.
How is EMR calculated?▾
Your insurer compares your actual workers-comp claims over a three-year window against the expected losses for a company of your size and trade. Actual ÷ expected, adjusted, produces the modifier that multiplies your premium.
Why does EMR gate the work I can bid?▾
Many owners and general contractors set a maximum EMR (commonly 1.0) in prequalification. Above it, you are disqualified before price is even considered — so EMR decides which projects you are allowed to compete for.
How long does it take to lower EMR?▾
Because EMR uses a rolling three-year claims window, improvements show up gradually. Reducing claims frequency and severity this year lowers the modifier over the following one to three policy years.
Protect your EMR before the claim
Start with the free safety inspection template, then let POD track the leading indicators that keep claims off your record and surface the drift before it costs you a bid.