B9: Workforce – health and safety
Recordable work-related accidents, the accident rate and fatalities.
In brief
B9 asks for the number and rate of recordable work-related accidents among your employees, and the number of fatalities from work-related accidents and ill health. Under the VS, an accident is recordable if it leads to death or to more than three days of absence from work. VSME used a different definition, which also counted accidents that needed medical treatment, so the figures are not directly comparable. Fatalities are reported subject to legal restrictions.
At a glance
- Requirement
- Essential. Fatalities subject to legal restrictions.
- 10 employees or less
- Required in full.
- Value chain cap (from 2027)
- Number and rate of recordable work-related accidents, for all sizes.
- In Selko Report
- Page "Workforce"
What changed from VSME
- Changed definition: a recordable work-related accident now means one that leads to death or more than three days of absence from work. VSME also counted, for example, medical treatment beyond first aid and restricted work.
- Changed definition: recordable work-related ill health means ill health that leads to death or absence from work.
- Changed: fatalities are reported "subject to legal restrictions".
- EFRAG's guidance allows the accident rate per 200,000 or 1,000,000 hours worked, and says you can explain which one you use.
VS Standard Reference
The official text of the Voluntary Standard, Annex I to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560.
Selko Insights
How Selko applies it
Which accidents to count
Count the work accidents that led to more than three days of absence from work. An accident that needed treatment but caused three days of absence or less is not counted. Whether an accident is work-related follows national law, as EFRAG's guidance recommends. This also applies to teleworking, work travel and commuting.
Accident rate per 200,000 hours
Selko Report calculates the rate automatically: recordable accidents ÷ hours worked × 200,000. The hours worked are full-time equivalents multiplied by the annual hours of one full-time employee. We use 2,000 hours, the assumption in EFRAG's guidance, and you can change it if your working hours differ. The report states that the rate is per 200,000 hours.
Fatalities are included in the count
Fatalities are asked as a separate question. Because a death is a recordable accident under the VS, Selko adds work-related fatalities to the accident count and the rate. Answering that there were none records 0, which is a reported figure, not a blank. Fatalities are reported as one total covering both accidents and work-related ill health.
Legal restrictions
If the law restricts disclosing fatalities, choose "Omit this disclosure…" with the reason "Not disclosed due to legal restrictions". The downloaded report then lists the item as not disclosed for legal reasons.
Keep your trend comparable
In your first VS year, you can recount last year's accidents under the new definition in an optional field. The report then has a comparable figure for last year. Analytics marks the accident series as broken at the switch from VSME to VS.
Frequently asked questions
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