Zoos · Michigan

John Ball Zoo

Grand Rapids, MI · ~257 workers · 7 years of OSHA Injury Tracking Application data.

F
Failing Safety Record
7.2
Avg TCR
3.1
Industry avg
0
Fatalities
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The verdict

John Ball Zoo runs at 234% of its industry's injury rate - far more dangerous than the typical Zoos workplace, earning a grade F.

John Ball Zoo: 7.2 TCR = 234% of Zoos BLS 3.1 · 7y Form 300A (see methodology below)

John Ball Zoo safety composite

John Ball Zoo scores strongest on fatalities (safer than 51% of same-industry peers) and weakest on dart rate (safer than 26%), blended into one 0-100 breakdown against same-industry peers. A missing measure drops out and redistributes its weight rather than deflating the score. This is a per-dimension breakdown, distinct from the single letter grade above it (which weights TCR alone against the BLS industry benchmark).

D

39/100

Percentile-weighted across 3 of 3 measures

Total Case Rate (TCR)
D 7.24 per 100 workers

Safer than 42% of industry peers

DART rate
F 5.82 per 100 workers

Safer than 26% of industry peers

Fatalities
D 0

Safer than 51% of industry peers

Benchmarked live against every credibly-rated employer in the same NAICS industry code in the current OSHA extract (a segment must have at least 8 rated peers to benchmark). Not a legal or compliance determination; PlainSafetyScore's own weighting (TCR 40%, DART 35%, fatalities 25%).

TCR Δ

−14.5

2018→2024

John Ball Zoo injury rate improved

John Ball Zoo's TCR fell 14.5 from 22.9 in 2018 to 8.5 in 2024. Peak filing year was 2018 at 22.9 TCR. In 2024, DART was 0.8× this establishment's average TCR (severity share of cases).

2018=22.9 · 2019=7.3 · 2020=1.4 · 2021=5.9 · 2022=4.5 · 2023=0.1 · 2024=8.5

OSHA ITA Form 300A scorecard

Establishment book 712130 · Grand Rapids, MI ABOVE-IND · MID

Grade F · TCR 7.2 · 234% of ind

  • DART 5.8 DART
  • RANK #2/6
  • PHOTO Prospect Park Zoo
  • BOOK 7y book
  • INJ 63 inj
  • SIZE ~257 FTE

Nearest TCR peer: Prospect Park Zoo (0.0 TCR gap)

Read with this employer → · Industry book → · Michigan employers → · Look up another →

John Ball Zoo in the TCR neighbourhood

Average Total Case Rate among this establishment and nearest same-industry peers

TCR

What this shows John Ball Zoo averages 7.2 TCR (234% of the Zoos BLS benchmark).

Source U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA Injury Tracking Application (Form 300A) As of 2026-08-25

John Ball Zoo TCR series: 2018=22.9 · 2019=7.3 · 2020=1.4 · 2021=5.9 · 2022=4.5 · 2023=0.1 · 2024=8.5 · BLS 3.1

Where John Ball Zoo falls in its industry

174 Zoos establishments

Safer than 42% of graded establishments in this industry, whose median TCR is 6.8.

More dangerous than peersSafer than peers

Narrower to Michigan alone (the establishments it most directly competes with for workers and contracts): ranked #2 safest of 6 Zoos employers in Michigan.

John Ball Zoo (257 employees, TCR 7.2) among 29 same-industry peers, split at the industry median of 153 employees and a TCR of 6.8 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 30 entities by Average employees (X) and Total Case Rate (Y), with a crosshair dividing the plot into four quadrants. Larger & higher-riskSmaller & higher-riskLarger & saferSmaller & safer than peers 05001,0001,500 0102030 Average employees Total Case Rate John Ball Zoo
John Ball Zoo (257 employees, TCR 7.2) among 29 same-industry peers, split at the industry median of 153 employees and a TCR of 6.8

John Ball Zoo has more employees than the Zoos median and a higher injury rate than the industry's median TCR of 6.8. Workforce size and injury rate do not always move together within the same industry -- some of its smaller peers run higher rates than its larger ones, and vice versa.

Year-by-Year Safety Data

Year TCR DART Injuries Illnesses Fatalities
2024 8.5 5.8 16 0 0
2023 0.1 0.0 10 2 0
2022 4.5 1.3 6 1 0
2021 5.9 5.9 8 1 0
2020 1.4 0.7 2 0 0
2019 7.3 6.7 11 0 0
2018 22.9 8.3 10 15 0

OSHA ITA peer cross-reference

Establishment peer ledger

712130 · MI · Grand Rapids

174 Zoos employers nationwide with a credible TCR · 16,393 rated employers in Michigan with headcount on file · 1,006 employers in Grand Rapids, MI · 4 cross-state NAT-TCR peers · 4 cross-state NAT-SIZE peers. Closest matches by relationship code are listed below.

Rel Establishment Metric
NAICS-TCR Prospect Park Zoo 7.3 TCR
NAICS-TCR Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art 7.2 TCR
NAICS-TCR Audubon Zoo 7.3 TCR
NAICS-TCR West Michigan Horticultural Society 7.3 TCR
STATE-SIZE Asahi Kasei Plastics- Fowlerville 257 FTE
STATE-SIZE MSP Industries Corporation 257 FTE
STATE-SIZE DC21 257 FTE
STATE-SIZE Feldman Chevrolet of Highland 257 FTE
CITY-NEAR SHHG-GR BUTTERWORTH CA 9,012 FTE
CITY-NEAR SH Butterworth Hospital 7,397 FTE
CITY-NEAR Mercy Health Saint Mary's Hospital-MH-MI 2,914 FTE
CITY-NEAR Steelcase - Grand Rapids / Kentwood 2,817 FTE
NAT-TCR 4015 Sherwood 7.2 TCR
NAT-TCR Nova Fire Protection, Inc. 7.2 TCR
NAT-TCR Biomedical Polymers Inc 7.2 TCR
NAT-TCR EB Trails of Orono 7.2 TCR
NAT-SIZE Judd Wire 257 FTE
NAT-SIZE Beck 257 FTE
NAT-SIZE Ferrell Hospital 257 FTE
NAT-SIZE Region 1-Flanders 257 FTE

Rel codes: NAICS-TCR · STATE-SIZE · CITY-NEAR · NAT-TCR/NAT-SIZE cross-state. Read with this employer →

Data Source: OSHA Injury Tracking Application (ITA), mandatory establishment-level injury/illness reports. Grades compare employer Total Case Rate (TCR) to BLS IIF industry benchmarks. Data covers years reported by this establishment: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018. This is publicly available government data - not a legal determination of workplace conditions.
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details.