Water treatment and distribution · Iowa
West Des Moines Water Works
West Des Moines, IA · ~37 workers · 6 years of OSHA Injury Tracking Application data.
- F
- Failing Safety Record
- 5.0
- Avg TCR
- 1.2
- Industry avg
- 0
- Fatalities
The verdict
West Des Moines Water Works runs at 418% of its industry's injury rate - far more dangerous than the typical Water treatment and distribution workplace, earning a grade F.
- F
- Failing Safety Record
- 5.0
- avg TCR · per 100 workers
- 1.2
- industry benchmark (BLS)
- 9
- recordable injuries tracked
Grade compares West Des Moines Water Works's OSHA Total Case Rate of 5.0 to the Water treatment and distribution BLS benchmark of 1.2 (418% of benchmark) across 6 years of Form 300A filings (2016–2024). <a href="/methodology">See methodology</a> for reporting-limitation caveats.
Injury rate over time
West Des Moines Water Works's yearly Total Case Rate, against the 1.2 industry benchmark.
Where West Des Moines Water Works falls in its industry
841 Water treatment and distributi establishmentsSafer than 37% of graded establishments in this industry, whose median TCR is 3.5.
Narrower to Iowa alone (the establishments it most directly competes with for workers and contracts): ranked #11 safest of 21 Water treatment and distributi employers in Iowa.
Trend analysis for West Des Moines Water Works
Between 2016 and 2024, West Des Moines Water Works's Total Case Rate improved from 9.4 to 2.8 recordable injuries per 100 full-time workers, a 70% decrease across 8 years of OSHA reporting.
The safest year on record was 2024, at a TCR of 2.8, while 2016 saw the highest rate, at 9.4, a spread of 6.6 points between the best and worst reporting years. That's a wide swing relative to the establishment's overall rate, worth checking the year-by-year table below for whether a single severe year is driving the average, rather than a sustained trend.
Summed across those 6 reporting years, West Des Moines Water Works recorded 9 total injuries and illnesses, with no fatalities reported in any of those years. Readers comparing establishments should weigh the 6-year trend above alongside establishment size, since a larger workforce naturally accumulates more raw incidents even at a lower per-100-worker rate.
Verify This Employer with OSHA
The 9 injuries, 1 illnesses shown on this page for West Des Moines Water Works are sourced from its own 6 years of mandatory OSHA Form 300A summaries. Cross-check the underlying establishment record directly against the federal source, name, NAICS classification, recordable case totals, and inspection history are all searchable on OSHA's Establishment-Specific Injury and Illness Data system.
Verify on OSHA Establishment SearchSource: U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA Establishment-Specific Injury and Illness Data. NAICS 221310 - Water treatment and distribution.
DART Rate, Transparent Calculation (2024)
What is the DART rate formula?
DART (Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred) is computed by OSHA as incidents × 200,000 ÷ hours worked. The 200,000-hour denominator equals roughly 100 full-time workers, which lets establishments of very different sizes be compared directly.
0 DART incidents × 200,000 ÷ 70,472 hours worked = 0.00 DART
Methodology: 29 CFR 1904, OSHA Form 300A recordkeeping
Cross-Validating Context, Establishment vs Industry vs State
| Benchmark | TCR | Source |
|---|---|---|
| West Des Moines Water Works (this establishment) | 5.01 | OSHA ITA Form 300A, 6-year avg |
| Water supply systems industry avg | 1.20 | BLS IIF, NAICS 221310 |
| Iowa state avg (all industries) | 5.33 | OSHA ITA, state-level rollup |
Industry benchmarks: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities (IIF) program
Reportable Incident Timeline
Year-by-year reportable incidents (recordable injuries + illnesses + fatalities) submitted by West Des Moines Water Works to OSHA's Injury Tracking Application. Each row anchors to OSHA's inspection records search where you can pull the underlying inspection case numbers and citations for that establishment-year.
- 2024: 1 reportable incidents · 1 injuries, 0 illnesses, 0 fatalities - OSHA inspection records (case numbers)
- 2023: 2 reportable incidents · 1 injuries, 1 illnesses, 0 fatalities - OSHA inspection records (case numbers)
- 2022: 1 reportable incidents · 1 injuries, 0 illnesses, 0 fatalities - OSHA inspection records (case numbers)
- 2018: 1 reportable incidents · 1 injuries, 0 illnesses, 0 fatalities - OSHA inspection records (case numbers)
- 2017: 2 reportable incidents · 2 injuries, 0 illnesses, 0 fatalities - OSHA inspection records (case numbers)
- 2016: 3 reportable incidents · 3 injuries, 0 illnesses, 0 fatalities - OSHA inspection records (case numbers)
Source: OSHA Inspection Information System (IMIS) - inspection case-number records
Year-by-Year Safety Data
| Year | TCR | DART | Injuries | Illnesses | Fatalities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2.8 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 5.8 | 2.9 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2.9 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 6.0 | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 9.4 | 3.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
What this grade means for you
Use this grade as a relative read on West Des Moines Water Works's reported OSHA injury record versus its Water treatment and distribution peers, not a verdict on whether any single site is safe today.
- At 418% of the Water treatment and distribution benchmark, West Des Moines Water Works reports more injuries than typical peers, ask specifically how the employer is reducing them. Know your rights
- Judge this record against the wider Water treatment and distribution sector, where injury rates vary widely, before comparing it in isolation. See the industry
- Grades reflect 2016–2024 filings; check the latest establishment record straight from OSHA, or look up a different employer. Look up another
Safety grades reflect employers' self-reported OSHA Form 300A filings from 2016 to 2024 and can lag current conditions. A grade is not a guarantee that any specific workplace is safe or unsafe today. See our methodology and disclaimer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is West Des Moines Water Works's safety grade?
How many injuries has West Des Moines Water Works reported?
Similar Employers
Matched by safety record across the industry, by workforce size within Iowa, and by nearby establishments in West Des Moines - a different peer set than the category browse links below.
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Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Every figure and grade on PlainSafetyScore is computed directly from OSHA's published Injury Tracking Application data and BLS industry benchmarks, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these safety grades, or report a data error. Data current as of 2016-2024 OSHA ITA release.