Two different questions

In an occupational safety survey, response rate usually expresses the proportion of eligible people who responded according to a defined rule. The report must explain the denominator and what counts as a valid response. Started, completed and analysable questionnaires are not necessarily the same number.

Non-response bias arises when people who do not respond differ from respondents in ways relevant to the study. In a psychosocial assessment, counting responses therefore does not establish that findings accurately describe the whole workforce.

Look beyond the overall percentage

OSALAN recommends examining participation within each job or unit and investigating low response. There is no universal legal percentage validating every survey; the instrument’s conditions must be respected and conclusions justified against the available evidence.

For example, eighty of a hundred people respond, but almost none work nights. The overall eighty per cent does not establish that night-shift difficulties are represented. Nor would it be justified to assume that every missing worker is either more satisfied or more dissatisfied.

Reduce barriers without applying pressure

Before fieldwork, explain purpose, confidentiality, available time and how findings will be returned. Check access across shifts, languages and working arrangements so participation does not depend on owning a personal device or being present during normal office hours.

Reminders should be respectful. Publicly identifying non-respondents or requiring answers in front of a manager may undermine trust and data quality. Participation should not become an individual test of commitment to the employer.

Interpret transparently

Separate complete non-response from unanswered items, examine coverage across sufficiently broad groups and record limitations. Qualitative methods may explain barriers, but do not automatically repair statistical representativeness or remove selection effects.

Do not invent answers or fill missing observations with an average without methodological justification. Where evidence is insufficient, qualify the conclusion and plan how to improve information. The objective is a better-supported preventive decision, not a reassuring-looking participation percentage that obscures important gaps in the workforce represented.