Costs of occupational injuries in agriculture in 1992 and 2001

Paul Leigh, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA

Method: To assess incidence of fatal and non-fatal farm injuries, we review data from national surveys. We make numerical adjustments for the weaknesses in the most reliable data sets. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Annual Survey estimate of non-fatal injuries is adjusted upward by a factor of 4.7 to reflect the BLS undercount of farm injuries. To assess costs, we use the human capital method that decomposes costs into direct categories such as medical expenses as well as indirect categories such as lost earnings, lost home production, and lost fringe benefits. Cost data are drawn from the Health Care Financing Administration and the National Council on Compensation Insurance.

Results: Eight hundred forty-one (841) deaths and 512,539 non-fatal injuries are estimated for 1992 and 778 deaths and 389,017 non-fatal injuries in 2001. The non-fatal injuries include 281,896 in 1992 (213,959 in 2001) that led to at least one full day of work loss. Agricultural occupational injuries cost an estimated $4.57 billion in 1992 and $4.855 billion in 2001. On a per person basis, farming contributes roughly 30 percent more than the national average for occupational injury costs. Direct costs are estimated to be $1.66 billion and indirect costs, $2.93 billion in 1992 and $1.765 and $3.090 billion in 2001.
Conclusion: The costs of farm injuries are on a par with the costs of hepatitis C. This high cost is in sharp contrast to the limited public attention and economic resources devoted to prevention and amelioration of farm injuries. Agricultural occupational injuries are an under-appreciated contributor to the overall national burden of health and medical costs.

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