Economic burden of agricultural machinery injuries in Ontario, 1985 to 1996.

Context: Agricultural injuries are an important and understudied category of occupational injuries.

Purpose: This study estimated the economic burden of agricultural machinery injuries that occurred in Ontario, Canada's largest province, between 1985 and 1996.

Methods: Conventional methodology for estimating economic burden, as embodied in a computer program previously developed for this purpose, was applied to hospitalized, nonhospitalized, and fatal agricultural machinery injuries.

Findings: The total economic burden of these injuries over the 12-year study period was estimated to be 228.1 million dollars, or 19.0 million dollars annually (1995 Canadian dollars, 3.0% discount rate). By extrapolation, the economic burden of all farm injuries in Canada is estimated to be between 200 and 300 million dollars annually.

Conclusions: Costing information about agricultural injuries provides support for the prioritization and development of injury-control initiatives.