Summary

Studies on the costs of occupational injuries in Québec are quite rare. The few Québec studies retained estimate the costs specific to companies. This study innovates by estimating the overall costs—human as well as financial—of occupational injuries.

It does so by using the human capital method to estimate the productivity losses. Then, for each injury accepted by the Québec workers’ compensation board (CSST), the human costs are estimated using a health status index in combination with an estimate of the value of a statistical life obtained using the willingness-to-pay method. The estimates are produced mainly using individual data from the CSST.

The overall costs of the occupational injuries occurring in one year in Québec are estimated at an average $4.62 billion for the injuries from the 2005–2007 period. Of this amount, $1.78 billion is attributed to financial costs and $2.84 billion to human costs. The average cost of an occupational injury totals $38,355. Due to the limitations of this study, these costs are probably underestimated.

Analysis of the results allows us to identify the injury descriptors and industries for which the costs are the highest. We note, among other things, that noise exposure injuries are those with the highest average cost per injury.

Analysis of the costs per industry shows the main industries of the priority groups targeted by the CSST (e.g. mining, forest products, construction) to head the list, along with industries not among the top priority groups (e.g. waste management and remediation services).

This study provides a clearer understanding of the magnitude of the costs related to occupational injuries in Québec. The results of these estimates are a relevant source of information when determining research directions in OHS and prevention.