Veterinary and animal care workers face hazards that depend on their workplace, the species they handle and the tasks they do — on top of those common to all health care settings, such as slips, trips and falls.
Injuries from animals
A substantial share of injuries comes from animal contact: bites, scratches, kicks and crush injuries, plus strains, sprains, back injuries and repetitive-motion injuries from lifting, restraining and treating animals. Most can be prevented by:
- handling animals properly for their species, with an understanding of animal behavior — resources come from veterinary organizations for small animals, and from the NIOSH Centers for Agricultural Safety and Health and the National Ag Safety Database for livestock and horses
- lifting correctly to prevent musculoskeletal disorders, as in the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) ergonomics guidelines
- preventing bites and scratches — see CDC's Healthy Pets, Healthy People
Get prompt medical care for any bite or scratch, because of the risks of infection and rabies.
Mental health
Work stress harms physical and mental health, and veterinary professionals have a higher rate of suicide. Long hours, poor work-life balance, compassion fatigue and financial stress run throughout veterinary medicine and animal care. Watch your own mental health and your co-workers', and employers can build worker wellbeing into their safety programs. Support includes the AVMA's wellbeing tools and the VIN Foundation's free, confidential VETS4VETS service for veterinarians.
Other hazards
| Hazard | Details |
|---|---|
| Chemicals | disinfectants, hazardous drugs, latex, pesticides and waste anesthetic gases — absorbed through skin, inhaled, or splashed into eyes, mouth or nose; they can weaken the immune system and cause allergies, asthma and reproductive problems |
| Radiation | ionizing radiation, a known reproductive hazard linked to birth defects, from fixed and portable x-ray machines, fluoroscopy, and animals treated with iodine-131 or other radioactive materials — riskier when holding animals still, with old or poorly kept equipment, or without proper protective garments |
| Zoonoses — diseases from animals | about 60% of the more than 1,400 human pathogens, and about 75% of emerging ones, are zoonotic. The One Health approach links the health of people, animals, plants and their shared environment; see also CDC's veterinary hazard prevention page and the NASPHV infection-control guides |
| Sharps | needlesticks can expose workers to bloodborne and zoonotic diseases; follow safe injection and disposal practices |
| Allergens | animal hair, fur, saliva, urine and dander; see NIOSH on asthma and allergies |
| Noise | barking dogs and machinery can exceed recommended levels; see NIOSH on noise and hearing loss |
| Outdoors | extreme heat and cold, sun, and hazardous animals |
| Driving | long hours and long trips to patients cause fatigue, a major factor in work-related crashes |
| Disasters | caring for displaced pets and wildlife after natural disasters, oil spills and wildfires |
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the United States.
Sources
Based on "Hazards to Veterinary Medicine and Animal Care Workers," National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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