Survey of occupational hazards in Minnesota veterinary practices in 2012

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Am Vet Med Assoc
• Personal Author:
  Fowler, Heather N. ; Holzbauer, Stacy M. ; Smith, Kirk E. ; Scheftel, Joni M.
• Description:
  OBJECTIVE
  
  To identify the scope of occupational hazards encountered by veterinary personnel and compare hazard exposures between veterinarians and technicians working in small and large animal practices.
  
  DESIGN
  
  Cross-sectional survey.
  
  POPULATION
  
  Licensed veterinarians and veterinary staff in Minnesota.
  
  PROCEDURES
  
  A survey of Minnesota veterinary personnel was conducted between February 1 and December 1, 2012. Adult veterinary personnel working in clinical practice for > 12 months were eligible to participate. Information was collected on various workplace hazards as well as on workplace safety culture.
  
  RESULTS
  
  831 eligible people responded, representing approximately 10% of Minnesota veterinary personnel. A greater proportion of veterinarians (93%; 368/394) reported having received preexposure rabies vaccinations than did veterinary technicians (54%; 198/365). During their career, 226 (27%) respondents had acquired at least 1 zoonotic infection and 636 (77%) had been injured by a needle or other sharps. Recapping of needles was reported by 87% of respondents; the most common reason reported by veterinarians (41%; 142/345) and veterinary technicians (71%; 238/333) was being trained to do so at school or work. Recent feelings of depression were reported by 204 (25%) respondents. A greater proportion of technicians (42%; 155/365) than veterinarians (21%; 81/394) indicated working in an environment in which employees experienced some form of workplace abuse.
  
  CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
  
  Veterinary personnel in Minnesota were exposed to several work-related hazards. Practice staff should assess workplace hazards, implement controls, and incorporate instruction on occupational health into employee training.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Adult Aged Aged, 80 And Over Animals Animal Technicians Article Data Collection Female Hospitals, Animal Humans Male Middle Aged Minnesota Needlestick Injuries Occupational Exposure Risk Factors Stress, Psychological Surveys And Questionnaires Veterinarians Workforce Young Adult Zoonoses

  More +
• Source:
  J Am Vet Med Assoc. 248(2):207-218
• Pubmed ID:
  26720089
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5710733
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  248
• Issue:
  2
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:430c0f86ea98c678c7a4c25d14e94dcda44227213cd8abc7126c4093df7a0ed6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/50435/cdc_50435_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 377.42 KB ]