A survey of veterinary occupational hazards in Trinidad, West Indies

ABSTRACT

A survey of veterinary occupational hazards was conducted by questionnaire in Trinidad. Forty-four out of seventy veterinarians responded to the questionnaire. Bites were the major cause of injuries to veterinarians in small animal practices (50.9 percent) and mixed practices (37.7 percent). In equine practices, 33.3 percent of the reported injuries were due to clinicians being stepped on by animals. The total number of days lost due to injuries, reported by veterinarians for their entire careers was not substantial, 33 days in small animal practices, 24 days in mixed practices, and 28 days in equine practices. Lost days from work-related injuries averaged two days per practitioner. The number of years in veterinary practice for respondents in the study ranged from one year to thirty years with the modal class being 1-5 years. The study showed that the highest use of radiography was by the the two equine veterinarians, taking an average of 14 x-rays per week per practitioner. Nine of the thirteen female respondents in small animal practice reported using anaesthetic gases. The highest exposure to anaesthetic gases (5.13 hours per week per user) was found in this category. Only ten (50 percent) of the practitioners who used gaseous anaesthesia employed a scavenger system when using gaseous anaesthetics. Anti-neoplastic drugs were found to be used, on average, once per month by veterinarians in the survey. Allergies, job-related automobile accidents, and violent crimes were also reported. Despite a high exposure to zoonotic diseases, there were few reports of veterinarians contracting disease (AU)