CareerSafe's Newest Course: OSHA 10-Hour General Industry (Veterinary)

A growing industry

​Veterinary medicine is a rapidly growing industry, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has projected a 17 percent growth in employment within the field from 2020 to 2030. Often, when we think of veterinary and animal care workers, we think of how they help our furry family members, but the industry encompasses more than family veterinarians. Professionals in this industry include:

• Veterinarians, veterinary technologists and technicians, veterinary assistants, and laboratory animal caretakers
• Zoo and aquarium workers, including animal caretakers and groundskeepers
• Animal shelter and animal control workers
• Stable and kennel workers
• Groomers
• Animal trainers

Hidden hazards

Along with the breadth of industry job descriptions, many people don't realize just how many hazards are involved in these professions. In the course of their day-to-day activities, veterinary industry workers are exposed to biological, chemical, physical, and psychological hazards. In fact, according to the BLS, people in the veterinary services profession were the second most likely to have nonfatal injuries in 2016, behind nursing and residential care workers. Alarmingly, about 12 percent of people in the veterinary services profession reported work-related injuries or illnesses—four times the average for all professions—although the profession had few on-the-job deaths.

After injuries stemming from animal attacks, strains and sprains were the second most common injuries for technicians and assistants and third most common for veterinarians, for whom exposure to toxic substances was second. Other hazards include:

• Radiation from diagnostic X-rays
  
• Ergonomic injuries from lifting animals onto surgical tables
  
• Sharps injuries that occur while injecting medicines or drawing blood
  
• Kennel noise

When it comes to safety, we're not horsing around!

CareerSafe's new OSHA 10-Hour General Industry (Veterinary) course provides interactive lessons of safety tips and procedures. Required topics include general OSHA workplace safety guidelines, as well as subjects like Veterinary-Specific Hazards and Safety Around Livestock.

To learn more, visit the CareerSafe OSHA 10-Hour General Industry (Veterinary) page.