Abstract:
Understanding hazards within the veterinary
profession is critical for developing strategies to ensure the
health and safety of personnel in the work environment.
This study was conducted to systematically review and
synthesize data on reported risks within veterinary
workplaces. A systematic review of published data on
occupational hazards and associated risk factors were
searched within three database platforms namely PubMed,
Ebscohost, and Google scholar. To determine the proportion
estimates of hazards and pooled odds ratio, two randomeffects
meta-analysis were performed. For the biological,
chemical and physical hazards, the pooled proportion
estimates were 17% (95% CI: 15.0-19.0, p < 0.001), 7.0% (95%
CI: 6.0-9.0%, p < 0.001) and 65.0% (95% CI: 39.0-91.0%, p <
0.001) respectively. A pooled odds ratio indicated the risk
of exposures to physical (OR=1.012, 95% CI: 1.008-1.017,
p < 0.001) and biological hazards (OR=2.07, 95% CI: 1.70-
2.52, p <0.001) increased when working or in contact with
animals. The review has provided a better understanding
of occupational health and safety status of veterinarians
and gaps within the developing countries. This evidence calls for policy formulation and implementation to reduce
the risks of exposures to all forms of occupational-related
hazards in veterinary workplaces.
