Study highlights injury burden and weak safety culture in vet practice
Bottom line
A new mixed-methods study in the Journal of Small Animal Practice suggests work-related injuries are not an occasional hazard in UK companion animal practice, but a routine part of the job for many team members. The researchers found 77.6% of employees reported having been injured at some point in their careers, and 60% said they’d been injured in the previous year, most often during animal restraint and clinical procedures. The paper also describes a workplace culture in which injuries are often normalized, underreported, and worked through rather than formally addressed. That finding lines up with a separate 2026 Veterinary Journal analysis estimating that 68.9% of veterinary workplace injuries go unreported overall, with underreporting reaching 70% in companion animal practice. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the message is that injury prevention can’t be treated as an individual resilience issue. If staff expect bites, scratches, sharps injuries, falls, and restraint-related injuries as “just part of the job,” practices may miss chances to redesign workflows, improve handling and restraint protocols, strengthen incident reporting, and reduce presenteeism. Existing UK professional guidance already emphasizes that personal safety should take precedence and that employers must assess risks, provide training, and report accidents and illnesses, but these studies suggest the gap is cultural as much as procedural. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
What to watch: Expect more attention on whether practices turn injury reporting, training, and visible follow-up into routine parts of safety culture, rather than relying on staff to absorb preventable harm. (sciencedirect.com)
Work-related injury appears to be deeply embedded in companion animal practice, according to new research in the Journal of Small Animal Practice, which found that more than three-quarters of employees surveyed had been injured during their careers and 60% had been injured in the past year. The study’s title, “Just part of the job,” reflects one of its central findings: many veterinary team members see workplace injury as normal, even when those injuries happen repeatedly during routine clinical work. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
The paper adds to a growing body of UK evidence that veterinary workplace harm is both common and systematically underestimated. A companion study published in The Veterinary Journal in June 2026 used modified capture-recapture analysis to estimate that 68.9% of veterinary workplace injuries go unreported, meaning roughly 69 out of every 100 injuries never make it into formal systems. Underreporting was even higher in companion animal practice, at 70%, and highest among companion animal veterinarians in clinical roles, at 78%. (sciencedirect.com)
Taken together, the two studies point to a pattern that goes beyond isolated accidents. In the JSAP study, injuries were most commonly linked to animal restraint and clinical procedures, while the Veterinary Journal paper identified clinical examination, falls, slips and trips, drug administration, and needlesticks or surgical sharps injuries as leading causes in companion animal settings. The underreporting study also flagged hazardous exposures as more common than expected and noted that practice visitors, not just staff, were sometimes injured. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
That matters because the profession already has a framework for safer practice, at least on paper. The British Veterinary Association’s policy on good veterinary workplaces says personal safety should always take precedence, including over professional responsibility, and outlines employer duties such as risk assessment, training, first aid provision, worker consultation, and reporting of accidents and illnesses. Separate practice management guidance notes that veterinary practices are legally required to assess health and safety risks, and warns that failures can lead not only to injuries, but also to fines, compensation claims, and reputational damage. (bva.co.uk)
Industry bodies have been warning for years that injury is widespread across veterinary work. In 2019, the BVA said more than 6 in 10 vets working with production animals had suffered injuries in a 12-month period, and nearly one in five injured vets took time off work because of their most severe injury. While that survey focused on farm practice rather than companion animal medicine, it showed the same broader issue: injury risk is persistent, and staff may continue working even after significant harm. (bva.co.uk)
Why it matters: For companion animal practices, the practical takeaway is that safety culture may be a stronger lever than policy alone. If team members don’t report bites, scratches, sharps injuries, falls, or restraint incidents because they see them as inevitable, practice leaders lose the data needed to identify patterns, justify equipment upgrades, refine staffing models, or change patient-handling protocols. That can also affect retention, morale, and continuity of care, especially when presenteeism keeps injured staff on the floor instead of recovering. The studies suggest that better reporting systems, leadership engagement, training, and visible responses to incidents are not administrative extras, but core parts of workforce sustainability. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Expert reaction tied specifically to the new JSAP paper was limited in publicly accessible sources, but the themes are consistent with broader professional messaging from the BVA and RCVS-linked guidance: employers are expected to create workplaces where health and safety concerns are actively discussed, risks are regularly reviewed, and staff aren’t expected to compromise their own safety. That alignment strengthens the implication that the new findings are less a surprise than a warning that known standards still aren’t being fully translated into day-to-day practice. (bva.co.uk)
What to watch: The next question is whether practices respond with more robust incident capture and follow-through, or whether underreporting continues to obscure the true burden of injury in companion animal care. With the newer Veterinary Journal paper now quantifying the reporting gap, veterinary employers and professional bodies may face more pressure to show measurable improvements in training, reporting compliance, and prevention over the next year. (sciencedirect.com)