Dog bite safety at work: An injury prevention perspective on reported occupational dog bites in the UK

Source avec lien : Safety Science, 118, 10/1/2019. 10.1016/j.ssci.2019.05.034

Les morsures de chien affectent la santé et le bien-être des victimes et ont un impact sur les organisations dont les employés sont blessés. Cependant, les morsures au cours du travail ou les mesures utilisées par les employeurs pour y remédier n’ont pas été explorées auparavant. Cette étude a utilisé la base de données du Health and Safety Executive (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulation) pour comprendre : (1) les caractéristiques professionnelles et démographiques des victimes de morsure ; (2) les circonstances dans lesquelles elles ont été mordues ; et (3) les mesures correctives énumérées par les employeurs.

Dog bites affect the health and wellbeing of the victims and impact the organisations whose employees are injured. However, bites in the course of work or measures used by the employers to remedy them have not been previously explored. This study used the Health and Safety Executive’s database (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulation) to understand: (1) The occupational and demographic characteristics of bite victims; (2) Circumstances in which they were bitten; and (3) The remedial actions listed by the employers. Between April 2011- March 2018, 1812 dog bites were reported; middle-age men were most often bitten demographic. Dog bites occurred in two distinct scenarios. Firstly, entering or leaving a private property, typically whilst delivering mail with a dog owner often present and the victim usually not interacting with or aware of the dog before the bite. In the second scenario, the victim was usually a female, dog professional, familiar with the dog and interacting with them before the bite. The remedial actions used by the employers focused on reducing the risk by acting pre- or during the bite event (e.g. euthanizing the offending dog, restricting dog access to employees or providing protective equipment). Post-event counter-measures were rare, but included counselling to the victims. Risk was addressed primarily through administrative measures (e.g. policies), which commonly targeted changing individuals’ behaviour, which may limit effectiveness of prevention. Drawing on injury prevention models we suggest novel ways of preventing bites, e.g. equipment re-design and addressing social norms.

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