BEVA Issues New Guidelines on Managing Equine Risks

The guides are designed to help equine veterinarians assess and manage risks with horses.
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The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) is hoping to keep equine veterinarians safer with new guidelines to help them assess and manage equine risks. The nine-page booklet is being distributed electronically to all BEVA members, together with a useful guide on spotting some of the warning signs horses could display, written by equine veterinarian and behaviorist Gemma Pearson, BVMS, Cert AVP (EM), MRCVS.

Working with horses can be dangerous: a report commissioned by BEVA in 2013 indicated that an equine vet could expect to sustain between seven and eight work-related injuries that impeded them from practicing, during a 30-year working life. Data available from the Health and Safety Executive suggests that this is a very high number of injuries compared to other civilian occupations, including those working in the construction industry, prison service, and the fire brigade.

The new guide has been produced “by horse vets, for horse vets” with BEVA members contributing their views, experiences, and suggestions to early drafts. It provides information for those handling and involved with equine veterinary care to make workers consider the steps that they can take to make their activities as safe as reasonably possible by assessing a situation and implementing measures to limit the risk that vets and others are exposed to. The guide also aims to challenge prevailing attitudes and culture. It outlines how to make “on the spot” or “mental” risk assessments and when to stop if a procedure becomes unsafe.

The guide is accompanied by practical illustrated leaflet Signs of Increased Arousal Combined with a Negative Effective State. Written by Pearson, who specializes in equine behavior and learning theory, it explains signs of increased arousal including facial expressions, stance, movement, and response

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