District Veterinaries Working Environment in and around the Car

A survey and a field study were carried out to study the Swedish District Veterinarians (DV’s) working environment (WE) in the car. The results show that 47% have physical problems that they connect to the work in the car. All 12 DV’s participating in the field study suffered from pain and spent 2-4 hours a day in their car. Several very unfavourable postures in manual material handling situations and computer work, leading to high strain and increased injury risks, were identified,. It is concluded that improvements would decrease long-term injury risks. Suggestions for design criteria for improving the WE are presented.