Michael Goldman, CIH, CHMM, CSP, CPEA, QEP, didn’t follow the traditional pathway into occupational and environmental health and safety. Now, as a senior safety consultant for Environmental Resources Management and environmental safety and health director with Puldy Resiliency Partners, they still often deal with nontraditional hazards: specifically, dangerous plants and animals.

Goldman grew up in northern Florida, which they described as “a wonderland for anybody who’s interested in insects and reptiles and hazardous plants.” As a child, they collected insects and encountered bark scorpions and luna moths. They graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in biology and emphasis on entomology and herpetology and worked briefly at the Smithsonian’s O. Orkin Insect Zoo before moving into industrial hygiene. They’ve remained in the field for the past 35 years.

On moving into industrial hygiene, Goldman was surprised to discover that plants, animals, and insects were the cause of many workplace illnesses and injuries, even among indoor workers. “When I got into the management levels and started having to review accidents and incidents and look at root cause analysis, I started noticing that insect stings, animal bites, cases of poison ivy, and tick bites were pretty common,” they said. “The people that I had as clients were experiencing a surprisingly high number of these kinds of incidents. And there wasn’t much on the books for how to control or what to do about it.”

The Significance of Hazardous Plants and Animals

Hazards associated with plants and animals range from contact with poison ivy and other poisonous plants to bites and stings by insects and arachnids to venomous snakebites to attacks by mammals. Outdoor workers, such as those involved in construction, agriculture, land clearing, or landscaping, are most consistently at risk, but all workers are at risk from plant and animal hazards to some degree. This risk shouldn’t be dismissed as insignificant or marginal. Even injuries as common and apparently minor as bee stings may be fatal to a person who is severely allergic. “Roughly 10 percent of the population at any given time is severely allergic to insect stings,” Goldman explained. “You put a dozen people out in the field, you can guarantee you’ve got somebody who’s severely allergic.” They added that, in one year, severe allergic reactions to insect stings cause between five and 10 fatalities in the United States. Overall, insects, arachnids, and mites may be associated with between four and seven thousand OSHA-recordable injuries per year.

Bites by feral or territorial dogs, and less often by wild mammals, are another significant cause of injuries. “You’ve got not just the trauma from the bite itself, which can be very dangerous—a lot of these dogs are very big and very strong—but those kinds of bites can get infected very easily,” Goldman said. They related that workers on long-term construction or remediation projects often feed wild or feral animals, such as dogs, cats, and raccoons. “And that can be a potentially dangerous situation,” they continued, “because even though you’re feeding it under the trailer, you’ve still got a wild animal, and it could react very, very badly to being touched or picked up.”

Introduced species may also present unprecedented problems on work sites. Tropical snakes, such as pythons, cobras, and black mambas, have been identified throughout the Southern U.S. In November, 43 rhesus macaques escaped from a South Carolina compound, where they had been bred for medical research. The cat-sized monkeys could become aggressive, and some carry the Herpes B virus, the Associated Press reported. Two introduced arthropod species are among those that Goldman admitted “keep me awake at night”: the longhorned tick, which carries a range of tick-borne diseases, and the tiger mosquito, which is a vector for yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya, and other illnesses and breeds easily in containers and other small bodies of water.

Insect-borne diseases, already a significant cause of fatal illnesses worldwide, may become even more prevalent due to changes in climate and insect ranges. Malaria, spread by Anopheles mosquitos, was believed to have been eradicated in the U.S. in the early 1950s. But in 2023, nine malaria cases were reported in Florida, Texas, and Maryland among people who had not recently traveled to countries where malaria was endemic.

Addressing Plant and Animal Hazards

The good news is that, according to Goldman, dangerous plants and animals can be controlled like any other workplace hazard. However, OEHS professionals must first recognize the hazardous plants and animals and environments where they may be found. Many people can’t recognize poison ivy, Goldman related, or identify venomous snakes. “Treat every snake as if it was venomous because there are a lot of points of identification that, as soon as you can identify it, you’re already way too close,” they added.

Discouraging workers from feeding wild or feral animals at work sites, as mentioned previously, is one way to reduce workers’ risk of bites and attacks by mammals. EPA-approved pesticides and pest repellents, such as N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, or DEET, may prevent workers from being bitten by ticks and mosquitos, as will insect-repellent clothing, which takes advantage of insects’ inability to see certain colors. Controls that already exist for other purposes may also be adapted for plant and animal hazards. “A lot of the PPE that we use for chemical protection is really great with poison ivy,” Goldman said. “A Saranex suit will keep poison ivy off of your skin and off of your clothes, and it’ll also keep ticks from being able to access your skin.” Specialized equipment like beekeeping suits, they explained, is only necessary in certain situations, such as pest control.

“If you’re working outside,” they said, “and you recognize these habitats that could be potentially dangerous, knowing how to avoid them and keeping your people out of them can go a long way.”

Spreading the Word

Goldman first started covering plant and animal hazards in OEHS training while running a course on hazardous waste and emergency response (HAZWOPER). This section turned out to be one of the most popular parts of the course “because most people have had encounters with these kinds of insects and plants.”

At AIHA Connect 2025, Goldman will teach an educational session and professional development course on plant and animal hazards. The PDC, they explained, will walk participants through identifying and controlling plant and animal hazards, as well as applying basic first aid measures in the event of injury. They also hope that participants will leave the PDC with the ability to look at their workplace in a new way. For example, they won’t only see an empty field at their work site—they will think about whether the location may be a habitat for poison ivy, ticks, and snakes and whether there are any feral dogs in the area.

Goldman also hopes to hear about participants’ encounters with hazardous plants and animals. “What I really enjoy out of teaching this material is the feedback I get because people have some amazing stories about having been in these kinds of situations themselves and dealt with these kinds of hazards.”

“If you’ve got stories, bring them,” Goldman said. “Other than that, let’s keep an open mind because this may be a radically different way than you’ve ever thought about your workplace before.”

Michael Goldman’s professional development course, “Identifying and Controlling Plant and Animal Hazards in the Workplace,” will occur Sunday, May 18, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time, in association with AIHA Connect 2025. AIHA’s annual conference will be held from May 19 to 21, 2025, in person at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and virtually. To view the conference agenda, visit the AIHA Connect website.