Workplace Eye Wellness

Every year almost 25000 Americans end up in the emergency room with a workplace eye injury. It is important to wear protective eyewear to avoid such injuries. About 10% of the eye injuries require missed days at work to recover, and 10-20% of the injuries cause temporary or permanent vision loss!

While people tend to think that the eye injuries occur mainly in construction, trade or manufacturing jobs, the reality is that about 40% of them happen in healthcare facilities, offices and labs! Most eye care providers and safety experts agree that proper eyewear could have lessened the severity, or even prevented, 90% of them!

Chemicals, flying objects, particles, harmful radiation and tools are the most common causes of eye injuries. Implementing appropriate safety practices and use of proper safety eyewear could help eliminate these eye injuries completely in many cases.

Here are a few tips to help eliminate eye injuries in the workplace:

1. Eliminate potential hazards before starting work using machine guards and work screens
2. Wear appropriate goggles/eyewear even if just passing through a potentially hazardous area
3. If working in areas with dust and other particles make sure you wear safety glasses with side shields to keep them out of the eyes
4. Always wear safety goggles or face shields when working with chemicals to prevent splashing into the eyes
5. When working around hazardous radiation like welding, fiber optics and lasers, wear the specially designed eyewear to protect the eyes
6. Keep safety glasses and equipment in good working order

It doesn’t take much to damage or lose an eye, so protect the one set you have!

Until next time...