It’s October-The Eye Injury Prevention Month across the United States! The eye injury prevention month aims to raise awareness about eye injuries and protection. Here are some important insights about preventing eye injuries at the workplace.
Eye injuries are common in the workplace, and more than 2000 people suffer an eye injury at work each day. While some are minor eye injuries, many are severe enough, causing employees to miss one or more workdays to get recovered. Some eye injuries can even lead to temporary or permanent loss of vision.
As per the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) report, thousands of people lose their vision each year due to eye injuries at work.
Besides traumatic eye injuries, workers are also prone to infectious diseases through their eyes due to work-related accidents. Exposure to respiratory droplets of infected persons and blood splashes can cause eye infections.
While there are many other causes of eye injuries at work, let’s look at the most common cause of work-related eye injuries.
Common Causes of Eye Injuries at Work
Some common causes of eye injuries include:
- Foreign objects like glass pieces, metal chips, wood, and other flying debris in the air can cause critical eye injuries. Some work activities that cause flying objects eye injuries include masonry, drilling, sanding, sawing, chipping, and woodworking.
- Impact injuries from tools like welding equipment, lawn equipment, and power tools. Working around industrial and construction sites causes eye injuries due to tools.
- Particles or blood splashes while working in healthcare units.
- Chemical splashes from working around chemicals injure your eyes.
- Exposure to harmful radiation in certain jobs causes specific eye injuries.
- Any combination of the above or other hazards will cause injuries at work.
Eye injuries caused due to these can range from mild to severe, leading to burns and permanent eye damage if precautions are not taken and eyes are not adequately protected.
So, what’s the way to prevent these eye injuries or how to protect eyes from being injured?
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) suggests about 90% of eye injuries could be prevented by wearing proper eyewear at work. While there are many protective eyewear options available like face shields, goggles, and welding helmets, safety glasses make the most of all with great benefits.
Wearing safety glasses is the best way to protect your eyes and prevent injuries at work.
Safety glasses are designed to provide significant eye protection to employees at workplaces. They have stronger lenses and frames than regular glasses, which provide ultimate protection to your eyes. There are different safety glasses for kids, youth, adult men, and women.
Safety Glasses for Kids
The kids’ safety glasses are specially made for children to prevent their eyes from flying debris, droplets in the air, and UVA light. Child safety glasses are available in different types and models.
Some of the top ones include Crystal Kids Clear Lens Color Temple Variety Safety Glasses, Diamont Kids Assorted Safety Glasses With Vented Side Shield Protection, etc. The kids' safety glasses come in various bright colors for them to love and fit comfortably.
The prescription child safety glasses work great for children who require accurate vision and excessively use computers and smartphones.
There are also anti-fog safety glasses that help prevent fogging and provide clearer vision.
Anti-fog Safety Glasses
Anti-fog safety glasses comprise a special coating on the lens to reduce fogging and prevent condensation of water on the surface. They protect eyes and allow workers without obstruction from fogging. Buy anti-fog safety glasses to work efficiently.
You can also find Pink Safety Glasses for Women and other top safety glasses, like
- Crystal Clear Lens with Temple Color Variety Safety Glasses for Kids & Adults
- Duarte Premium Over Safety Glasses
- Hyline Clear Lens Clear Safety Glasses for Men & Women
- Variant Full-Color Variety Safety Glasses for Women & Men
- Hyline Clear Lens Clear Temple Anti-fog Safety Glasses
- Keystone Series Color Lens Black Temple,
- Grey/Pink Safety Glasses for Women, etc.
Safety glasses are available in polycarbonate, plastic, and Trivex materials. While all the major types must meet or exceed the minimum requirements for eye protection, polycarbonate lenses provide the highest level of eye protection from impact.
Look for the safety glasses that meet the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards-the Z87 mark on the lens or frame. Bulk buy safety glasses online as per your requirements and price.
While the safety glasses benefit primarily at work, here are few essential suggestions on wearing them at workplaces.
When should you wear safety glasses?
Wear safety glasses to shield and protect your eyes when working in general work conditions which involve dust, chips, or flying particles.
Several factors determine the type of safety glasses that are appropriate for specific work and workplace. Most importantly, the kind of work and hazards decide the safety glass type you would want to wear.
Wearing safety glasses the whole day
Wearing safety glasses entirely depends on a person’s specific work requirement. Whether you wear them the whole day or not, safety glasses do not cause any vision damage, blurry vision, or ruin your vision. However, we recommend you consult your eye doctor regarding wearing safety glasses for the whole day.
Wearing personal eyeglasses instead of safety goggles
While personal eyeglasses are largely worn to improve your vision, safety glasses help protect your eyes and prevent eye injuries at work. This denotes that eyeglasses cannot be worn as protective eye gear unless prescription eyeglasses have been specifically designed to be safety glasses. Safety glasses have a higher standard of compliance and protection regarding impact resistance than regular eyeglasses.
Preventing Eye Injuries
Besides wearing safety glasses and other protective eyewear, employers can make sure of the following things at work to protect their employees.
- Identify hazards and take preventive measures.
- Educate employees and organize training programs on how to wear protective eyewear like safety glasses.
- Ensure they wear the appropriate eye protection gear and inspect and eliminate inefficient safety glasses.
- Provide comprehensive guidelines on preventing eye injuries.
- Plan for an emergency with basic first-aid treatment for an eye injury.
- Place eye safety signage to prevent eye injuries.
- Install easily accessible emergency eyewash stations.
- Implement eye safety practices.
Employers can buy safety glasses in bulk for their employees. Many renowned stores online sell top safety glasses in bulk, catering to your requirements.
The right eye protection wear could prevent or lessen the severity of potential eye injuries at work. You could also follow the below tips to avoid eye injuries in the workplace.
- Wear the appropriate protective wear in the right fit
- Make sure your protective eyewear is comfortable and provides good peripheral vision
- Assess your workplace, know the safety hazards, and take precautions
- Attend regular training and participate in the eye protection programs
- Know where the emergency eye flush station
Last Words
Eye protection is critical whether in the workplace, at home, or during sports. This Eye Injury Prevention Month, take a comprehensive eye exam to ensure healthy vision and prevent eye injuries following the tips and suggestions.
