Eye injuries occur every day while people are working. Eye injuries can vary from slight to severe and in some cases, people lose their sight from workplace-related eye injuries. Eye safety should never be taken lightly and in certain job tasks, workers need to be aware of the risks of possible eye injuries and exercising safety should be rule number one.
Protective Eyewear
Wearing safety glasses is the best way to protect one’s eyes on the job. Most workplace eye injuries can be avoided by simply wearing the proper safety glasses. Safety glasses or goggles can protect your eyes from flying objects, liquid hazards, tools, and a host of other hazards. Laboratory workers and health care workers need to be especially aware of the risks their jobs hold when it comes to possible eye injuries. Just about any type of job that deals with chemicals such as cleaning agents, chemicals, powders, particles or sprays put workers at risk and protective measures need to be taken to prevent eye injuries. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to ensure workers have the correct eye protection. Any eye protection used by workers should be certified and approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
What to Do for an Eye Injury
In most cases, if a person receives a workplace eye injury, they need to seek medical attention right away. Symptoms may vary depending on the type of injury from eye pain, bleeding from the eye, visual disturbances, or abnormal appearance of the eye. If a worker experiences any of these types of eye injuries, they should seek emergency medical attention right away and be seen by an ophthalmologist. An ophthalmologist is a medical doctor who specializes in the eye and vision care.
Regular Eye Exams
It is very important that employees take the proper steps to protect their eyesight and have their eyes examined annually by an ophthalmologist. Eye exams will not only expose any potential vision issues, they can help prevent any unseen injuries to an individual’s eyes such as cataracts and glaucoma.
