Safety Tip of the Week – Eye Safety

Each year many workers suffer eye-related injuries on the job. Don’t become a statistic! Take precautions and learn all you can about health and safety measures for your job. Be aware of specific hazards on the job, wear the proper PPE and use the proper procedures to work safety. It’s your right!

Did You Know?

• United States emergency rooms see 118,000 occupational injuries in and around the eye;
• Over 219,000 occupational eye injuries involve days away from work;
• Nearly 41,000 of these eye injuries were in production occupations; and
• The estimated cost for one occupational vision loss incident (direct and indirect) is $159,358.

Common Causes of Eye Injuries

A direct injury to the eye can lead to a possible loss in vision and it can occur in multiple ways according to OSHA Standard 1910.133(a)(1):

• Flying particles or objects striking the eye;
• Blunt force trauma;
• Chemical burn injuries from liquid acids or caustics;
• Chemical injuries from liquids, gases, or vapors;
• Thermal burns from molten metal; and
• Injurious light radiation.

Reducing Eye Injuries

Protective eyewear is important to reduce eye injuries, trauma, and vision loss. The personal protective equipment manufacturing sector does a lot of work to design, test, and create eye and face protection products for a variety of activities.

We must protect our eyes from harm. We CAN reduce eye injuries, IF we wear personal protective eyewear, such as goggles, face shields, safety glasses, or full-face respirators. Remember, we should continue to evaluate our protective eyewear and make a commitment to wearing it regularly.

DON’T TAKE YOUR SIGHT FOR GRANTED…KEEP YOUR EYES SAFE!