Taking A Hard Look at Worksite Eye Injuries

Eye injuries remain one of the most common workplace injuries, despite numerous products available to protect against eye damage. For the business owner, this leads to a negative financial impact. In fact, with 2,000 eye injuries a day, those costs quickly add up to $300 million dollars to employers annually. While the cost of medical bills, worker’s comp and production downtime sounds daunting, we have some good news. Ninety percent of those eye injuries are easily preventable.

Why Are Eye Injuries So Common?

While your worksite might experience a rare, unavoidable accident, most eye injuries occur from the daily activities found on any typical job site. The two main reasons for on-the-job eye damage are a lack of proper equipment, combined with employees being apathetic to their surroundings. Experienced, long-standing employees might falsely believe they are being careful enough, whereas more novice employees may not fully understand the hazards of their job. Either way, it is easy for injuries of any kind to occur under those circumstances. Another issue is that one employee might sustain injuries due to the work of another employee, not realizing that they are vulnerable to injury based on proximity.

Is My Job Site Providing Enough Protection?

Before deciding on the best course of protection, you’ll need to identify the main hazards of your job site. Does your facility experience debris from loose materials? Are small parts of metal, wood, or other materials being released into the air as employees conduct business each day? Are toxic chemicals being handled? Do your employees spend much of their day outdoors or around lasers? Once you determine the source, you can choose the best strategy.

1. Remove anything that can cause injury that is not required for the daily function of business. That might mean more frequent cleaning, maintenance, or junk removal.
2. Restructure your worksite so that one employee isn’t unnecessarily exposed to the hazards of another.
3. Implement the latest technology or equipment features designed to eliminate or reduce the output of debris and hazardous particles.
4. Provide adequate PPE, ensuring that it is well fitted to your employee, meets the needs of their specific job, and doesn’t protect their eyes while impending their vision.

What Type of Eye Protection Should I Provide?

Once you determine the hazards unique to your business and industry, finding appropriate eye protection is the next step, and there is no shortage of options:

1. Eyewear with foam rims can block potential debris.
2. Vent goggles and face shields protect from the splash and fumes of chemical toxins.
3. Helmets with shaded filters on lenses shield welders from burns.
4. UV-Resistance lenses block harmful rays for those who work outdoors.

Once you decide the type of PPE needed, you can further expand the safety standards with additional options that range from polarized lenses to impact tested lenses and more. Your company may even opt for giving employees a choice between several pre-selected designs that you have determined to meet safety standards. This could help increase employee compliance.

Eye Injuries & Beyond

Eye injuries, though common, are just one piece of the protection puzzle. Workplace Safety Screenings can partner with your company to help you identify that which can threaten your business --and your bottom line. We are experts in safety protocol for industries with high risk of injury. From assisting you in the hiring process to occupational health management, we can help you set up safeguards that will keep your business moving forward.