Every day, over 2,000 workers experience an eye injury that requires them to seek medical care, according to the National Safety Council. Although any worker can injure her eyes on the job, the majority of eye injuries occur in the construction, manufacturing, mining and agriculture industries. These accidents affect the quality of life of the people whose eyes are injured, and result in a significant amount of lost work time. Preventing these injuries is not difficult. Doing so requires having the right protective equipment on hand and insisting that workers follow eye protection procedures at all times.
Eye injuries are often caused by the following: flying particles from work materials, chemicals, falling objects, dust and UV light from welding torches. If your workplace exposes workers to any of these hazards, it is important that you have an eye-protection policy in place. Note that OSHA has specific standards for general industry as well as shipyard employment and construction.
Types of eye protection include safety glasses with side protection, goggles and face shields. The kind of protection you purchase for your employees depends on the type of work they do. For example, working in a dusty environment may simply require the use of safety glasses, while working with chemicals always requires that workers use goggles, while working with bloodborne pathogens will require the use of a face shield.
Sometimes, workers need to use task-specific eyewear that is appropriate to the work they will be performing, such as a welding helmet to protect the eyes from the intense UV light emitted by the arc. A person working with lasers will wear eye protection that has a special filter to protect his eyes from the light. It is critical that workers use the right type of protection for the task in order to prevent injury. This may mean that your company will need to purchase several different kinds of protective equipment for the eyes.
Note that any protective eyewear you buy must meet the ANSI eye and face protection standards. Appropriate eyewear will have Z87 marked on the frame or lens. Equipment should fit properly so that no space is between the glasses and the face that would permit flying debris to enter and cause injury. Maintain the equipment so that it performs properly, as scratched googles can be a hazard in and of themselves.
Taking these precautions should reduce the chances that any of your employees suffer from a serious eye injury. Refer to OSHA guidelines to ensure that your company meets all of the legal standards for eye protection.
