Protect Your Eyes: The Dangers of Job-Related Eye Injuries

While recent (Occupational Health and Safety) OHSA regulations have reduced the number of job-related eye injuries, they're still a major in concern in certain industries like metalworking, chemical storage, and construction. Whether you work in one of these industries or not, though, you should maintain an awareness of your surrounding along with the potential dangers for eye injuries. You only get one set of eyes, so make them last. In this post, we're going to take a closer look at the dangers of job-related eye injuries, revealing some key facts and statistics that may surprise you.

How Common Are Job-Related Eye Injuries?

According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are a staggering 2,000 job-related eye injuries that require medical attention each day. Some of these are minor and heal in a matter of days, while others are more severe, leading to temporary or permanent blindness.  Of these 2,000 daily injuries, about a third of them require a visit to the emergency room. This should serve as a real 'eye-opener' to companies with lax safety rules.

How Do Job-Related Eye Injuries Occur?

There are a countless number of ways employees can suffer eye injuries while on the job. One of the most common, however, is from sharp fragments hitting the eye at a high rate of speed. Contrary to what some people may believe, even small pinhead-sized fragments of wood or metal can result in serious damage when propelled fast enough. The small fragmented material shoots into the air with enough velocity to either scratch the cornea or embed itself directly into the eye membrane.

Eye-injuries related caused by fragmented materials are common when working around power tools. Using a power saw on a piece of wood, for instance, could result in a small splinter shooting upwards at the eye. Unless you are wearing the appropriate safety glasses, you are making yourself vulnerable to eye injuries.

Here's a short list of common job-related eye injuries:

• Splinters and fragmented pieces of wood embedded into the eye.
• Small bits of metal flying into the eye.
• Chemical splashes.
• Objects or tools dropped dropped down onto the eye.
• Fall accidents (either level or elevated)
• UV burns

Hopefully, this will give you a better understanding of job-related eye injuries. With over 2,000 accidents each day, it's something that all companies and businesses need to be aware of.