Importance of Safety Glasses for Particular Job Fields

Approximately 20,000 job-related eye injuries occur in the United States each year, says the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. These injuries range from eyestrain to severe ocular trauma, resulting in permanent visual impairment or blindness. Do you work with tools and machines for chipping, cutting, grinding, drilling, sanding, or welding? Perhaps you work with chemicals or in a dusty environment. If so, there’s a reason why wearing your Personal Protective Equipment is mandatory. Does wearing your safety glasses bother you? Here, we will share some insights into the importance of wearing appropriate protective eyewear for specific occupations.

 

Understanding the Hazards

Accidents can happen to anyone at any time. Nevertheless, there are many ways to stop these unfortunate events from happening. These preventive measures are also designed to minimize the severity of injuries you’re at risk of because of the nature of your job.

 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor has identified five types of eye and face hazards when assessing the risk of exposure in the workplace:

 

1. Impact. Examples of hazards include flying objects like fragments, chips, particles, sand, and dirt. You can strike, scrape, or have shards penetrate your eyes from carpentry and construction-related occupations, among others.

2. Heat:  There’s also danger from anything that emits extreme heat. These include furnace operations, casting, and welding.

3. Chemicals: As you know, handling toxic substances can harm you through their irritating spatters, vapors, and mists.

4. Dust: Harmful clouds of dust from woodworking or in generally dusty environments can be dangerous for your eyes too.

5. Optical Radiation: Tasks like soldering, welding, brazing, torch cutting, and laser work can also have adverse effects. Your eyes are vulnerable to glare, intense light, and radiant energy.

The Best Protective Eyewear for Your Job

Experts urge those in high-risk occupations to shield their eyes even in areas where there’s the slightest possibility of sustaining an eye injury. The protective eyewear you need generally depends on the types of hazards you may encounter.

 

Goggles are best suited for people who handle chemicals. For those who work around flying objects, particles, or dust, you require safety glasses with side shields. Some specially designed protective eyewear or helmets would be necessary if you work near radiation.

 

How to Recognize an Eye Injury

Employees and employers alike should be equipped and trained in identifying an eye injury. It’s crucial that an injured worker gets medical help right away, even if the problem seems minor.


Here are the common signs that you need to watch out for:

 

• The person suffers from obvious pain
   

• The person has a torn or lacerated eyelid
   

• The person appears having trouble seeing
   

• There’s something stuck in their eye or underneath their eyelid
   

• There’s blood in the clear part of their eye
   

• Their pupil has an unusual size or shape
   

• One of their eyes sticks out or doesn’t move as well as the other
  
  
   

Learn more about the importance of protective eyewear for work, contact Davie Family Eye Care in Davie, Florida at (754) 238-5360.