Clearing the Risk for Eye Injuries at Work
Eye injury is one of those injuries that you’d really hate to see happen to anyone in the workplace. However, if you’re part of the expanding sectors of construction, mining, and manufacturing, where 40% of on-the-job eye injury occur according to CDC, you might need to watch out for your own sake. On the other hand, the general day-to-day number is also anything but encouraging, since more than 2,000 cases of eye injuries at work are being reported daily. If you don’t want to be part of that statistic, better read on to learn more about eye injuries and how they can be avoided.
The common causes of eye injuries are:
- Flying objects (bits of metal, glass)
- Tools
- Particles
- Chemicals
- Harmful radiation
- Any combination of these or other hazards
- Check for unstable and falling objects at the workplace
- Employees must be well-trained before handling tools
- Limit employee access to the known hazardous areas that can cause injuries
- Wear the proper eye protection depending on the task at hand
- Do not let dirty hands or clothing to make contact with your eyes
- Make sure to clean your equipment regularly
- All eye equipment must be in good fit and gives clear vision
- For chemical burns: the employee must immediately flush the eye with clean water.
- For specks: do not rub the eye and flush a lot of water to remove the debris.
- For cuts: immediate medical attention is required. The victim must also refrain from washing the affected eye.
- For trauma or stress: apply a cold compress and let it gently rest in the eye.
- If the pain, soreness, or redness still persist, seek guidance from a specialist.