Experts offer best practice tips for avoiding eye injuries

January 7, 2011

According to the magazine EHS Today, potential eye hazards can be found in nearly every industry.

While the majority (61 percent) of eye injuries occur in manufacturing, construction or trade jobs, threats such as chemical exposure are present in hospitals, laboratories and many other types of workplaces.

The magazine also reports that research has shown that nearly three out of every five workers who sustained eye injuries were either wearing the wrong kind of eye protection or no protection at all.

According to the American Optometric Association, safety experts and eye doctors believe that proper eye protection can either prevent or lessen the severity of the 2,000 on-the-job eye injuries that occur each day in the U.S. by 90 percent.

In order to help American workers better protect their eyes, the Vision Council and the American Society of Safety Engineers have released a new issue brief titled, "Eye Safety at-a-Glance: Protecting Your Vision at Work."

"The Vision Council developed this issue brief to ensure that business owners and workers are aware that using the proper eye protection, such as safety eyeglasses, goggles, face shields and helmets, can prevent countless eye injuries and cases of vision loss," Vision Council CEO Ed Greene told EHS Today.