March is Workplace Vision Wellness Month, an initiative by Prevent Blindness American (PBA). The purpose of this directive is to educate companies and their employees about the importance of vision wellness, including safety tips on how to prevent vision-impairing eye accidents.
Every day, people suffer from workplace related eye injuries that need the attention of an eye care professional or doctor. Workplace safety experts and healthcare professionals believe the two most prevalent reasons that workers get eye injuries is because they fail to use anything to protect their eyes or they are using the wrong kind of eye protection.
The most common dangers present in the work environment include flying particles or falling objects such as dust, concrete, metal or wood that can penetrate or cause abrasions on the eye. Chemical sprays, gases and flames can also scorch and damage the eye tissues.
Keeping your Eyes Protected
Your eye care professional can assist you to identify possible eye dangers at work and judge the optimal type of eye safety for you.
Often, workplaces possess multiple eye hazards and using the right eye protection needs to take all potential risks into consideration.
People working with chemicals need to wear goggles, and if you work in an environment where there are flying objects or particles, choose safety glasses with side shields.
For those who work in close proximity to hazardous radiation when welding, working with lasers, or fiber optics calls for the use of special-purpose safety glasses, goggles, face shields, or helmets made just for your kind of work.
Healthy Screen Vision
Working at computers or using mobile and hand held devices can also be dangerous for your vision.
Here are some suggestions to avoid eye strain and visual discomfort when using hand held devices or working on a computer:
Implement the 20-20-20 rule which will allow your eyes periodic rest. At least every 20 minutes, take a 20 second break and look at something about 20 feet in the distance. If you're using a mobile device, increase the font size so you'll be able to use it at a distance better for your eyes.
Additionally try to keep the brightness of your screen to a comfortable resolution and position your monitor right under eye level to reduce any pressure on your eyes. You may also want to speak to your eye doctor about computer glasses.
If you think that you may be at risk of any eye or vision damage due to your workplace don't delay! Give us a call to discuss the hazards and solutions for a lifetime of eye and vision health!