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SAFETY FOCUS

EYE CARE SAFETY By Dale Wilson, Safety Specialist

Our eyes are one of our greatest assets. They give us the ability to
see the world around us. Suppose we do not protect our eyes
from injuries while at work; we could easily lose that ability. There
are an estimated 2,000 eye injuries every single day on the job,
according to the CDC. It is vital to eliminate or engineer out the
hazards that could pose dangers to our eyes at work. Many haz-
ards to our eyes on a worksite cannot be entirely eliminated, so
proper eye protection is also critical.

Flying dust and debris are just some of the more common items
that can cause an eye injury on the job. The Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics found that almost 70% of accidents studied resulted from flying or falling objects, with most debris smaller than
a pin's head. Some of the tools we have to eliminate eye injuries are:

Use the 5-Step Risk Assessment to identify all the potential eye hazards in your work area and your specific work
tasks. Ensure there are proper safeguards in place to prevent an eye injury. If there is a safeguard missing, stop the
work and correct the problem.

Reduce the chance of getting something into your eye by avoiding being in the line of fire. One example is standing
upwind of debris or dust blowing around the work area.

Always wear approved safety glasses, face shield, goggles, or full-face respirator when needed. The type of PPE needed
will depend on the work task. Three out of every five victims of eye injuries on the job were not wearing any eye
protection.

If you get something in your eye, do not rub or scratch it. Rubbing the eye can cause scratching of the cornea result-
ing in injury.

All employees must report to their immediate supervisor at the first indication that a foreign particle might be in their
eye. Prompt assessment and removal are the best way to make sure a dust in the eye event does not become a seri-
ous injury or threat to the employee’s eyesight.

Use the eye care task matrix found in the Eye-Care Standard to determine the appropriate
eye-care PPE for the task you will be completing. Do not take shortcuts when it comes to
eye care. Take the time to wear the proper eye care PPE listed in the task matrix. It’s not
worth losing your eyesight to save a few minutes by skipping this crucial step.

Have a safe and productive week.

Page 3 MAY 2021