Industrial Safety and Protection

Eye Injuries

Posted by Admin on 2 January 2009 | 9 Comments

Tags: Eye Injuries

Work-related eye injuries are a common cause of lost time, costs and disruption. Although most of the injuries that occur appear to be relatively minor (not requiring hospital admission) and most involve foreign bodies on the eye, particularly on the cornea, eye injuries are an important area of concern – especially as they are almost always preventable. Grinding and welding are the two most common tasks being performed when an eye injury occurs, and products such as the Autolift welding helmet (http://www.autoliftweldinghelmet.com) from Servore (http://www.servore.com)can help prevent eye injuries because workers have better eye and face protection and are not required to carry and additional face shield or goggles. \ Eye injuries also frequently occur in the construction and manufacturing industries, and to a lesser extent the agriculture, forestry and fishing and mining industries probably due to the tasks being undertaken and the processes being used. Not surprisingly, many of the eye injuries occurred when the person was not wearing appropriate eye protection – welders for example are often tempted to chip and grind without eye protection if it is not easily available to them – frequently resulting in minor injuries. But a substantial number of eye injuries also occur when eye protection is being used – indicating a need to review the type and quality of eye protection used and sometimes re-train personnel in the use of PPE to ensure they are aware of risk factors and how to avoid them.