Page 85 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2017
P. 85
VISION PROTECTION
Your Eyes Are Amazing—They Deserve Quality PPE
When vision is impaired, quality of life and the ability to work experience a drastic and unfortunate decline. Preventing eye injuries should be a top task on every safety professional’s to-do list.
BY MARY PADRON
www.ohsonline.com
JUNE 2017 | Occupational Health & Safety 81
According to NIOSH, every day more than 2,000 workers in the United States suffer from an eye injury and require medical treatment. That’s more than 700,000 Amer- icans each year! Approximately one-third of those injuries require emergency room treatment and 100 of them result in one or more days away from work.
When Should Workers Wear Eye Protection?
Any worker or bystander who is working in, near, or passing through eye risk areas should wear protective eyewear. Please see the sidebar about OSHA’s general requirements for employers to provide eye protection.
The type of eye protection to specify depends on the hazards in the workplace. If the job site has fly- ing objects, particles, or dust, safety glasses with side protection (side shields) must be worn. Workers who work with or near chemicals should wear goggles with indirect vents. If hazardous radiation is a risk, work- ers must wear special-purpose safety glasses, goggles, faceshields, or helmets designed for that task.
Common causes for eye injuries include:
■ Flying objects from equipment operation (bits of metal, glass, wood, etc.)
Chemical splash
■
■ Tools
■ Particles and dust
■ Acids or caustic liquids
■ Harmful radiation
■ Falling objects when reaching for items on tall
shelves
Three Things That Help to Prevent Eye Injuries
1. Understand and identify the safety risks at work. Identify the work activities that could put your employees’ or guests’ eyes at risk. Risk is the prob- ability that a person will be harmed if exposed to a hazard, such as the hazards listed above. Risks are
usually rated:
■ low for minimal risk
■ medium for minor or serious risks that aren’t
likely to occur
RADIANS INC.
