Page 25 - Occupational Health & Safety, February 2018

VISION PROTECTION
Changing the Focus of Eye Safety in 2018
When we take a holistic view of eye safety by considering the manufacturer, the products and the individual workers who rely on them, we can make great strides toward reducing occupational eye injuries.
BY WANDA SANCHEZ-MILLER
www.ohsonline.com
FEBRUARY 2018 | Occupational Health & Safety 19
When you think of eye safety, you might immediately think of protective eye- wear, OSHA requirements for using such eyewear, or the various eye haz- ards in your workplace. What you might not consider is the intense pain and unmeasurable cost to an indi- vidual who experiences an eye injury—and the lasting effect on his or her overall quality of life.
Eye injuries continue to plague the American workforce, averaging 2,000 per day1 –with more than one in 10 requiring missed workdays and 10-20 per- cent resulting in temporary or permanent vision loss.2 When you consider the impact an eye injury has on a worker—the ability to earn a living, mounting medi- cal expenses, and a reduction in quality of life, includ- ing doing the things they love with the people they care for—it quickly adds up to a painful sum. No em- ployer wants to see its workers experience such loss.
After an eye injury occurs, a safety manager’s first thought is often, “How could that injury have been avoided?” The good news is, experts agree that as
many as 90 percent of eye injuries can be avoided by using the proper safety eyewear.3 Selecting the proper eyewear for every individual worker—and getting him or her to wear it for the duration of the shift—is the key to significantly reducing eye injuries.
Achieving this goal requires a change in how we focus on eye safety—and the new year is the perfect time to learn how. By taking a holistic view of the safety eyewear manufacturer, new products and in- novations, and the people you protect, you can shift your focus toward what really matters: the individual family members, loved ones, and friends who com- prise your company’s human capital. Not only will this approach improve your company’s safety record by reducing injuries, it will also allow workers a safe return home day after day to enjoy what matters most to them outside of work: life, uninterrupted.
Focus on the Manufacturer
Choosing a safety eyewear manufacturer can feel like a leap of faith. But when you look closely, key attri-
HONEYWELL UVEX