Eye Injuries in the Workplace

Any job in the U.S. workplace that has potential for airborne particles or noxious chemicals, employers are required to abide by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines. OSHA has guidelines about the workplaces and what type of eye wear and emergency eye care is to be used.

Experts say that over 90% of eye injuries in the workplace can be prevented by taking a few simple steps of precaution and wearing safety glasses. For example, if you use any form of power tool or yard trimming device, you should wear safety glasses. If you wear corrective lenses, hardware stores sell inexpensive goggles that will normally fit over your glasses. There are other more expensive types of glasses that you could also buy.

Eye Safety and Your Air Bags

Most people drive their car everyday and since 1989 when air bags were first required in automobiles, these devices have saved thousands of lives. However, there has been plenty of controversy about the risk and reward of air bags. Though air bags can save your life, when deployed, you could possibly sustain a corneal abrasion or another eye injury from the air bag. However, without the air bag you would be susceptible to much worse injuries. To reduce any risk to your eyes, always make sure that you:

• Make sure you are wearing your seatbelt and it is properly adjusted
• Adjust the headrest for the proper support
• Sit at the minimum, 10 inches away from the steering wheel
• Do not smoke while driving
• Lastly, have children sit in the back, with seat belts properly fastened and if needed, safety seats adjusted to the proper setting.

 
Remember, Safety First! specially when it comes to protecting your eyes.
 

Using the Computer at Home and at Work

Using a computer in the workplace can be a very simple task, but it can cause a strain on your eyes. Avoiding simple things like computer stare and sitting too close to the screen can help prevent this. Computer stare is when an individual forgets to blink for an extended amount of time while looking at the screen. When sitting at the computer you want to follow the 20×4 rule. You want to keep your eyes at least 20 inches away from any screen, take a 20 second break every 20 minutes to look at something at least 20 feet away.

The overhead lighting at your computer can also cause a strain on the eyes if the overhead light is brighter than the light coming from the computer screen. You need to make sure that you keep your monitor up to date, old computer monitors that have low-resolution screens are hard on the eyes.

A persons posture can affect the strain, how one sits, the chair that you use, and having the mouse too far away. One needs to make sure that they sit with straight posture and be sure to not turtle over with their back rounded leaning towards the screen. Make sure that you use a chair that has good support and when using the mouse, keep it close to you and not by the computer screen.