What Are The Hazards To The Eyes In Your Workplace?

As it’s mentioned above, underlying hazards to the eyes exist in the workplace whether it’s indoors or outdoors. In outdoor circumstances, the risks to the eyes usually lead to eye injuries and the possibility of losing vision forever. Meanwhile, hazards to the eyes in the indoor workplace are often ignored, which can negatively result in the eyes to different extents.

Hazards to the eyes in the outdoor workplace

Basically, the symptoms of eye injury in the outdoor workplace can come in three ways: blunt injury, penetration, and ultraviolet radiation. Take the building site as an example, the majority of eye injuries happen on the site because of external factors. Heavy and sharp tools make bad consequences if used improperly. Small objects like dust or metal pieces might be bounced into the eyes through the edges of the tools. Also, the big tools themselves can fall on the faces and cause trauma to the eyes.

Additionally, sharp objects show a high frequency on the building sites which directly demonstrates a risk of penetrating hurts, indicating another way of eye trauma in the outdoor workplace. The penetration through the eyes could badly injure the eyeball and even hurt the brain as a consequence. This kind of way of getting hurt not only looks horrible but also can cause serious damage indeed. Combing all these factors, wearing helmets and goggles are usually highly demanded on almost all the construction sites.

The harm of ultraviolet radiation to the eyes has been mentioned repeatedly. Long-term exposure to the light makes irreversible damage to the eyes and it often happens in summer under the strong sunlight. The harmful ultraviolet radiation of sunlight is intangible and comes from the nature so people are used to ignoring this form of eye injury in the workplace. Plus, you can have more information about the negative impacts of ultraviolet radiation on the eyes in the article: Keep Your Eyes Healthy in the Summer: Stay Away From Visual Problems.

Hazards to the eyes in the indoor workplace

The hazards to the eyes can generally vary in different situations: in offices, factories, or medical places. Staring at the digital screens is a common situation for persons working in offices and it’s usually unavoidable. Excessive use of eyes in the office can cause eye conditions like eye strain or dry eye syndrome. The damage to the eyes in the office might be more slight compared with eye trauma, however, the harm to the eyes in this case is more potential and can also lead to severe results if ignoring the uncomfortable symptoms of the eyes for a long time.

The hazards to the eyes in the factories are similar to the outdoor situations. Improper use of the tools, dust or industrial pieces, and furthermore, chemical burns, all need to be taken into account when discussing the hazards to the eyes. Although factories always provide strict operating regulations and qualified equipment, eye injuries still happen under the circumstances. To some extent, people who are familiar with the working process in factories are more likely to ignore the importance of eye safety as they might think they are quite skilled, and it’s never advisable.

How To Protect Your Eyes In The Workplace

Regarding different kinds of working environments, the measures of eye protection in the workplace are suggested in various ways.

• Wear eye protection equipment
• Keep the moistness of the eyes

For more detailed measures to protect the eyes and prevent eye injury in the workplace, please visit: How to Prevent Eye Injuries and Vision Loss in the Workplace?

Both employers and employees have the responsibility to notice the issue of eye injury and care about eye health in the workplace, and it’s also what Workplace Eye Wellness Month aims to address. Risks to the eyes exist everywhere in the workplace. Therefore, making sure the eye protection in the workplace is crucial to keep eye health.