Kick off Workplace Eye Wellness Month with these keys to protecting your vision on the job.
Although they’re central to how most of us navigate the world, our eyes are delicate organs. Small injuries can be painful, inconvenient, or even incapacitating, and day-to-day environments can pose threats to our eye safety—including many of our workplaces.
Although eye injuries can happen anywhere, safety is a special consideration in industries like construction and manufacturing. Between 2011 and 2019, the rate of eye injuries that resulted in missed workdays averaged more than 20,000 per year. Eighteen percent, almost one-fifth, of those injuries took place in production occupations.
In any workplace, safety equipment is essential. For many jobs, that includes proper eye protection. And while eyewear is a big part of protecting your eye health, wearing it isn’t the only thing you can do to keep yourself safe. Here are seven important tips for protecting your eyes while you’re on the job.
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Wear the right safety gear.
One of the most straightforward ways to keep your eyes healthy in the workplace is to make sure you’re wearing the right protection. Depending on your work environment, you could face different kinds of risks, including:
- Dust, debris, or harsh gases in the air
- Flying or falling objects, including sparks
- Splashed or spilled chemicals
- Intense light or other types of radiation
- Low lighting or long hours on screens
The right eyewear will fit you correctly and be tailored to the risks you might see at your job. That could include face shields, safety glasses, goggles, tinted lenses, and a wide range of other specialized protective equipment.
To make sure your gear meets a high standard of protection against impacts, liquid splashes, and non-ionizing radiation, look for the “Z87” marking on each part of the eyewear. That mark means it complies with the ANSI Z87.1 standard for safety glasses, and will provide high quality protection in most workplaces. In office settings, the Z87 standard is less critical, but lenses that filter out blue light can help prevent digital eye strain.
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Check your gear regularly.
Even the Z87 standard for safety glasses only applies as long as the equipment is in good condition. Part of wearing the right protective gear is inspecting it often for wear and tear. Lenses can be damaged by workplace incidents or the simple strain of everyday use, leading to cracks, pitting, poor fit, weakness, and eventual equipment failure. Keep yourself protected by repairing or replacing eyewear that shows signs of damage.
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Use contacts with caution…
Contact lenses are a very common choice for people with refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism, for example) because they’re convenient and don’t interfere with other eyewear. In most workplaces, contacts aren’t a problem—but by themselves, they don’t protect your eyes from damage, and in certain cases, they may pose an additional risk.
If you choose to wear contacts in your workplace, be sure to wear the right protective gear, like safety glasses or face shields, along with them. But before you do, check your workplace’s policy on contacts. Around certain harsh chemicals or high temperatures, contacts could worsen the effects of an exposure or injury. In these situations, you might have to leave the contact lenses at home.
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…But be sure to wear the corrective lenses you need.
When there are hazards in your workplace, seeing clearly is critical! Make sure you can do your job well and keep yourself safe by wearing the lenses you need. If your care provider has prescribed you contacts or glasses, don’t go to work without them.
That said, contacts aren’t always the safest choice, and glasses can be tricky or downright impossible to wear under protective gear. Depending on the risks in your workplace, your glasses alone might provide the protection you need—check with your employer and your care provider to find out.
You may also be able to modify your glasses with polycarbonate lenses or side shields to provide more protection. And if that’s not an option, safety glasses and other protective eyewear can be made with prescription lenses that will ensure you can see your work clearly.
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Remember the 20-20-20 rule.
Not all workplace risks come from foreign objects or chemicals. Even office settings can cause eye issues, thanks to long stretches of staring at a screen or document. Close-up reading or detailed work can result in eye strain or fatigue, as can the blue light from monitors. Staring at screens also means blinking less often, which can lead to dry eyes.
One of the simplest ways to prevent fatigue is to follow the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds to look at an object 20 or more feet away from you. This gives your eyes a chance to rest and stretch. You can also position your monitors at arms’ length, slightly below your eyeline, to reduce dry eyes, and if you notice symptoms, speak to your care provider about eye drops.
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Familiarize yourself with your workplace’s safety and first aid procedures.
Much of workplace eye safety is focused on prevention, but accidents can and do happen. If there are eye safety hazards in your workplace, your employer should have safety equipment, first aid kits, and emergency procedures in the event of a problem.
Learn the location of your workplace’s eyewash station, if you have one, and the nearest first aid kits. Get comfortable with basic first aid for eye injuries, and if any personnel are specially trained in first aid, learn who they are. Make sure to review any special policies or procedures set by your employer, because they could include important specifics about the materials you work with or the medical resources available.
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Take advantage of your regular eye exams.
Keeping your eyes in their best condition is an important part of your overall health and safety. The best way to do that is with regular eye exams. Even if your eyes are healthy now, regular comprehensive exams will help you and your care provider establish a baseline, so that changes are easier to identify—and changes often come as we age.
Catching issues early means that eye health problems are more likely to stay manageable or even preventable, and that means healthier vision for longer. Also, building a relationship with a trusted care provider gives you an expert resource when you have questions about eye safety in your workplace (or anywhere).
Vision insurance gives you the tools to protect yourself.
So much in our lives depends on our vision—and healthy vision depends on reliable care. That’s why at Heritage, our mission is to make top-quality vision care as accessible as possible, for as many people as we can.
Heritage’s provider network covers all fifty states. To get connected with one of our hand-picked professionals near you, visit our Provider Search tool, or sign up for an individual or family vision insurance plan today.