Three Most Common Workplace Eye Injuries and Tips to Avoid Them

Are there hazardous areas and activities in your workplace?

If yes, be careful about eye injury because it’s a leading workplace health risk. The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that around 20,000 work-related eye injuries happen annually. Moreover, these injuries may lead to debilitating eye conditions like infection, reduced vision, and blindness.

You thus have to know the common causes of work-related eye injuries and how to avoid them.

Common Work-Related Eye Injuries to Avoid

These are three of the most common workplace eye injuries you must be careful about:

1. Scraping or Striking

This injury occurs when tiny flying particles like dust, chipped concrete, and sawdust hit a worker’s eye. It may cause simple irritation but scrape the eyes’ soft parts.

Ignoring this injury could lead to infection and vision loss complications without giving it immediate medical attention.

2. Puncture

Tools and heavy machinery accident is another prevalent cause of workplace eye injuries, like when nails or sharp machine parts puncture the eye. These accidents severely damage the eyes and lead to low vision and blindness.

While eye punctures are generally irreversible, surgery and treatment could worsen vision loss. Thus, it’s crucial to visit an ophthalmologist immediately after an eye puncture.

3. Chemical Exposure

Thousands of hazardous substances could damage the eyes. Most of these chemicals could vaporize or spurt from accidentally opened containers and cause either of these chemically-induced eye injuries:

• Simple irritation because of non-aggressive chemicals like household detergents
• Acid burns or damage on the eye’s surface because of acidic substances
• Alkali burn or severe injury on the eye’s surface and interior parts because of strong alkalis chemicals

Rinse the affected eye with running water for 15 to 20 minutes if exposed to harmful chemicals. Afterwhich, immediately seek a medical eye check-up.

Tips to Prevent Workplace Eye Injuries

A Burbank workers’ compensation attorney will help claim the benefits you deserve if you sustain work-related eye injuries.

However, these tips can help you avoid accidents that could harm your eyes in the first place:

1. Remove Workplace Hazards if Possible

It’s crucial to eliminate unnecessary hazards in the workplace for workers’ safety.

For example, a machine should feature sufficient brake switches to stop it immediately. Sharp or pointed equipment parts should have enough safeguards too.

Another example is replacing harmful chemicals with less dangerous substances to minimize hazard risks.

2. Wear Personal Protective Equipment

Use proper protective equipment like safety goggles if you can’t avoid particular workplace hazards.

For instance, use a face shield or helmet to protect your eyes from the sparks if you are a welder. And wear safety goggles along with other body protective gear if you frequently handle hazardous chemicals.

3. Proper Employee Training

Employers should submit their workers to proper training, especially when the employees need to deal with particular hazards. Some crucial information that this training should include are:

• Tool, machine, and chemical handling
• Use of safety gear
• Safety habits like workplace cleaning and handwashing
• First aid procedures for each particular eye injury type

On a side note, workers should always follow safety workplace protocols to avoid accidents.

Hire a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer in Burbank for Workplace Eye Injuries

It’s crucial to take care of your eyes to avoid workplace eye injuries.

However, if you still sustain eye injuries from a workplace accident, immediately visit an ophthalmologist.

After which, hire a Burbank workers’ compensation attorney to cover your medical expenses, lost wages, and suffering.