To prevent over 25,000 eye injuries from occurring yearly, eye safety must be a daily priority in the workplace. To help in that prevention effort, Prevent Blindness America has declared March to be Workplace Eye Wellness Month to reemphasize the importance of keeping eyes safe while at work.

Ways to Promote Eye Wellness in the Workplace

To that end, let’s look at ways to promote eye wellness in the workplace and thus help reduce the number of eye injuries on the job.

  1. Wear proper eye protection. About 90% of eye injuries in the workplace can be prevented through the wearing of appropriate eye protection. Do this by knowing what’s available and choosing the best option for your situation.
  2. Follow employer guidelines. OSHA requirements provide clear guidelines for employers, and Promoting Workplace Safety is essential to eye injury prevention. Yet, none of these guidelines and programs matter if individuals fail to follow them.
  3. Keep eye protection clean & clear. Make sure you have Good Habits for Safety Glass Maintenance to help ensure your eye protection works optimally.
  4. Give your eyes a break. Managing Electronic Display Eye Strain will go a long way in keeping eyes healthy and strong and preventing long-term and possibly permanent damage to the eyes.
  5. Establish habits. While your employer may and hopefully does have a workplace eye safety program, the health of the eyes is ultimately up to the individual. For this reason, understand the Importance of Good Eye Safety Habits.

Prevent Blindness America offers several options, including vision screening programs and educational resources for those wanting to take eye wellness a step further.

What to do if an Eye Injury Occurs?

While not all injuries in the workplace can be prevented, a lot can be done to reduce significantly the number of injuries sustained and the severity of the injuries that take place. If an eye injury does take place, promote a return to eye wellness by doing the following BEFORE you need to know what to do.

  1. Know what to do when an injury happens. We must all ask, Do you know what to do when an eye injury occurs? Take steps to make sure the answer to that question is Yes! Before you need to know.
  2. Understand the most common causes of injury. Knowing the Most Common Types of Eye Injuries can help prevent them and help in knowing what to do when they happen.

First and foremost, wear eye protection and the proper eye protection to ensure your eyes remain healthy while at work. After that, take steps to educate yourself. Learn the steps for preventing eye injury and what to do when an eye injury happens. These steps will help ensure that workplace eye wellness is a way of life and not just a once-a-year focus.