ACC receives more than 9000 claims for workplace eye injuries each year, with workplace eye injuries costing New Zealand more than $3 million every year (this does not include lost productivity time for the company!)
If you work in an industry where there is any risk of eye injury, your employer is required to provide appropriate eye protection and training on how to use and maintain your eye protection correctly.
Not sure if eye protection is needed?
You should be wearing eye (and/or face) protection during any work activity that involves airborne particles or objects, hazardous substances, or optical radiation such as from welding. Even injuries that initially seem minor can cause permanent damage, including blindness.
Choosing the Right Eye Protection
Eye safety protection comes in many forms:
To choose the correct type, you need to assess your work environment.
Full face shields are often recommended when there is a risk of flying objects, fragments, particles such as brick cutting, handling wire, some wood working operations and even when using a weed trimmer.
Welding helmets and goggles are specially designed to protect the wearer from both heat and sparks and any flying metal fragments.
Treating Eye Injuries
You should also know how to treat eye injuries – flushing with water is not always the best option! The treatment differs depending on the specific injury:
CUTS, PUNCTURES, OR EMBEDDED OBJECTS
You should not rub, wash or flush the eye OR try to remove the object. Instead, gently cover your eye with an eye pack secured with tape and seek professional medical care.
DUST OR LOOSE PARTICLES IN THE EYE
Try not to rub your eye – instead flush your eye with clean water. You may need to hold your eye open so make sure you wash your hands first before doing this so you don’t just make it worse.
CHEMICAL SPLASH
Do not rub your eye! Flush with clean, running water for at least 15 minutes. Again, you may need to hold your eye open so make sure your hands are clean.
Alkaline chemicals are especially bad for your eyes and you should always be wearing eye protection when handling these chemicals.
Even after following the steps above, you should ALWAYS seek professional medical care.
Introducing the new Street Style Safety Glasses from
Wise Trade Safety
With the new Wise Safety Street Style range, the gap between safety and fashion has been successfully bridged. Speaking of bridges, these models are designed to fit comfortably and snug on yours. For years, speed dealers have been the only option when it comes to safety glasses that protect from medium impact debris. Now you can confidently leave these on as you leave the job site and not look out of place when you rock up to the BBQ.