May 5, 2019

Accidents and injuries can happen at any time and in any place. They can also affect any part of our body. Unfortunately, our eyes are particularly delicate and since we rely entirely on them to allow us to see clearly, any damage that they incur could potentially have a catastrophic effect on our vision. While some types of injuries are completely unexpected, it is prudent to take positive steps to protect our eyes if we participate in any activity – vocational or recreational – that could potentially put our eyes at risk.

Safety eyewear is more widely available than ever before and is the best way to protect your eyes from preventable damage. If you work in an environment that potentially puts your eyes at risk, your employer will hopefully already be fulfilling their duty of care to provide suitable safety eyewear. However, if you are participating in certain activities at home in your spare time, it is your responsibility to keep your eyes fully protected. Safety eyewear doesn’t have to be expensive and it is one investment that we can guarantee that you won’t regret. Studies have found that as many as 90% of eye injuries can be prevented using the correct safety eyewear so what are you waiting for?

Common eye injuries

Some types of eye injuries are more common than others. These include:

-        Foreign objects in the eye

-        Blunt or sharp force trauma to the eye

-        Chemical burns

-        Flash injury

-        Conventional burns

These injuries can be caused by a wide range of different activities such as woodworking, welding, carrying out mechanical work on a vehicle, performing pool maintenance, cleaning and even dying your own hair. Many eye injuries also occur while participating in ball games, contact sports, and swimming/watersports.

Types of safety eyewear

If you are planning on getting on a motorbike, putting on leathers, a helmet and maybe even gloves is probably second nature. After all, these provide protection if you were to be involved in an accident. Do you flip the visor down on your helmet? If not, you are putting your eyes at risk. We should all afford the same vigilance to other aspects of our life and putting on safety eyewear should come as naturally as any other type of hazard protection.

Fortunately, there are a number of different types of protective eyewear available that enable us to do just that. The extensive choice of styles, brands, and budgets means that there is absolutely no excuse to not afford our eyes the protection that they deserve. You can choose from:

-        Standard safety glasses

-        Wraparound style safety glasses

-        Tinted safety glasses

-        Goggles

-        Face shields

-        Side shields

Whichever style of eyewear protection you choose, you should ensure that you select a brand that has shown that it conforms to the standards required by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). All safety eyewear that does should have a Z87 mark on the lens and/or frame.

Sun protection for your eyes

If you spend a great deal of time outdoors you should also consider choosing safety eyewear and/or sunglasses that give you 100% protection from the harmful effects of UV rays. Many of us apply sunscreen when we know that we are going to spending time outdoors, but again fail to consider the effect that the sun may have on our eyes. Patients who work or live predominantly outside need to ensure that they invest in sufficient UV protection for their eyes to avoid problems such as cataracts, macular degeneration, pterygia, photokeratitis and even some forms of cancer.

If you would like more information on any forms of safety eyewear, our friendly and experienced staff will be happy to help. Please contact our offices at your convenience.