This short SaferMe talk covers the main causes of workplace eye injuries, flying dust and debris, chemicals, UV from welding, blunt trauma and heat, and the layered defenses against them. It finishes with emergency basics: do not rub, rinse at the eye wash station, remove contact lenses, and seek medical treatment when needed.
Key takeaways
- Identify eye hazards before the task and put safeguards in place; if a major risk cannot be eliminated, stop and get a supervisor.
- Three out of five eye injuries happen to people not wearing the correct PPE.
- Match protection to the job: welding face shields for welding, sealed goggles for chemicals, safety glasses for debris.
- Protect coworkers too: put up barriers for UV exposure and warn others before starting hazardous work.
- If something gets in your eye, never rub it; rinse at an eye wash station or with saline, and remove contacts first.
According to the research, three out of five eye injuries are caused by people not wearing the correct PPE.
You only have one pair of eyes, so you need to make sure you protect them. Eye injuries can be very difficult to heal and can have a lasting impact on your ability to work.
The SafetyTalker take
The 3-out-of-5 statistic is the hook: most eye injuries happen to people who owned the right PPE and did not have it on. Use this talk to reset the norm that glasses go on at the gate, and check that your eye wash stations are actually stocked and reachable.
Full transcript
Read the full transcript
Welcome to another episode of Safety Toolbox Talks with me, Shannon Smith, from Safer Me. In this next Toolbox Talk, we’re going to talk about eye safety. Eye injuries are one of the most common workplace injuries. The good news is they are almost always preventable. To help you stay safe while at work, we’ve put together this Eye Safety Toolbox Talk. In this Toolbox Talk, we will discuss the most common causes of eye injuries in the workplace and then go over how you can avoid them. By the end of this talk, you should be fully aware of how to prevent eye injuries. We want to talk about eye injuries in a Toolbox Talk so we can prevent unnecessary injuries from occurring in the workplace.
That makes sure that staff adhere to safety regulations and standards, make sure companies and management adhere to safety regulations and standards, and leads to fewer injuries in our workplace, meaning higher productivity. The most common cause of eye injuries are things like flying dust and debris. This can be caused by yourself or a coworker sanding or working with equipment that emits dust and debris. Exposure to dangerous chemicals. This is caused by chemicals and other dangerous substances being airborne and coming into contact with your eyes. UV exposure. This can be caused by being exposed to welding or working outside of the sun. Blunt trauma to the eyes.
This can be caused by hazards such as a falling object or parts of machinery that stick out. Or heat exposure to the eyes. And this can be caused by getting too close to a coworker welding or to machinery that emits hot air. We’ve got a few ways that we can avoid eye injuries in the workplace. One, we need to make sure that we are identifying hazards before carrying out a task. Make sure that you identify all potential hazards that could cause injuries to the eyes. For every hazard that you identify, put in place safeguards to remove the risk. This can be as simple as doing the job outdoors instead of indoors.
Or it might be something complicated like having to evacuate all other employees from the work site while you do the job. If you cannot eliminate major risks or are unsure, stop the job immediately and consult a supervisor. We need to make sure that we are wearing correct PPE. We always want to make sure that we wear the approved PPE when carrying out a job where there is potential risk of eye injuries. According to the research, three out of five eye injuries are caused by people not wearing the correct PPE. Eye safety PPE includes safety glasses, face shields and goggles. The exact type depends on the job you are doing.
For example, when welding, you need to wear a welding face shield and when working with dangerous chemicals, you should wear goggles that fully protect your eyes. You need to make sure that you are protecting your coworkers. If you are carrying out a job such as welding, make sure that you put proper barriers up so that your coworkers can avoid UV exposure. If you are going to be carrying out a job where there might be a danger to your coworkers, make sure that you inform them before commencing the job. Finally, we need to make sure that we follow emergency procedures. If something does, unfortunately, get into your eyes, don’t rub or scratch your eyes.
If you do rub or scratch your eyes, it can make the damage much worse. The correct procedure is to go to your nearest eye wash station or use a saline bottle to rinse your eye out and, if necessary, seek medical treatment. If you wear contact lenses, remove them before rinsing your eyes out. So, the key takeaways from this toolbox talk is you only have one pair of eyes, so you need to make sure you protect them. Eye injuries can be very difficult to heal and can have a lasting impact on your ability to work. Before starting a job, identify any hazards that could pose a risk to your eye safety and then eliminate those risks. Always wear the appropriate PPE for the job you are doing.
Make sure that it’s not just your safety that is at stake. Make sure you evaluate and eliminate any risks to your co-workers. If an accident happens, make sure that you follow the correct emergency procedures. If you’re not sure about anything to do with eye safety, make sure you ask your supervisor. You’ve been listening to the Safety Toolbox Talks by SaferMe. SaferMe is easy to use safety software for your business. It includes a whole lot of really handy digital safety forms, risk registers, contact tracing solutions and a whole lot more. If you’re trying to make the digital transformation for safety in your business, then give us a crack. Head to safer.me.
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