Protecting the Eyes At Home, At Work, And At Play

Protective eyewear isn’t just for using in hospitals and laboratories. Whether you have a woodworking hobby, play sports, clean the house, do a lot of weed wacking, are a construction worker, or work in a variety of manufacturing industries, wearing a pair of safety goggles is an inexpensive and effective way to protect the eyes. Each year an estimated 2.4 million eye injuries occur in the United States. The eyes are delicate organs and it doesn’t take very much to damage them. Even something as small as a dust particle can get in the eyes and cause potentially life-long issues; which could include pain, impaired vision and blindness, or a detached retina. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, something as simple as wearing protective eyewear could prevent an estimated 90% of eye injuries.

While many industries require the use of safety glasses while working, it’s important to remember that there are many threats to the eyes that exist outside the workplace. An estimated 39% of all eye injuries actually occur outside the workplace. The US Department of Health and Human Services Federal Occupation Health guidelines recommends that protective eyewear be worn when:

Protective Eyewear Should Be Worn When:

-- Doing anything that could produce particles, slivers, or dust from materials like wood, metal, plastic, cement, and drywall

-- Hammering, sanding, grinding, or doing masonry work

-- Working with power tools

-- Working with chemicals, including common household chemicals like ammonia, oven cleaners, and bleach

-- Using a lawnmower, riding mower, or any other motorized gardening devices like hedge trimmers or weed wackers

-- Working with wet or powdered cement

-- Welding (which requires extra protection like a welding mask or helmet from sparks and UV radiation)

-- “Jumping” the battery of a motor vehicle

-- Playing certain sports

-- Watching others do any of the above

When most people think about protective eyewear they think of the big, bulky, plastic safety goggles. Whether it was in science class, chemistry, or shop class….most of us probably had to wear them at some point during our school years. They provide a high level of protection from a wide range of hazards, but they aren’t very fashionable, aren’t comfortable when worn for long periods of time, and when you took them off you probable had an indented goggle outline on your face for a little bit. While these bulkier plastic wraparound goggles don’t look the best, they do provide a high level of protection. Here at Mountainside Medical Equipment we know just how important it is to protect the health of our eyes, which is why we offer a variety of different types of safety goggles and glasses. Choose from wraparound designs for a high level of full coverage protection or the more fashionable safety glasses that protect the eyes while still looking stylish and being comfortable enough for extended wearing.

Sources:

http://www.davisvision.com/The-Value-of-Safety-Eyewear/

http://www.foh.dhhs.gov/nycu/eyeinjury.asp