The Importance of Eye Protection
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It sounds trite, but it’s true. It only takes a minute for a serious accident to happen with your eyes – something that can affect the rest of your life. That’s why, along with regulareye exams, it is so important to protect your eyes, while at work and at play.
When to wear eye protection
Certain professions have an increased risk for eye injury, such as construction, electrical, manufacturing, and jobs that work with chemicals.It is not just enough to wear eye protection – you need to make sure to wear the right eye protection. Work with chemicals requires wearing goggles that protect the sides of the eyes to fully protect the eyes from any splashing liquids. Safety glasses, which look like normal glasses, have strong lenses and frames to protect against dust and flying particles. Full face shields protect against chemicals and bloodborne pathogens. Helmets should be used when welding, but safety glasses or goggles should be worn underneath the helmet.And, you should make sure that your eye protection is in good shape – make sure it’s not scratched or dirty, and make sure it fits properly.Contact lenses, of course, don’t provide protection, although they do improve vision, which is important, too! Contact lenses can give the wearer a wider field of vision than wearing glasses does, and wearing contact lenses instead of glasses can make it easier for eye protection to be worn, making it more comfortable and fit better than it does with glasses on. However, there are cases where contact lenses should not be worn in the workplace, for instance, if you work around hazardous chemical fumes.
What to do in case of an eye emergency
You should get medical attention as soon as possible if you’ve had an eye injury, especially if you have loss of vision, pain in the eye, or blurred vision.Taking good care of your eyes is very important. Always wear eye protection if there’s a chance they may be injured, and make sure to see your eye doctor for regular exams. Call the Eye Care Institute, in Santa Rosa or Petaluma, at (707) 546-9800 for an appointment!