Did you know that of all cases brought to Australia’s Victorian hospitals emergency departments, over 6% are due to sports or work related eye injuries?

Worse yet, they’re mostly quite severe resulting in damage of the structure and vision of the eyes. What frustrates doctors is that in most cases they suggest that such injuries are preventable by simply wearing appropriate safety eyewear or safety sunglasses to prevent retina damage caused by UV radiation.

The most common victims of eye-related injuries in Australia are working men aged between 15 and 65. That’s because men obviously work outdoors more than women do. About 50% of these injuries are caused by a foreign body or particle entering the eye with some victims losing some degree of eye sight.

What a terrible loss that could have been prevented! Our eyes are extremely delicate parts of our bodies and yet they’re so useful. What a shame to be injured just because of carelessness and not using safety eyewear.

Eye Injuries can occur Anywhere

While eye-related injuries are most common at the workplace, they can occur virtually anywhere: at work, at home or even during play.

Safety eyewear is the best available form of eye protection and although it is a legal and mandatory requirement in many Australian industries to have safety clothing and safety eyewear on during work, some people just don’t care leaving themselves at risk of unnecessary partial or even complete loss of their eye sight.

We often just don’t realise the risk posed by our day-to-day activities.

How can Safety Eyewear Help?

The most common eye injuries are caused by small particles or objects, such as glass or dust that can enter the eyes at such an angle that they strike, pierce or scrape an eye. Even minor damage can cost you a lot!

By covering your eyes with safety eyewear during work and even outside the workplace, like while playing sports or doing DIY jobs at home you can substantially reduce the risk of eye injury. They protect your eyes from minor injuries like superficial corneal abrasions to the more serious, like retinal detachments and even permanent blindness.

Even at home, if you’re doing some sort of DIY job make sure you wear appropriate safety sunglasses or goggles. They’ll protect you from elements like sawdust, minute wood or metal particles or sparks which can permanently damage your eyes and steal your eye sight.

Choosing the Right Safety Sunglasses and Eyewear

Opticians and eye-care specialists are trained to provide you with the best advice.

As a practicing optician, I researched the options available and wound up creating my own patented award-winning specialty safety eyewear system that’s used privately and across Australian industries.

Whether you select my medium-impact certified IC Safety System (watch a 40 second video) or any other similar product, you have no reason not to use the free consultation and advice of an eye-care professional. They are there to help you out.

So, no excuses! Wear certified safety eye-wear or safety sunglasses before you become yet another statistic.

By Andy Meheringer

Optician and Founder of The New Eye Company

www.neweyeco.com

We value your opinion, so please feel free to begin or contribute to discussions as this keeps us all up to date on all recent and ongoing “Occupational Health and Safety” topics as well as what is trending in Safety Glasses Australia.

We want to help you make sure your safety eyewear protects your eyes on the work-site. Insight, hindsight and foresight help us to ensure your safe eyesight.

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Best regards, The New Eye Company Web Master.