Eye injury prevention depends on proper protective eyewear

July is Eye Injury Prevention Month, calling attention to a common occurrence in the United States which affects some 2.4 million people each year.

Eye injuries can occur anywhere, from homes and playing fields to construction sites and factories, but an overwhelming majority of these injuries are preventable.

“Ninety percent of eye injuries are preventable if people wear the right protection,” said Marvin Joyce, 502nd Air Base Wing occupational health and safety specialist at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. “Injuries occur when people are either not wearing any eye protection or they are wearing improper eyewear or eyewear that is no longer serviceable.”

Some workers at Air Force bases and other military installations are particularly at risk for eye injuries because of the nature of their professions, Joyce said.

“Those most at risk are craft workers such as mechanics, repairers, carpenters and plumbers; machine operators; and general laborers,” he said. “Here at JBSA-Randolph we have aircraft mechanics, workers associated with the 502nd Civil Engineer Squadron, groundskeepers and assembly workers.”

Despite eye-injury risks inherent in these jobs, workers at JBSA-Randolph have an exemplary safety record, Joyce said.

“Since I have been here, we have only had one eye injury that was reported to us, and that was an injury that did not occur here,” he said. “It was an off-duty civilian.”

Joyce attributes the absence of serious eye injuries to a good safety program governed by Air Force Instruction 91-203, which covers occupational safety, including the use of personal protective equipment such as protective eyewear – safety goggles, face shields and other appropriate PPE.

“Our workers go through job safety training,” he said. “They only go to the areas that they have been trained for. That is why there are so few injuries here.”

In general, the five most common eye injuries are scratched eye, chemical burn, flash burn, foreign object in the eye and blow to the eye, Joyce said. Flash burn comes from sources such as sunlight, welding, tanning booths and sunlamps.

At the JBSA-Randolph Medical Clinic, Tech. Sgt. Jason Ellington, NCO in charge of optometry, said corneal abrasions caused by blowing or falling debris are the most common eye injury he has seen.

“Closely behind abrasions, I have seen corneal ulcers caused by over-wear or sleeping in contact lenses,” he said. “The least common injury I’ve seen would be blunt trauma, usually caused by playing some sort of sport.”

The most serious eye injuries are ulcers and blunt trauma Ellington said.

“Corneal abrasions can be equally as serious, depending on the depth of the abrasion,” he said.

Although the jobs of aircraft workers, machine operators and general laborers are more at risk for eye injuries, nearly one-half of eye injuries occur in the home and more than 40 percent are related to sports or recreational activities, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

“Usually it is mandatory to wear eye protection in the workplace, but at home there is no one looking over your shoulder, so people tend not to use protective eyewear,” Ellington said. “However, the easiest thing people can do to prevent eye injuries is to wear eye protection when doing things like gardening, working on cars, playing sports and woodworking.

He said it is also important for people to follow contact lens care instructions.

“For example, you should not sleep with your lenses in your eyes and should not wear the lenses longer than their intended time frame,” Ellington said. Joyce also emphasized the importance of eye protection in the home workshop and in the yard.

“Hand and power tools such as saws, drills and sanders present a danger to eyes when precautions are not taken,” he said. “In the yard, debris from lawn mowers and power trimmers can unexpectedly enter the eye at a high rate of speed.”

In addition, protective eyewear should be used when working with fertilizers, pesticides and other lawn chemicals as well as household chemicals, such as bleach and other cleaners, Joyce said.

“There are different types of protective eyewear,” he said. “Most home centers sell eye protection. Make sure you have the proper gear for the hazards you face.”