Your job is important to you, and you want to do it well and efficiently. Sometimes, though, you’re tempted to forget about those strict regulations requiring goggles and ear plugs.
Don’t even think about it; eye and ear injuries in the workplace are common, often causing long-term or permanent damage. The regulations are there for your protection and ignoring them even for a short period would be very short-sighted.
POTENTIAL EYE HAZARDS include:
• projectiles, such as dust, wood chips, metal shavings, concrete;
• molten metals that could splash and injure your eyes;
• acids and other chemicals;
• blood and other body fluids that could spray or splatter, putting you at risk of an infectious disease;
• intense light such as that from lasers or welding that can cause severe damage to the eyes.
Injuries occur either because workers are not wearing eye protection or are wearing the wrong type for the task at hand.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that employers make sure that each employee has eye and face protection any time they could be exposed to “flying particles, molten metals, liquids, chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases/vapors or potentially injurious light radiation.”
But it’s also up to you to take the proper precautions.
• Conduct your own assessment of the potential eye hazards in your workplace.
• Try to eliminate any hazards before you begin to work.
• Use the eye protection provided by your employer.
Prescription safety glasses with side shields provide the minimal level of protection. They are good for general low-risk situations to protect against dust, chips or flying particles.
Flying or falling objects were responsible for about 70 percent of eye injuries, according to a Bureau of Labor Standards study. And most of these objects were smaller than the head of a pin.
Safety glasses can be made of glass, polycarbonate or plastic and styled to look like other glasses but are much stronger and must meet the standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), as indicated by the Z87 mark on the lens or frame. Polycarbonate offers the best protection from high impact.
Goggles are the next level of protection and can be worn over regular glasses or contact lenses. Goggles should be in place any time there is a possibility of a chemical splash or spray. They also protect against high impact from any direction, providing a secure shield around the entire eye. It’s crucial, though, for goggles to fit properly and be free of scratches, cracks and other defects that could weaken them.
Full-face shields and helmets offer even greater safety. They protect against chemicals, heat and blood borne infectious organisms as well as impact and flying particles.
Welding shields are needed to protect the eyes from sparks, metal splatter and slag chips as well as burns caused by infrared or intense radiant light. Laser safety glasses protect against intense concentration of light that can seriously damage eyes.
Contact lenses are not necessarily ruled out in workplaces where there is a risk of eye injury. Under goggles and face shields they may provide better range of vision than eyeglasses. When hazardous chemicals or fumes are present, though, it’s best to ask your eye professional and your employer about the risks of wearing contacts.
OSHA requires employers to provide appropriate eye protection, but it’s also important that workers be trained and educated to know what kind of protection is required for each location or task.
PROTECT YOUR EARS: Hearing loss is usually gradual and painless; as a result, it’s easy for workers to ignore or deny. Yet hearing loss is the most common work-related injury in the United States, accounting for nearly $250 million a year in worker’s compensation claims. More than two thirds of cases involve hazardous noise levels and most of the rest, exposure to ototoxic chemicals.
When noise is too loud, it damages and kills nerve endings in the inner ear. The amount and degree of damage depends not only on the loudness of the noise but the exposure over time. Eventually, too much noise over too long a period can result in permanent hearing loss.
Noise levels are measured in decibels or dB(A). A normal conversation is about 60 decibels while a lawn mower, shop tools or truck traffic register about 90 dB(A). Exposure to 85 decibels over an extended period will cause a gradual, permanent hearing loss for most individuals. With louder levels, the damage will be quicker and greater.
The most important thing to do is to reduce noise at the source. When the level cannot be brought down below 85 decibels, yearly hearing tests are required for workers. When hearing losses of 10 decibels or greater are detected in either ear, the workers must be informed and told to wear hearing protectors.
When noise levels average more than 90 decibels during an eight-hour day, individual hearing protectors in the form of earplugs or earmuffs are required.
Plugs are small inserts that fit into the outer canal; they must totally block the canal with an airtight seal. Muffs fit over the entire ear and are held in place by an elastic band. They too must form an airtight seal. Plugs are better for low frequency noise; muffs for high frequency.
Properly fitted, either type should reduce noise levels by 15 to 30 decibels. Using both adds about 10 to 15 decibels of protection, and this should be considered when noise levels exceed 105 decibels.
Neither protector will be effective, though, unless you have an airtight seal. If you don’t hear your own voice as noticeably louder and deeper when you’re wearing them, you don’t have your earplugs or earmuffs properly positioned.
It’s also important to wear your hearing protection continuously throughout the day. An earmuff that gives 30 decibels of protection if worn continuously provides an average of only 9 decibels if removed for 60 minutes during the day.
Because noise exposure is cumulative, the noise you are exposed to at home or in the gym after work also counts against you.
All of the above are more than just rules and regulations. They are safety measures that have been established as a result of injuries that could have been prevented...but weren’t.
Your vision and hearing are precious; once they are gone, there is no going back. It’s much better to be safe by following the rules.
REFERENCES:
American Optometric Association, “Protecting your eyes at work.”
Canada Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, “Hearing protectors,” document confirmed current on August 23, 2012.
Centers for Disease Control, “Eye safety,” last updated February 8, 2010.
Centers for Disease Control, “Noise and hearing loss prevention,” last updated October 30, 2012..
“Eye protection when working with chemicals,” Colgate.edu.
The Earplug Company, “Hearing protection FAQ,” 1995.
Medical Research Council, “Eye protection: a guide to provision and use,” 2010.
National Safety Council, “Eye safety at work is everyone’s business.”
Occupational Health and Safety Bulletin, “Eye protection at the work site,” Government of Alberta.
OSHA, “Eye and face protection.”
U.S. Department of Labor, “OSHA fact sheet: eye protection in the workplace.”
Uvex Rx, “Eye protection at work,” Uvex by Sperian,
04/16/2013
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