OSEA Safety Blog

Healthy Vision and the Workplace

You may or may not have heard that May is Healthy Vision month. A month dedicated to many things, amongst them raising awareness to the importance of taking care of your eyes and your vision. Maintaining routine eye doctor appointments, that include the comprehensive dilated eye exam, is the best way to know if you need glasses/contact lenses, a stronger prescription, or if you are in the early stages of eye-related diseases.

It goes without saying that maintaining your eye health is crucial to your safety as well as the safety of others across many job sectors and job duties. Some ways you can protect your vision health on the job and off the job are as follows:

1. Ensure your annual eye exam is scheduled
2. Wear appropriate eye protection as applicable while performing your work (i.e., goggles, glasses, face shields or helmets designed for heavy-duty machinery tasks like welding)
3. Do eye exercises – visit www.webmd.com/eye-health/eye-exercises for a list and explanation of some helpful exercises.
4. Know your family’s eye health history – some eye diseases or eye conditions are hereditary
5. Eat healthy foods to protect your eyesight
6. Wear eye protection on and off the job when doing such activities as painting, yard work, car work, and home repairs
7. Wear sunglasses that block 99% - 100% of UVA and UVB radiation
8. Wash your hands before taking out your contacts and cleanse your contact lenses properly

As an employer, take some time this month to promote healthy vision among your employees. Some ways to do this include:

1. Share eye protection safety tips each week
2. Encourage healthy vision – particularly focused on certain vitamins that are necessary for optimal eye health and can be found in foods such as red bell peppers, leafy greens and sun flower seeds
3. Send out an annual eye exam reminder
4. Distribute healthy vision resources (the National Eye Institution has many great resources on their website)