Eye Injury Protection Month – Which Month?

Received an email that read “August is eye injury protection month”. Not having heard of this before, I did a quick search on the web for “eye injury protection month”. Interestingly, it appears the eye injury month depends on who you are listening to.

Eye Injury Month, take your pick:

I stopped after the first three.

Humor aside, according to the FOH (see link above)

Eye injuries of all types occur at a rate of more than 2,000 per day. In particular, an estimated 1,000 eye injuries occur in American workplaces alone. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that almost 70% of the eye injuries studied occur from falling or flying objects, or sparks striking the eye.

According to DOL the three top reasons for eye injuries in the workplace are:

  • Not being aware of potential eye hazards;
  • Not using eye protection; and
  • Using the wrong type of eye protection for the hazard.

According to the American Association of Opthalmalogists (see link above)

… Each year, children suffer more than 30,000 sports-related eye injuries, says the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). Sports are the leading cause of school-age children’s eye injuries, which doubled over the last three years.

But 90 percent of those injuries are preventable, says Christina Nye, M.D., of Northwest Pediatric Ophthalmology.

So, the good news is that most eye injuries are preventable. Our eyes are precious. We should do all we can to protect them.

Related training resources