Prevention is everything – but are you covered? In the workplace, serious eye injuries occur much too often, yet are often overlooked. According to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, approximately 700 people sustain a work-related eye injury every day in Canada. That is over a quarter of a million people a year! 10-20% percent will cause temporary or permanent vision loss. Total workplace injuries cost us $26.8 billion in 2010. About 5% of injured workers miss at least one day of work.
How does it affect Employers?
If you are an employer, if one of your employees sustains an eye injury at work, you can risk losing everything. You may be liable for compensation, fines, penalties, loss of productivity, and may even face litigation from employees, unions and government agencies.
How does it impact Employees?
If you are an employee, you can face anything from eye strain and trauma to even permanent eye damage such as blindness and vision loss.
Yes, accidents do happen, but they can be prevented. So what should you do to prevent them?
Solution:
For employees, it is simple: Make sure you wear your safety glasses on the job. If your employer does not provide the proper eyewear, raise concerns to your safety administrator or HR manager to ensure you and your fellow co-workers are protected.
For employers, provide effective safety glasses to protect your workers and business. Did you know that protective eyewear can prevent 90% of critical eye-related injuries? Don’t scrimp on your overhead costs- the risk and cost of not implementing a safety program is insignificant compared with the consequences of an unforeseen accident.
A safety eyewear program can ensure your workers are protected with the proper frames that meet international safety standards.
Tune in next week for another #SafetyTuesdayTip
A safety eyewear program is not expensive or difficult to implement.
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