Eye Safety Awareness Week

By Kyle Ramsey

Posted: 6/24/10

June 27-July 5 marks Eye Safety Awareness Week - a mission to prevent injury to the eyes. There are things that we tend to take advantage of, for example, you don't know how many times a day you close your hand until you have a cut on your palm. Likewise, you don't fully appreciate the importance of your eyes until you no longer have use of them. That is the message this week hopes to reach the ears and healthy eyes of it's recipients. 

To heighten the benefit of this message, there are some safety tips below to prevent eye injury and promote awareness of the possible warning factors that we likely overlook day-to-day. In fact, accidents involving common household products cause 125,000 eye injuries each year. Ninety percent of these eye injures can be prevented through understanding, safety practices and the use of proper eye protection. You can reduce the risks of eye injuries for yourself and other family members by using this simple checklist for different areas of your home:

Indoor Safety

• Use safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs.
  
• Provide lights and handrails to improve safety on stairs.
  
• Pad or cushion sharp corners and edges of furnishing and home fixtures.
  
• Install cabinet and drawer locks in kitchens and bathrooms.
  
• Store personal-use items (cosmetics, toiletry products), kitchen utensils, and desk supplies where they are out of reach for children.

Outdoor Safety

• Inspect and remove debris from lawns before mowing.
• Keep paints, pesticides, fertilizers, and similar products properly stored in a secure area.
• Keep your tools in good condition; damaged tools should be repaired or replaced.
• Wear safety glasses or dust goggles to protect against flying particles, and chemical goggles to guard against exposure to fertilizers and pesticides.

Chemical Safety

• Wear chemical safety goggles when using hazardous solvents and detergents.
• Read and follow all manufacturer instructions and warning labels.
• Do not mix cleaning agents.
• Know that regular eyeglasses don't always provide enough protection.

Kids' Safety

• Avoid toys with sharp or rigid points, shafts, spikes, rods, and dangerous edges.
• Keep toys intended for older children away from younger children.
• Avoid flying toys and projectile-firing toys; these pose a danger to all children, particularly those under five years old.
• Be aware of items in playgrounds and play areas that pose potential eye hazards.
• Keep BB guns away from kids. ("You'll shoot your eye out!" - A Christmas Story)
• Use occupant restraints such as infant and child safety seats, booster seats, safety belts, and shoulder harnesses in cars.

Sports

The summer season is the time to get outside and play and get dirty. While that is all fun, you must also be aware that certain risks follow these activities as well and be prepared to protect yourself against them. More than 40,000 people a year suffer eye injuries while playing sports. For all age groups, sports-related eye injuries occur most frequently in baseball, basketball and racquet sports. Almost all sports-related eye injuries can be prevented. Whatever your game, whatever your age, you need to protect your eyes!

Take the following steps to avoid sports eye injuries:

• Wear proper safety goggles (lensed polycarbonate protectors) for racquet sports or basketball.
• Use batting helmets with polycarbonate face shields for youth baseball.
• Use helmets and face shields approved by the U.S. Amateur Hockey Association when playing hockey.
• Know that regular glasses don't provide enough protection.

SOURCE: Prevent Blindness America http://www.preventblindness.org/