Protecting your Vision at Work

As adults, we spend about 80% (if not more) of our time at work! The type of job you have will determine the kinds of risks your eyes are exposed to. We’re therefore going to break them up into two main categories: jobs that mainly involve physical labour and desk jobs.

Preventing Workplace Eye Injuries

Jobs such as construction or manufacturing work, mining, carpentry, auto repair, electrical work, plumbing, welding, and maintenance are all high-risk jobs when it comes to eye injury.

If you work in one of these fields, make sure to wear your safety glasses, goggles, face shield, welding helmet, or full-face respirator as needed.

If you have an office job, you likely don’t face the same risks of eye injuries, but your work conditions could still be hazardous to your eye health. The most common eye problem for office workers is computer vision syndrome, also known as digital eye strain.

Constantly staring at your computer screen might not cause permanent damage to your eyesight, but it can make your eyes tired and irritated and negatively impact your work, with symptoms including headaches, neck pain, inattentiveness, back strain, and dry eye.

A few ways you can fight back against that eye strain include repositioning your screen, following the 20-20-20 rule (Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds) making an effort to blink more often, using artificial tears, drinking plenty of water, using an anti-glare screen or wearing computer glasses, and, finally, scheduling regular eye exams!