Every day, more than 2,000 people suffer an eye injury on the job in the United States alone, with over 700,000 eye injuries being reported every year. For some unfortunate individuals, eye injuries permanently impaired their vision, which affected both their personal and professional lives. In the spirit of Workplace Eye Wellness Month, your local eye doctor at Guilford Eye Center shares some ways you can promote eye wellness at your workplace.
Have Your Employees Evaluate and Adjust Their Workspaces
Whether your team works on-site or from home, they likely spend hours staring at their computer screens. This strains the eyes and leads to problems like frequent headaches, impaired vision and sleep deprivation. Make it a point to remind employees to evaluate their workspaces and help them identify risks to their eye health. Changing their computer settings can make a lot of difference:
- Turning down the screen brightness reduces the amount of blue light that gets into the eyes.
- Keeping work materials close together can help reduce eye and neck movement.
- Increasing the font size on the computer or using their computers’ built in magnifier can also help reduce eye strain.
Keeping a constant and comfortable distance between the eyes and their computer screens by adjusting the monitor angle, using a monitor riser and adjusting the seat height can further help reduce eye strain.
Wear Proper Eye Safety Equipment
Employees who operate equipment or work with hazardous materials need to wear proper eye safety equipment. Schedule eye safety inspections, and post reminders at entryways. Employees also need to make sure that they are wearing comfortable eye protection. Those who need to wear prescription eyeglasses can have custom safety eyewear made so they don’t have to wear safety gear over their glasses.
Promote Regular Eye Checkups
Regular eye checkups can help your employees keep track of their eye health and even be aware of risks that lead to diabetes, hypertension and other chronic illnesses. Employees often choose not to visit their eye doctors because of the additional cost or the lack of time to schedule an appointment. Management can help promote eye wellness by providing vision insurance and extra paid time off (PTO) days.
Need to schedule an eye exam? Call Guilford Eye Center at (336) 292-4516. You can also fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment. We serve customers in Greensboro, NC, and the surrounding communities.
