Eyes are amazing things and so much of our world is communicated to us through our sight. It’s incredible to think that such important part of the human body is so delicate, and we only have two!!
Did you know…
- The average blink lasts for about 1/10th of a second.
- Seeing is such a big part of everyday life that it requires about half of the brain to get involved.
- Doctors have yet to find a way to transplant an eyeball. The optic nerve that connects the eye to the brain is too sensitive to reconstruct successfully.
- Out of all the muscles in your body, the muscles that control your eyes are the most active.
- See more here
Work-related eye injuries remain an important problem in the Australian workforce. They are a common cause of work-related injury presentation to emergency departments in Australia.
Most of the injuries that occur appear to be relatively minor (not requiring hospital admission) and most involve foreign bodies on the eye, particularly on the cornea.
Grinding and welding are the two most common tasks being performed when an eye injury occurs but there is a very wide range of circumstances that can result in an eye injury.
Not surprisingly, many of the eye injuries occurred when the person was not wearing appropriate eye protection. However, a considerable proportion of cases occurred when appropriate eye protection does appear to have been worn. This suggests the need to examine the design of the safety eye-wear and/or improve the training of workers so that they know how to properly wear the eye protection.
The majority of the incidents where persons were injured despite wearing eye protection mentioned that a foreign body of some sort flew under, over, or to the side of the protective edge of the glasses and onto the eye.
There is no doubt that wearing eye protection dramatically decreases the risk of sustaining an eye injury at work. Careful consideration to the type of eye protection and how it is utilised is essential and for high risk tasks such as grinding and welding more than one form of protection should be used.
You have beautiful eyes, really you do, please look after them!!
Rachel Ward
Human Resources and WHS Manager
(Source: Work Related Eye Injuries in Australia. Worksafe July 2008 & Buzzfeed)