Recently we have had an increase of eye injuries on site. Please be aware of the potential severity of eye injuries, which are “often perceived as only being minor.” In truth, the eye is much more likely to suffer permanent injury than a body part such as a finger because the unique tissues that make up the eye are not present elsewhere in the body.
Wearing eye protection appropriate for the task can significantly reduce the risk of injury. Always use eye protection that complies with Australian Standards. General recommendations include:
- low impact protection – for tasks including chipping, riveting, spalling, hammering and managing a strap under tension. Recommended protection includes safety glasses, safety glasses with side shields, safety clip-ons, eye cup goggles, wide vision goggles, eye shields and face shields. Choose items with the Australian Standards mark:
- medium impact protection – for tasks including scaling, grinding and machining metals, some woodworking tasks, stone dressing, wire handling and brick cutting. Recommended protection includes safety glasses with side shields, safety clip-ons, eye cup goggles, wide vision goggles, eye shields and face shields. Choose items marked with the Australian Standards mark, and with the letter ‘I’ to signify it is appropriate for medium impact protection
- high impact protection – for tasks including explosive power tools and nail guns. Recommended protection includes face shields marked with the Australian Standards mark, and with the letter ‘V’ to signify it is appropriate for high impact protection
- welding protection – filters and shields with the Australian Standards mark
- chemical handling – wide-vision goggles, eye shields or face shields marked with the Australian Standards mark and the letter ‘C’ to signify it is splashproof and appropriate for chemical handling
- dust – goggles marked with the Australian Standards mark and the letter ‘D’ to signify it is appropriate for protection against dust.
