March is Workplace Eye Wellness Month

March 2014 is Workplace Eye Wellness Month! We’re really big on eye protection in the workplace, especially in medical and research fields. With over 700,000 work-related eye injuries each year, it’s crucial that workplace eye wellness awareness is discussed. This awareness month is a great time to focus on eye protection and wellness standards within your facility.

The National Safety Council states, “all it takes is a tiny silver of metal, particle of dust, or splash of chemical to cause significant and permanent eye damage.”

A few preventative tips from Prevent Blindness include:

• Visit an eye doctor to make sure you are seeing clearly, this will detect any potential vision problems.
• When at a computer screen, sit 20-26 inches away from your eyes and a little below eye level.
• Adjust text size on your screen to an appropriate level for you.
• Change your office lighting so that it lowers glares and reflections.
• Sit in a chair that can be adjusted.
• Select screens that can tilt and move, and a keyboard that can adjust as well.
• The Vision Council recommends the 20-20-20 break: every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet away.

To find more about protecting vision in the workplace, be sure to visit Prevent Blindness organization.