Developing an Eye Safety Program Management dedicated to the safety and health of employees should use the program

evaluation to set a standard operating procedure for personnel, TABLE 8.3 Percentage Distribution of Number of Days Away from Work 1 day 45.2% 2 days 22.9% 3 to 5 days 20.5% 6 to 10 days 4.8% 11 to 20 days 3.1% 21 to 30 days 8.0% 31 days or more 2.6% Vision in Industrial Settings 123 and then train those employees to use, maintain, and clean the equipment to protect themselves against those hazards (OSHA, 1994). A written personal protective equipment (PPE) program should be established for the workplace. The two basic objectives of any PPE program should be to protect the wearer from safety and health hazards, and to prevent injury to the wearer from incorrect use or malfunction of the PPE. Steps in Developing an Eye and Safety Program The following steps must be completed as part of and elements for developing an eye and safety program: 1. Identify hazards 2. Identify personal eye and face protection equipment (required) 3. Identify individuals exposed to the identified hazards TABLE 8.4 Demographic Distribution: Eye, Ear, and Skin Ltd Claims Source: Leopold, R.S., Other Diagnostic Categories understanding otic, ophthalmic, and demographic disabilities in LTD incidence and prevalence of ear, eye and skin conditions in a year in the life of a million American workers, published by MetLife Group Disability 2003, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., New York, New York. Source: Metlife 20012003

4554 3544 3034 2529 <25 55+ 4554 3544 3034 2529 <25 55+ 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Age Demographic Distribution: Ear, Eye, and Skin Ltd Claims 124 Visual Ergonomics Handbook 4. Assess hazard guidelines 5. Assign personal protective equipment to individuals for protection from hazards involved in performing their essential functions of the position 6. Provide general training prior to initiating work 7. Retrain 8. Review and evaluate the program Identification of Hazards Survey Conduct a walk-through survey of the area in question. The purpose of the survey is to identify sources of all hazards, especially in this case, to the eyes and faces of workers and co-workers. The employer must certify that the hazard assessment has been completed, and a record of this certification must be retained. Consideration should be given to six basic eye and face hazard categories: Impact Heat Chemical

 Dust Optical radiation Contusion Analyze Data Having gathered and organized data on a workplace, make an estimate of the potential for eye and face injury. Each of the basic hazards should be reviewed and a determination made as to the type and level of each of the hazards found in the area. The possibility of exposure to several hazards simultaneously should be considered. Removal of Hazardous Condition Engineering Out Hazards An attempt to engineer out all actual or potential hazards is the most appropriate approach to determine the hazard. Impose workplaces and administration controls. Use static shielding of equipment barrier or deflector screens of transparent plastics can provide a clear view of a work process while protecting workers from grinding fragments, accidental sprays, or Vision in Industrial Settings 125 specific optical irradiations. Cutters, grinders, and fixed-location tools have long been safeguarded by properly designed static shielding. Similarly, cathode-ray or television tubes have a radiation barrier glass over the surface exposed for viewing. Static shielding of personnel physicians are familiar with the principle of static shielding in radiology offices, in which technicians or radiologists step into separate cubicles or behind leaded glass while x-ray films are exposed. Similarly, in large molten steel pours, workers now control the operation from shielded booths that protect against heat and accidental splashes. Static shielding may be suspended from the ceiling, mounted on the floor, or constructed as a separate control area. Utilization of PPE in conjunction with controls to limit the severity of the hazard(s) and therefore decrease the type and/or amount of PPE. Identification of Personal Eye and Face Protection Equipment

Exactly what is PPE? Personal protective equipment includes all clothing and accessories designed to create a barrier against workplace hazards. The basic element of any PPE management program should be an in-depth evaluation of the equipment needed to protect against workplace hazards. Appropriate PPE eye and face protective equipment is required by OSHA. OSHA mandates and their code of Federal Regulation 29 CFR 1910.133 states that eye and face protective equipment is required where there is reasonable probability of preventing injury when such equipment is used. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard Z136.1-2000 is to be implemented in the prevention of laser burns, using similar engineering controls or personal protective goggles. New ANSI Z87.1-2003 The revised ANSI Standard Z87.1-2003 American National Standard for Occupational and Educational Personal Eye and Face Protection Devices provides performance and labeling requirements for equipment designed to protect the eyes and face from physical hazards. New 2003 eye and face standards recently approved have two levels of prescription and performance: Basic impact High impact In addition to providing testing criteria for impacts and penetration resistance, products that meet the most severe impact challenge will be marked Z87+ on the lenses, indicating the highest level of protection. 126 Visual Ergonomics Handbook The International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) has published the Use and Selection Guide for Eye and Face Protection, which is designed to assist users with the proper selection, care and maintenance of products, as well as provide information on regulations relating to eye and face protection and compliance requirements. All frames must be tested to ensure their ability to retain a 2 mm high impact lens. New testing with high mass high velocity and penetration tends for the high impact lens. New systems of marking the lenses and frames, sideshields, have been developed. Types of Hazards vs. PPE Although PPE is part of the job in some industries such as face shields

for welding as a rule, it is considered a last-resort, temporary type of protection. For normal operations, first choice will always be given to eliminating the hazard in the environment rather than using PPE (OSHA, 1994). Assignment of PPE to Potentially Exposed Assignment of Personal Protective Equipment to individuals for protection from hazards involved in performing their essential functions of the position. Wearing the appropriate safety eyewear is the key. Wearing safety spectacles, goggles and face shields can prevent 9 out of 10 eye injuries. Unfortunately, OSHA reports in its Eye Protection in the Workplace Fact Sheet that the majority of workers who sustain eye injuries in the workplace were not wearing any safety eyewear. From material gained at the time of the visual analysis the eye protection required by the job is provided the worker. This is in the form of safety glasses that carry correcting lenses if needed and offer protection against impact through use of devices. Generally speaking, polycarbonate is the material utilized in the PPE, but case-hardened glass can be utilized if it fulfills the specific requirements. Through a single implementing device to his occupation, a twofold result is obtained, specifically, good working vision and eye protection. To prescribe the proper lenses, knowledge of the job is demanded, for occupational glasses carry with them a visual potential based on the working distance and a safety defense determined by the hazards characteristic of the job. Identifying Individuals Exposed or Potentially Exposed to Identified Hazards The area walk-through will identify the hazardous areas (OSHA, 1994). The individuals based on their job description as being actually or potentially Vision in Industrial Settings 127 exposed to identified hazards which cannot be engineered out or nullified by administrative controls must be identified for use of PPE. All employees should acquire PPE appropriate for their activities/processes. Employees shall have conveniently available a type of protector suitable for the work to be performed, and they should be made to use it. No unprotected personnel are to be subjected to hazardous environment conditions. These stipulations apply also to supervisors, management personnel,

and visitors while they are in hazardous areas. Basic position(s) (e.g., electrician) duties may be changed from disassembling a motor in an atmosphere to one where the process is completed in a chemical bath. Even though the worker is still performing the electrician duties, the PPE must be changed from an impact lens to chemical goggles with or without face shield. Personal protective equipment should be assigned to individuals for protection from hazards that result from performance of the essential functions of the position. A summary of a questionnaire administered to patients presenting to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary emergency services with ocular injuries in 1985 was reported by Schein (1988). All injuries were included except those due to contact lens use per se. Only 66% of all persons injured at work reported that protective eyewear was provided at the worksite. Of those suffering severe injury, only one third claimed that protective eyewear was available. Among those injured at work, 10% stated they were wearing protective eyewear at the time of injury, and not one of these injuries was severe. Ruptured globe was the most common severe injury occurring at work. In approximately one third of the cases, a history of previous eye injury was obtained. Schein illustrated the type of eyewear worn at the time of injury for the entire study population: 70% were wearing no glasses, 10% wore safety glasses (of which 2% had side shields), 6 percent wore regular glasses, and 3% wore contact lenses. One third of the subjects whose regular glasses were broken at the time of injury suffered a severe injury. A 1980 Bureau of Labor Statistics Study found that about 60% of workers who suffered eye injuries were not wearing eye protective equipment (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1980). When asked why they were not wearing face protection at the time of the accident, workers indicated that face protection was not normally used in their type of work, or it was not required for the type of work performed at the time of the accident. In a 1996 report on 8,474 cases, the United States Eye Injury Registry revealed that 78.3% of injured patients wore no protection; 3.3% wore regular spectacles. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation requires that

all eyeglasses and sunglasses sold to the general public be shatterproof and where the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z80 series standards apply; 1.8% safety glasses (ANSI Z87.1a-1991 Practice for Occupational and Educational Eye and Face Protection requirements apply).