Many common occupations carry risks to long-term ocular health ranging from exposure to UVR and high-intensity blue light to the potential for airborne projectiles. These risks can be considerably reduced through educational efforts to raise awareness of work-related hazards to Healthy Sight and recommendations for appropriate vision wear to address them.
In the United States alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 2000 workers each year experience job-related eye injuries requiring medical treatment. About a third of these injuries are treated in hospital emergency departments, and 5% result in at least a day of missed work. These figures do not address the potential long-term visual sequelae from some of these injuries, which are often complicated by comorbidity from non-work-related factors that impact Healthy Sight, including aging, the environment, and sports and recreational pursuits.
UVR Exposure at Work
Chronic UVR exposure and the associated risk to long-term ocular health become special concerns in any occupation requiring extensive time spent outdoors. This risk heightens when the outdoor work environment is situated around snow, ice, or water, which increase the hazard of UVR through surface reflectance. Lifeguards, fisherman, and professional swimmers and skiers are just a few examples of workers at greater risk.
While everyone should protect their eyes with vision wear that has lenses that block 100% of harmful solar radiation, including all UVR, this need for protection becomes more pressing in those individuals whose outdoor occupations place them at higher risk for UVR exposure. Other benefits of the appropriate protective eyewear include preservation of contrast and reduction of glare, both of which promote quality of vision and enhance visual comfort. Fixed-tint lenses, clips, and shields reduce excessive light and provide UV protection on a constant basis, not dependent upon environmental conditions of exposure. Photochromic lenses have the advantage of offering “prn” or as-needed light modulation and glare control, while automatically blocking 100% of UVA and UVB all of the time. In offering this constant and consistent UVR protection while titrating ambient light as needed, they provide the best in visual comfort and wearer convenience while preserving Healthy Sight.
To learn more about UVR and Healthy Sight, click here