In today's ever litigious society there needs to be an increased awareness of workplace incidents that might cause complete or even partial blindness. As the economy improves and the construction and home building sectors rebound from the recession, companies need to remember that their employees need to be protected. More specifically, they need to be given safety glasses, eyewash liquids and training in order to prevent or mitigate injuries to the eyes.

According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, there are an estimated 70,000 on-the-job eye-related injuries every year costing American business upwards of $450 billion annually. The BLS also reports that the main sources of eye related injuries in the workplace for most companies can be tied to the following six factors: flying objects, unwanted contact with toxic chemicals, improper equipment operation, poor choice of eyewear, improperly fitting eyewear and a lack of awareness and or safety training.

If company is experiencing higher than normal numbers of eye related injuries then the safety officers at said company might want to seriously re-examine their companywide safety procedures. This re-examination of the safety gear and training should include the location of the eye washing stations, the quality of and the fit of the protective eyewear that the employees are wearing and the overall training for dealing with on the job eye related emergencies. Additionally, if a company is experiencing higher than normal incidents of on the job eye injuries with recently hired employees then their safety officers need to reconsider the new hire safety training. Lastly, if there are a great deal of eye injuries occurring in and around the same work area or when using the same machine or even while under the supervision of the same supervisor, then the safety issue needs to be identified. Once the safety risk has been determined then retraining and communication can begin.

Companies with the fewest incidents of on the job injuries generally have higher employee morale than companies who consistently have workers who get injured on the job. Companies who invest in the best safety training, protective gear and emergency eye wash stations are the ones who will draw the best and most productive employees.