Eye protection

Top 3 causes for eye injuries at Hays:

1. Debris being rubbed into a worker’s eye, even though safety glasses are being worn correctly. This occurs when workers rub sweat from their face and dirt and debris causes irritation to the worker’s eyes and a worker rubs their eye or uses a sleeve or clothing with debris. 
2. Using handheld grinders to cut, clean or file metal. In most instances, safety glasses were being worn. However, protective glasses do not provide enough coverage to prevent objects hitting workers in the eye whilst using handheld grinders and double eye protection could have prevented the injury.
3. Workers wearing safety glasses on their forehead or not at all. In an environment where the use of PPE is not supervised and enforced, it is not uncommon for debris, such as metal filings, dust, dirt and wood filings, to cause irritation to the eyes.

What you can do

• Wear the eye protection provided to you by Hays or by the client
• Wear double protection for specific tasks (eg safety glasses and face shield when using a grinder)
• In the event that you believe eye protection is not adequate for the work being completed (wearing glasses whilst using handheld grinders is an example), ask the client for a face shield, there should be some available, or notify the Health and Safety team at Hays
• We can provide these if we have not already done so
• Protective eye wear is inevitably going to get scratched or suffer some other form of damage or wear and tear. As this occurs, please let your Hays consultant and immediate supervisor know so that you can be provided with a replacement

Why is it important to report a hazard?

If we do not know about risks to your health and safety, we cannot prevent an injury from occurring. This means that reporting hazards where there is a risk of eye injury or letting us know if PPE is not suitable, before an injury occurs if critical. 

How to report a Health & Safety issue or concern