Wearing a hat, long sleeve shirt and sunscreen is the norm at work but do you pay the same attention to your eyes? People who do not protect their eyes from the summer sun are twice as likely to develop vision impairments later in life than those who do, and that is only if they spend a moderate amount of time outdoors.
“The Pilbara enjoys more hours of daylight than many other places and many Pilbara Iron employees spend more than the average amount of time in the sun. The risk of damage to both skin and eyes can increase significantly if we don’t carry our safe practices off site and onto R&R,” said Coastal Operations Division injury management advisor Weng Ho.
The best way to protect against eye damage from UV rays is to wear sunglasses with adequate UV protection to Australian standards, marked AS/NZS 1067:2003. Contact lenses by themselves do not provide enough defence and, although some do offer UV protection, they can not protect your eyelids or the skin around your eyes. It is always best to wear sunnies as well.
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