As eye injuries are among those most commonly occurring to seafarers, the American Club issued its latest loss prevention poster, highlighting essential eye safety measures.
Although most minor cases can be treated onboard ship, more serious incidents can have devastating consequences. Eye protection is an essential aspect of seafarer health and safety and one of the most important elements in any vessel safety management program.
In order to prevent eye injuries, it is imperative to ensure that the appropriate safety eyewear is worn wherever a risk of an eye injury exists. Seafarers can greatly reduce the risk of an eye injury by wearing appropriate eye protection that minimizes exposure to injurious liquids, chemicals, particles, or other substances which might pose a hazard if they are in direct contact with the eye.
The Club’s latest loss prevention poster “Keep your Eyes Focused on Safety!” highlights three phases of eye safety measures as follows:
- Identifying the proper eye and face protection for the job- Understand where the risk of an eye injury exists, and identify suitable protection to prevent such injury.
- Choosing equipment that is clean and functional- Make sure that eye and face protection utilized is in good condition, and replace it when necessary.
- Wearing protection as required- Ensure that eye protection is worn in areas where it is mandatory.
If an accident occurs, and an eye is exposed to harmful materials or substances, it will only take seconds for severe injury to occur. Taking immediate action to thoroughly flush the harmful substance from the eye with clean and cool water is the first step of first aid treatment. Accordingly, it is important to maintain emergency eye wash stations ready for use should such an incident occur.
