Thousands of people every day sustain a work-related eye injury. In particular, an estimated 2,000 workers injure their eyes every day and need emergency medical care, according to Weekly Safety, a blog devoted to workplace safety-related issues.

Some work-related eye injuries happen in an instant. Other eye injuries might take months or years to develop. Either way, employers need to do everything they can to prevent work-related eye injuries, which are often covered by workers’ compensation benefits.

As a result, Prevent Blindness, a volunteer eye safety and health organization, has designed March as Workplace Eye Wellness Month for the second year in a row. The goal of the workplace safety initiative is to educate employers and workers about eye injuries and some of the best ways to prevent them.

What are common work-related eye injuries?

As noted above, an estimated 2,000 people sustain work-related eye injuries every day that require emergency medical treatment. This includes 15,000 welding-related eye injuries every year, according to Weekly Safety. Some of the most common work-related eye injuries include:

• Cut or scratch to the eye
• Corneal abrasion (a scratch to the cornea or white part of the eye)
• Punctured eyeball
• Acute hyphema (bleeding between the iris and the cornea of the eye)
• Eye strain, particularly digital eye strain
• Vision deterioration
• Partial or total blindness

Why do workplace eye injuries happen?

Workplace eye injuries often occur due to five common causes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These causes are:

• An object scraping the eye – Such objects can include dust, metal slivers, wood chips, or glass.
• Blunt trauma to the eye – An object striking the eye, often with strong force.
• An object penetrating the eye – Whether it’s a piece of metal, wood, or a nail, when such objects pierce the eyeball, partial or total blindness can occur.
• Chemical burns to the eye – Powerful cleaning products or chemicals can cause damage to someone’s eye (or both eyes) if they come into contact with the eye or surrounding tissue.
• Thermal burns to the eye – Excessively high heat or steam can cause work-related eye injuries. Welders in particular often sustain this type of eye injury.

In addition, eye strain caused by looking at computer screens or other electronic devices for too long can cause long-term eye damage and reduced macular health.

What can be done to prevent workplace eye injuries?

There are many steps employers can take to prevent eye injuries in the workplace. Such safety measures include:

• Provide employees with protective eyewear (goggles, face shields, etc.) if their job could potentially result in a work-related eye injury.
• Employers should conduct a safety assessment of the workplace to determine if there are any potential hazards that could result in an eye injury.
• Provider workers with safety training, including highlighting possible dangers.
• Place signs around the workplace reminding employees to wear eye protection in hazardous areas.
• Make sure computers used by employees are positioned correctly so workers do not experience digital eye strain.

Find out how an eye injury attorney can help you

Having an eye injury lawyer on your side can often make a dramatic difference in the outcome of your case. Even if you’re eligible for workers’ compensation or other benefits, your attorney can help you explore all your legal options. This is especially important if you become blind and permanently lose your ability to see due to your work-related eye injury.

At the Law Offices of Deborah G. Kohl, our attorneys can help guide you through the complex legal process and fight for your best interests. Contact our law firm and schedule a free case evaluation with a workers’ compensation attorney you can trust. We have three offices conveniently located in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and handle workers’ compensation claims in both states.

One of the most common and most serious workplace injuries someone can sustain is a burn injury, according to a medical study conducted by doctors who regularly treat burn injury victims.

In an instant, someone can sustain a serious burn at work. Such injuries often require immediate medical care, including emergency medical treatment. Such work-related injury expenses are often covered by workers’ compensation. But actually obtaining such benefits can often be challenging.

So how bad is the problem? How common are workplace burn injuries? And why do these accidents happen on the job? Below, you can learn more about burn injuries sustained at work and the legal options available to injury victims.

How common are workplace burn injuries?

Overall, people sustain more than 5,000 burn injuries each year, according to statistics compiled by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Of these burn injury victims, more than 60 people die each year on average due to work-related burn injuries, according to the National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Based on such statistics, work-related burn injuries account for 40 percent of all burn-related deaths, according to the medical study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The study was conducted by doctors and medical researchers who treat people for burn injuries.

Another study cited by researchers reported that burn injuries accounted for 42 percent of all work-related injuries. As a result, burn injuries are one of the most common on-the-job injuries.

Causes of on-the-job burn injuries

Work-related burn injuries happen for many different reasons. The most common causes include:

• Burn injuries caused by fires
• Electrical burns
• Burn injuries caused by explosions
• Scalding burns caused by hot liquids
• Chemical burns caused by gasoline, paint thinner, cleaners, and other substances

What some people might not realize is many work-related burn injuries occur due to negligence or mistakes made by employers that result in unsafe working conditions. Examples include:

• Not providing workers with protective safety equipment
• Failing to train workers how to safely operate equipment
• Not properly maintaining equipment, resulting in an accident
• Inexperienced workers causing an accident that results in a burn injury

Who is most at risk of suffering a burn injury at work?

Certain workers and industries sustain more burn injuries than others. Men sustain 90 percent of burn injuries, according to one study cited by the doctors who treat burn injury patients. In addition, younger men are more likely to sustain a work-related burn injury. One study found that men between the ages of 25 and 34 sustained the most work-related burn injuries, followed by men between the ages of 35 and 44.

As for particular employers, 29 percent of work-related burn injuries involve people working in the manufacturing industry sector. Restaurant workers sustained the second-most work-related burn injuries at 15 percent, followed by electrical workers (15 percent of work-related burn injuries), automotive workers (13 percent), construction workers (10 percent), and chemical plant workers (9 percent).

Talk to a burn injury attorney today

You might think you don’t need an attorney if you or a loved one sustained a burn injury at work. Such injuries are often covered by workers’ compensation. A type of insurance, workers’ compensation should provide injured or sick workers with money for medical expenses and replacement income.

However, actually obtaining workers’ compensation benefits can be very difficult. And depending on the circumstances of your work-related accident, you may be eligible for additional financial compensation.

The experienced workers’ compensation lawyers at the Law Offices of Deborah G. Kohl can help you explore all the legal options available to you. Contact us and schedule a free case evaluation with a workers’ compensation attorney who knows how to skillfully handle such complicated legal cases. We have three offices conveniently located in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and handle workers’ compensation claims in both states.