Hazard Alert
Eye Injuries in Construction |
|
CPWR – Center for Construction Research and Training
In construction,
more than 10,600 eye injuries each year force workers to miss work. Construction
has a much higher rate of eye injuries than any other industry.
Nails, tiny pieces
of metal, splinters, and cut wire ends fly in the air. Mixing of cement,
sawing, grinding, and chipping produce dusts and grit. So does heavy machinery
moving across a site. Chemicals and welding arc can burn your eyes. If
you are not careful, you can hurt your eyes or go blind.
WHAT TO WEAR
Always wear goggles or safety glasses with side shields. If you use contact
lenses, wear unvented goggles.
Always wear goggles:
- If there will
be a lot of dust
- For overhead
work.
Also wear a clear,
plastic face shield for:
- Work with chemicals
or metals that can splash
- Grinding, chipping,
or using a wire brush on welds
- Flying particles
- Sandblasting
(the respirator needed for sandblasting has a helmet with a strong shield).
OSHA says your
employer must provide eye or face protection for flying particles,
molten metal, chemicals, and welding or radiation. Many safety glasses
cost less than $10. Goggles or safety glasses must fit over any prescription
glasses you need and must fit you. Or you can get prescription goggles
or prescription safety glasses. You can get fog-resistant glasses. Get
lenses made of polycarbonate.
All safety eye wear
must be marked ANSI Z87. ANSI, the American National Standards
Institute, sets criteria for safety glasses.
For a welding
hood, the number of the filter lens shade and the company that made
it must be marked.
IF YOU WORK NEAR
A WELDING JOB
OSHA says there must be a flameproof screen to shield against UV rays
around a welder to protect other people. You can get welder's flash
(burns) in your eyes. Do not look at the welding arc or
reflections of the arc unless you wear a welding hood with the
same lens as the welder's.
WHAT TO DO
- Use local-exhaust
ventilation or fans to blow away fumes or dusts.
- OSHA says there
must be an eyewash station on your job if there are materials that could
damage your eyes. Know where you can wash your eyes.
- If a dangerous
or irritating chemical gets in your eye, immediately start to rinse
it out for at least 15 to 20 minutes straight -- and remove contact
lens while you are rinsing. Use flowing tap water, if there is some
on site. Get to a doctor or nurse as soon as you can.
- If you get
hit in your eye, hold a cold compress over it, but do not press
on your eye. (You can put ice cubes in a plastic bag or clean cloth.)
The cold helps keep down pain and swelling. If pain continues or your
vision is blurry, get to a doctor right away.
- If you get
hit in the eye with flying metal, wood, or material from a power
tool (like a drill or wheel), OR
- If your eye
is cut or punctured:
- Do not
wash out the eye
- Do not
push on the eye
- Do not
try to pull out anything that is stuck in the eyeball.
Get to a doctor right away.
- If your eye hurts,
go to a doctor emergency room right away.
Filter
lens shades for welding and flame cutting
|
3
things affect the lens number you need: |
Intensity
of radiant energy produced by the work
|
Background
lighting (indoor or outdoor work)
|
Type of filter
lens (standard or reflective).*
|
You
can always use a darker lens (a higher number). |
Minimum
standard lens shade number needed: |
Type
of work |
Indoors
|
Outdoors |
Type
of work |
Indoors |
Outdoors |
Torch
soldering
|
2
|
2
|
*Gas
tungsten arc welding
|
11
|
10
|
Torch
brazing
|
9
|
2
|
*Plasma
arc welding
|
11
|
10
|
Flame
cutting
|
4
|
3
|
*Plasma
arc cutting
|
11
|
10
|
Gas
welding
|
5
|
4
|
*Air/carbon
arc cutting
|
12
|
11
|
*Gas
metal arc welding
|
11
|
10
|
*Flux
core welding
|
12
|
11
|
*Shielded
metal arc welding
|
11
|
10
|
|
|
|
*Numbers are for standard filter lens. If reflective lens is used,
it's OK to use one number lower: So, for shielded metal arc welding
indoors, you can use reflective lens 10.
Source: Safety and Health Department, United Association. |
For more information,
call your local union, CPWR – Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) (301-578-8500
or www.cpwr.com), the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (1-800-35-NIOSH
or www.cdc.gov/niosh),
or OSHA (1-800-321-OSHA or www.osha.gov). Or
check the website www.elcosh.org.
*More information is in the OSHA Construction Standards in the Code of Federal Regulations, CFR 1926.102.
© 2002, CPWR – Center for Construction Research and Training. All rights reserved. CPWR is a research, development,
and training arm of the Building and Construction Trades Dept., AFL-CIO:
CPWR, Suite 1000, 8484 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910. (Edward
C. Sullivan is president of the Building and Construction Trades Dept.
and of CPWR and Joseph Maloney is secretary treasurer.) Production of
this card was supported by grant CCU317202 from the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health and grants U45-ES09764 and U45-ES06185
from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The contents
are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent
the official views of NIOSH or NIEHS.Eye injuries, 1/15/01
This document
appears in the eLCOSH website with the permission of the author and/or
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