Injury surveillance in construction: eye injuries

Occupational eye injuries are both common and preventable. About 20% of occupational eye injuries occur in construction. To investigate the nature of eye injuries among construction workers, we analyzed a large data set of construction worker injuries. In addition, we interviewed 62 workers with eye injuries to further explore circumstances of eye injury and workers' attitudes and behavior toward the use of eye protection. Eleven percent (363 cases) of the 3,390 construction workers in our data set were treated for eye injuries. Welders, plumbers, insulators, painters/glaziers, supervisors, and electricians had a higher proportion of all injuries due to eye injuries than other trades. Nearly half of the diagnoses were abrasions (46%) followed by foreign objects or splash in the eye (29%), conjunctivitis (10%), and burns (5%). In the interviews with 62 workers, we found that employers very frequently required eye protection for all tasks or for high-risk tasks, and workers report wearing eye protection regularly. However, most did not wear eye protection with top and side shields; if we believe the injuries occurred because a particle or liquid passed between the glasses and the workers' faces, increased use of goggles or full shields would have prevented two-thirds of this group of injuries.