Home Eye Safety Tips

Out of all the eye injuries that happen annually worldwide, almost half of the cases happen at home. This means that even in the place most people consider the safest, there are still more than a million cases of eye injuries every year in homes.

However, there is some good news. You can easily prevent most of these injuries. For starters, you must consider wearing protective eyewear when cooking, cleaning, working in the garage, or doing yard work.

When doing household chores and tasks, always remember you risk injuring your eyes if you do not wear the proper protective eyewear. This article will highlight some home eye safety tips you should consider following to avoid eye injuries at home.

What Can Cause Eye Injuries at Home?

Many things can cause eye injuries at home. However, the most common home activities that can lead to such kinds of injuries include;

Home Improvement- Power tools, nails, and screws can turn into projectiles that launch into your eyes, instantly injuring them. Power tools and home improvement equipment can also launch wood chips and other substances into the air.
Home Cleaning- The chemicals in household cleaning products like bleach cause around 130,000 eye injuries annually. You might think general cleaning is harmless, but it is one of the most common activities that lead to eye injuries at home.
Gardening and Yard Work- Trimmers, lawn mowers, and even garden shovels can throw debris and dirt into the air, leading to an eye injury. Thorns, twigs, and branches can also be very dangerous.

Sadly, only around 3 out of 10 people use protective eyewear when carrying out home projects that can cause harm to their eyes. However, there is no need to worry. As you will learn below, all you need to do is follow some of the home safety tips in this article. In fact, just using protective eyewear during some of these activities can help reduce the risk of injury by almost 90%.

Safety Tips When in the Kitchen

If you are cooking with hot oil, use a shield to prevent the hot oil from splashing into your eyes. It can be as simple as the pot cover. Also, avoid putting your face too close to the pain.
Keep your face away from the pot or pan when cooking hot peppers, or cover your eyes. Avoid touching your eyes while preparing and cooking these hot peppers, plus other foodstuffs with strong residues.
Lastly, carry knives and shears carefully and always be aware of your surroundings.

Safety Tips For Yard And Garden Work

When using a power trimmer or lawn mower, wear goggles or safety glasses under your face shield because debris and the like can expectedly pass under the shield and enter your eyes at high speeds. Always make sure to wear goggles or safety glasses when using such power tools.
When using power tools near unprotected bystanders, especially young children, switch off the power tools when they are not in use.
Wear goggles or safety glasses when handling pesticides, fertilizers, and other garden chemicals to protect your eyes when working in the yard. This protective eyewear will also protect you from lime dust.
Carefully read and follow product instructions. Obey all the warnings on garden equipment and chemicals.

Protection During Housework and Cleaning

Avoid mixing chemical agents when using cleaning products like detergents, bleach, and cleansers. Read the labels on the products and follow all the instructions.
Wear goggles or safety glasses when handling cleaning agents during housework.
Be careful not to spray chemicals towards you, always spray away from the eyes, and be conscious of any light breezes that may direct the chemicals back to you.
Ensure the areas you are cleaning are all well-ventilated.
Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly before you touch your face or eyes.

Safety Tips for Computers and Digital Devices

Always ensure to take regular breaks from staring at screen displays and monitors. The 20-20-20 rule dictates eye safety and eye health. Look away from your monitor or screen every 20 minutes or so and look at something else that’s around 20 feet away for not less than 20 seconds.
Remember to blink frequently if you want to avoid dry eyes.
Change the contrast and brightness levels on your screen or monitor. Change the contrast and brightness of your computer monitor and your digital device’s display screen and set them on more comfortable levels. You can also use blinds and shades on nearby windows to reduce screen glare.

Safety Tips for Children

Keep all your hazardous materials and items in closed containers and ensure to store them far away from the kids.
Pay close attention to the toys your children love playing with. Be aware of the toys that the children can use as projectiles, like slingshots and toy guns. Teach your children not to snap stretchy or rubber toys that can snap their eyes.
Closely monitor computer and video game time because a lot of these can be detrimental to young eyes. Teach your kids to take regular breaks from electronics and digital entertainment.
Ensure to store all your cleaning supplies and power tools out of your children’s reach.
Keep toddlers or small kids safe around dogs. Eye injuries usually follow when a dog bites a young child.
Ensure your kid wears goggles, protective glasses, and helmets when playing sports, outdoor games, and other recreational activities.

Takeaway

There are different types of innocent items, objects, and materials at home that can be hazardous to the eye, from the corners of your furniture, nails, and screws to the branches and twigs in your yard.

However, it is your children’s toys and cleaning chemicals that often pose the greatest risk to the unwary eye. In the yard, fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides are what you should be careful with the most.

This information should make you aware of such and help you avoid sustaining an injury because of daily activities. Hopefully, it is enough to ensure your eye safety at home.