Thinking of running a board through that table saw without wearing goggles? You may want to think again. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the number of workers who end up blind annually is in the thousands. Work-related injuries leave them unable to see out of one or both eyes.
OSHA notes that a lot of these events could be prevented if people had used correct face protection gear or at least eye protection. This is why OSHA says that employers need to give workers the right personal protection equipment (PPE) when they encounter:
- Harsh chemicals
- Environmental hazards
- Mechanical irritants
- Radiological risks
- Related hazards
Some jobs just come with inherent risks. You can’t avoid that. What you can do is wear the right PPE.
Of course, that’s not all on you as an employee. What if your employer does not give you the gear that you need? What if they don’t teach you how to use it, and they offer no training whatsoever? What if your supervisor doesn’t say that you can’t use it, but they strongly imply that you should do the job without it so that you can get done faster?
These are all issues that workers face every day. They’re part of the reason that these injuries blind thousands on the job, year in and year out. They’re the types of risks that you can avoid, but these accidents keep happening.
An injury like this can change the rest of your life. It can leave you permanently disabled and essentially end your career. Make sure you know about the legal options you have.
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