Do-It-Yourself Home Improvements Can Cause Eye Injury to Non-Professionals

Prevent Blindness America
Monday, 12 March 2001

Precautions in Workplaces and at Home Can Prevent 90 Percent of Vision Loss

Schaumburg, IL -More than 1,000 eye injuries of all types occur every day in the U.S., with 100,000 of them resulting in some vision loss every year. And while the workplace is the setting for at least 61,000 such injuries annually, evidence suggests the do-it-yourself home improvement trend may be a factor in causing eye damage to people working on their homes.

"With the increasing popularity of home-improvement projects, homeowners are doing more work with hammers, saws, drills and compounds such as adhesives, chemicals and paints," said Tod Turriff, vice president of programs with Prevent Blindness America. "Unfortunately, when non-professionals work with these tools they are less likely to wear protective eyewear and to properly use carpentry tools and materials." The do-it- yourself retail market in the U.S. topped $160 billion in sales in 2000.

Nearly 61,000 eye injuries could have been avoided or reduced. Key preventive measures include protective eyewear, assessing and avoiding dangerous situations and proactive planning for emergencies.

To raise awareness of this danger, Prevent Blindness America (PBA) is promoting eye safety this spring - encouraging employers, employees and do-it-yourself homeowners to take measures to prevent eye injuries. PBA has free information available through its website and consumer action hotline - www.preventblindness.org and 800/331-2020 - including prevention tips and recommendations for selecting appropriate protective eyewear.

According to a survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, three out of five workers who suffered an eye injury did not wear eye protection, and of those who did, 40 percent wore the wrong kind. With the use of correct protective eyewear, 90 percent of workplace eye injuries are preventable. Prevent Blindness America has been tracking workplace eye injuries for more than 50 years, over which time it has recognized more than 84,000 people whose sight was saved in accidents because they wore eye protection.

For more information, or to contact Prevent Blindness America, see their website at: www.preventblindness.org