More than 32 million adult Americans wear contact lenses. Many of them are employees who wear their lenses at work in industrial settings. As an optician who specializes in contact lenses, I want to share my insights with the safety community on the dangers this poses. This series will discuss what the employee, employer and first responder should know about contact lenses in the workplace.

This week, we'll look at the employee perspective. There's also a model form in Tools for employees to give their eye doctors that lists key visual information the doctor needs to know to prescribe appropriate lenses for the employee's particular work environment.

Advancement of Contact Lenses

Contact lens materials and designs have advanced a long way in the past 30 years. Today's contact lenses are cleaner, more comfortable and healthier.

For example, disposable soft contact lenses can be replaced daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly. Prescription options enhance the eye's muscle coordination and offer a wider field of vision. There are even bifocal contacts.

Contact lenses can even be used cosmetically, for example, to change or enrich eye color. But it is important to remember that contact lenses are classified by the Food and Drug Administration as a medical device requiring a doctor's prescription.

How the Workplace Affects Contact Lenses

Where contact lens use is permitted in the industrial workplace, employees must be sure to inform their eye doctor that they plan to wear their lenses at work. That's because there are certain critical variables that may affect the doctor's final choice of a contact lens design. Besides the prescription itself, the variables associated with the employee's industrial environment include:

• Dust and airborne debris levels;
• Presence of vapors or gases; and
• Exposures to chemicals.

Based on the information supplied by the employee, the doctor's final choice of a contact lens may:

• Include a larger diameter to protect the eye from debris; or
• Consist of a plastic material thatis more resilient to dirt and debris collecting upon the contact lens surface.

Or, the doctor may determine that contact lenses are not appropriate for the industrial environment and advise against a prescription for such an application altogether.

What to Tell Your Eye Doctor

To help the doctor make an appropriate decision, employees should provide the doctor a summary of information about how they use their eyes during work activity. We've designed a document we call WIDE (short for "What I Do with my Eyes") to facilitate this communication. (SafetyXChange members can access a copy of the WeCare4Eyes' form in Tools.)

In the summary, employees should explain to their eye doctor:

• What the work environment is like;
• The on-the-job visual demands it involves; and
• The unique distances involved with the work activity (this information is especially vital for wearers of bifocals).

Conclusion

Employees who wear contacts in industrial environments must understand the risks and potential hazards involved. Next week, we'll discuss how employees can care for their contact lenses in an industrial setting.

MEMBER REPLIES

Summer Safety

Last week's article by Robert Siciliano on Road Trip Safety provoked a heavy volume of mail. Here's some of what you had to say:

Carrying Spare Gas Is Not Wise

Mr. Siciliano's story has a lot of good advice. However, in tip #1, it says to have a gallon of gas with you. I have always heard that it is dangerous to do that. First, if you are rear-ended, it could explode and second, that the fumes could come into the passenger area from behind the back seat.

Susan Watson
Safety Coordinator
Cenveo Kent

The suggestion to carry a "Gallon of gas" is a very bad suggestion. Gasoline that is stored in a passenger vehicle, either in the trunk, or in the passenger compartment for vehicles such as SUVs, creates unnecessary risk, even if the gasoline is stored in an approved container. The gasoline fumes are toxic and intoxicating when released into an enclosed area and could create the conditions required for an explosion. Also, in the event of a collision the container could be damaged releasing the gasoline into the vehicle. If the intent of this "Tip" is to avoid running out of fuel, this intent could be easily and safely met by storing the extra "Gallon of gas" in the fuel tank and by ensuring that the tank level is never less than 1/8 or 1/4 full. Most modern vehicles have a driving range of more than 400 km for one tank of gasoline, therefore only a small amount of preplanning is required to avoid "running on empty."

Larry LeMesurier
Fort McMurray, Alberta

Carjack Craziness

Last week, you ran an article regarding summer car security. Part of it discussed carjackings and stated that the risk of serious injury from jumping out of a car at 25-30mph was minimal. Whoa! I am surprised that line got through the review process. There is no way to predict the degree of injury to be suffered under those conditions. It will depend upon how you land and what you land on or hit.

I deleted the line from the copy that I saved and was going to just let it drop - no sense beating up on you. However, during the July 4th weekend, we were at our place in WV and one of the big articles in the Hagerstown, MD newspaper was about a WV soldier (Martinsburg, WV) who died in Texas after jumping out of his car during an argument with his wife (his wife was driving). They were going 25 to 30 mph according to the article.

Also, we got back on July 4 only to be greeted by a news story about a guy who may lose his leg from a carjacking. Seems that some private from Aberdeen Proving Grounds tried to steal this guy's car with the fella's 5 year old inside (another keys left in the ignition at a convenience store carjacking - people just never learn!). The guy chased after the SUV, hopped on its running board, fell off, and had his leg nearly amputated (too early to tell?). The private was caught, the kid was safe, and another life changing tragedy makes it into the papers. So sad.

John W. Maynard, CSP, CSHM, MS
Program Coordinator/Instructor
Occupational Safety and Health Technology Program
School of Applied and Information Technology
Community College of Baltimore County

AUTHOR'S REPLY

In response to the commentary regarding "carrying an extra gallon of gas," my fellow safety practitioners have responded appropriately with safety in mind. I'd like to add some perspective to your comments.

US Military vehicles in Baghdad travel under temperatures as much as 130F. My cousin, who is in the Army and stationed in Baghdad stated to me, "My Humvee has a closed trunk and its standard operating procedures load plan includes a 5 gallon container of gasoline in approved cans no different than what you would purchase through a local hardware store."

Newer model approved gas cans offer much more safety than previous versions eliminating leaks and fumes. Many of us carry pressurized aerosols in our vehicles that according to the cans warning labels become dangerous under extreme temperatures. When storing or transporting any combustible it is always recommended to use common sense. I recommend that if you were to choose to carry extra gas then do it only if open air storage is available such as the back of a pickup, or a roof rack.

Robert Siciliano

SUMMER SAFETY TIP
A "Teak-It" to Ride - A Bad Idea on the Water

Don't hang ten in the danger zone

By Ted Morrison

Here's a new thrill to warn your employees against: "teak surfing." Teak surfing is the deadly practice of hanging by your fingertips from a boat and skimming along on the wake.

As every safety professional knows, all gas and diesel engines produce deadly, invisible carbon monoxide. Boat engines build up fumes just above the wake, where teak surfers usually hang. They can quickly - and unknowingly - inhale deadly amounts of the poisonous gas. Due to the growing number of fatalities, some states have banned teak surfing and impose heavy fines on violators.

Got a summer safety tip you'd like to share? Send them to catherinej@bongarde.com and let me know if we can use your name/company name.

Contributor's Bio: Ted Morrison spent most of fifteen years in the military and in the trucking industry before returning to school to collect a diploma in professional writing. Now with Bongarde Media as writer and associate editor, Ted's time "in the trenches" helps him to write more effectively on the topic of occupational health and safety.

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