Eye Injuries

Has your eyesight become weak, or have you experienced blurred vision, discoloration, pain, or other injury due to an incident in your workplace?

In any given year, over 800,000 employees are involved in accidents or incidents at the workplace that result in eye injuries. Most of these injuries require at least one day of missed work, and nearly all of these 20,000 employees require a form of partial or permanent disability due to their eye injury. While eye injuries can occur in any work environment, even at an office or hospital, the most common occupations for eye injuries are carpenters, electricians, welders, employees at factories, and auto repair technicians or mechanics.

Frequent Causes of Eye Injuries at Work

With goggles and other personal protective equipment available, you might wander how eye injuries occur. In truth, proper protective gear or an employee adhering to safety standards could prevent many eye injuries. However, other injuries are the result of an unforeseen or unpredictable accident. For the purposes of workers’ compensation, it is usually irrelevant. As a competent New Jersey workers’ compensation lawyer will tell you, in most instances, your recovery for a work-related eye injury is available regardless of an employee’s use of safety equipment and procedures.

Some of the most common causes of eye injuries in the workplace are:

• Particles or debris entering the eye
• Contact between eye and tools such as nails, wires, and other sharp or pointy objects
• Chemicals that release a steam or haze
• Chemicals splashing into the eye
• Trauma to the face and eye from an auto accident or other collision
• Consistent exposure to bright light or ultra violet radiation, and
• Constant use of a computer or other backlit screen.

This list covers a wide range of accidents and injuries. Among these causes are instances that are single events or accidents. However, other employees develop eye problems due to repetitive and constant use of a device or machine, such as a computer. Damage to eyesight and other injury from spending too much time in front of a computer at work is also compensable under New Jersey’s workers’ compensation law and should not be ignored by an employee.

Reporting an Eye Injury

In many instances an eye injury can be tied to a specific event or incident in the workplace, but even in these cases many employees do not immediately or timely report an eye injury. Not reporting an injury and the incident or events surrounding the injury can result in an inability to file a workers’ compensation claim in New Jersey. Specific signs of an eye injury include:

• Pain
• Difficulty seeing or obstruction of vision
• Eyelid that is torn or otherwise injured
• One eye does not focus or move in conjunction with the other
• Bloodshot eye or discoloration, or
• Eye does not dilate properly in change of light.

Whether an employee is exposed to bright light, intense heat, or other environmental factor, when any of these symptoms are present it is important to inform a manager and seek medical assistance.

A Lawyer Who Knows Eye Injuries

If you are considering a workers’ compensation claim for an eye injury, it might be necessary to speak with an attorney regarding your situation. This is particularly true if your eye injury cannot be tired to a specific event accident, but developed due to strain or overuse over a period of time. The Law Office of Albert J. Talone, LLC are prepared to handle cases involving an accidental eye injury or situations of overuse. Contact our office at (856) 234-4023 for a consultation.