It’s great to see you

by Clair D. Urbain

Life recently played an ironic game on me. I’ve taken up racquetball (again) and needed to replace some of my older equipment, most notably, my protective eyewear.

I was tempted to put it off, but had just finished writing the Jobsite Safety story about protective eyewear that appears in the printed version of this issue on page 20.

It’s been awhile since I shopped for protective eyewear, but was surprised to find that prices had dramatically decreased since the last pair I purchased. Besides, the new eyewear wasn’t scratched, didn’t fog up nearly as much and was much more comfortable than the goggle style to which I was accustomed.

After a few weeks of play, I had taken the new eyewear for granted. Like putting on a watch in the morning or brushing your teeth, it had become a habit that I didn’t think much about.

That was until my opponent took a valiant swing to make a point and his follow-through planted the top of his racquet squarely across my left eye.

The eyewear did its job. I only suffered a small cut across the bridge of my nose. Without safety eyewear, I am certain the damage would have been much worse. I truly believe the racquet could have destroyed my eye.

It happened so fast! It was a split-second between when I realized I was in trouble to when the impact hit. Without safety eyewear, there would have been no “do-overs.” I would have been done playing racquetball for the rest of my life and learning to cope with one sightful eye.

It truly brought home to me the importance of eye protection. Whether you’re in a sport like racquetball or doing your daily work on a jobsite, eyesight dangers almost never give you fair warning they are about to strike.

As the eyewear safety experts point out in the article, there are a wide variety of styles available and they are incredibly inexpensive, especially when compared with the hard and soft costs associated with an eye injury. The designs are much more comfortable than the old-timey eyewear of years past and the styling incorporated in them can be downright “cool.”

For such a small investment in time, money and comfort, anyone who balks at wearing safety eyewear on a jobsite should be seriously reviewed for their fit for duty on your jobsite.

After all, if a person doesn’t have enough sense to protect themselves from such an inherent danger as an eye injury, what other risks are they unwittingly willing to take?

Please take time to wear your protective eyewear and to encourage others to do so as well. Make sure it’s comfortable and doesn’t hinder vision, a leading excuse why some choose not to wear it. And if you lost your protective eyewear, get another pair. It sure beats losing your vision.

Published in the November/December 2006 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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