When working in an industry that’s founded on high-powered machinery, especially machines that are used to cut apart, or dismantle materials, pieces of debris will inevitably get flung in the air. Especially if you don’t have a stone shield like our GeoTrenchers do. 

Eye Injuries Are A Common Occurence

Because of the simple nature of safety goggles, it’s often easy to forget how easy it is to attain an eye injury. According to the NHS, every year there are approximately 20,000 eye injuries in the workplace. The same stats are accompanied by the finding that 60% of the workers who were injured had no eye protection at the time, on the other hand, the remaining 40% were wearing the wrong kind of eye protection (be it ill-fitting, or badly damaged at the time).

Worker,Suffering,For,A,Splinter,In,His,Eye

Why Safety Goggles Are Important

The most obvious reason is vision. It can be argued that vision is the most important sense we have, needless to say, if you’re in a job that requires safety goggles in the first place, you’re likely to need the coordination it provides. 

Eyes are one of the only organs that can’t heal itself. Once your vision is impaired, the likelihood of reparations is slim (though not impossible). However, once an eye is completely dead, there’s no going back from it. Safety goggles are your first and last line of defense when it comes to protecting your vision, it’s important you don’t forget it.

Safety Hazards Involving Safety Goggles

Flying Debris

Let’s say that you weren’t using one of our GeoTrenchers, you could be using a band saw, a chain saw, or any other machinery that’s used to cut materials. It matters not how much of a skilled craftsman you are, shrapnel is indifferent to your talent and can fly toward your face with no discrimination.

When working with wood, sawdust can fly in the air. When trenching, you run the risk of rocks, dirt, and rocks flying towards you. The materials you’re working with will always pose a threat which you must be wary of. If you’re working with wood, metals, or plastics, the more brittle the material, the more of a threat it poses. Conversely, if you’re digging with power tools, it may not be a brittle material but what lays beneath the dirt could be the difference between being able to see and permanent optical nerve damage. One loose pebble or one patch of gravel is all it takes to deal damage.

Power Tools & Machinery

Moving on from the material you’re working with, the tools you’re using also present a threat of their own. For example, you can have the world’s best power drill, however, if you’re working with cheap drill bits, it doesn’t matter how fancy the tool itself is, that drill bit is susceptible to breaking and flying off in any direction it feels like going in. The same applies to the chain on a chainsaw, the blades of a band saw, and more. If at any point, the machine itself is high functioning, but the wear and tear part of the tool isn’t, be aware of your eyes and protect them to the best of your ability. Apply shields where possible, upgrade parts of your tool, and always wear safety goggles. 

Thankfully with a Geotrencher, we’ve got you covered with all our units having stone shields of their own, and our digging chains are made of hardened steel which self-sharpens, thus minimising wear and tear as well as visual impairment threats.

wear safety goggles

All you need to do is wear them!

It doesn’t take much effort to protect your eyes. Simply wearing a pair of goggles can save you from any number of accidents. Here at GeoTrencher, we want to make sure our customers are kept safe in their workplaces. Please take care of your eyes.