In these days of rising prices, there is still one bargain to be found – eye protection. A relatively few dollars buys the safety equipment that can protect your eyes from such on-the-job hazards as dust, glare, and flying objects. But, while such protective equipment as safety goggles, glasses, and face shields is easily affordable, eye injury or loss is expensive to many – to the victim of the accident, the company that employs him, and even to the general public.
The comparative cost of eye protection is small. After all, how much is an eye worth? However, I’m sure that many eye injuries are not the result of lack of protection. Rather, they result from not using the eye protection provided. This protection is not used due to many feeble excuses – none of which is legitimate.
The highest price for on-the-job eye accidents is paid by the victim of such an accident. First, he must endure certain financial setbacks. During his recuperation, Workmen’s Compensation would only pay him a percentage of his weekly wage.
This probably wouldn’t allow him to support himself and his family at their accustomed standard of living. He might have to move into cheaper housing, cut back on food and other items, or become hopelessly behind on time payments.
If a man is unfortunate enough to lose the sight of an eye, he may not have a job to come back to. Many jobs are just too detailed for a man with only one eye to handle. In this case, he would lose his potential earnings on that job from the time of the accident until his retirement, which could amount to several hundred thousand dollars, depending on his age and income.
Weekly compensation payments can do little to console the injured worker. He has lost his occupation and all its potential earning power and must begin all over again to build an occupational future to insure financial security for himself and his family.
Perhaps the steepest price the victim of an eye accident must pay is the personal suffering. The pain and shock he must endure cannot be calculated in terms of dollars and cents. If he loses the sight of both eyes, he has lost a whole way of life – a way of perceiving beauty, of self-sufficiency and independence, all of which are priceless. That’s the price that you, the employee, must pay.
The company, in addition to accident cost setbacks, must be concerned about the affect of the accident on employee morale. If one employee suffers an eye injury, the rest of the employees may become jittery to a point where more accidents will follow. Also, they may not feel like working up to their full capacity, which would result in lower production levels.
Finally, an eye accident can be costly to you as a taxpayer. The victim may have to use public-supported rehabilitation facilities, and if he is unable to find a job because of permanent total disability, he may wind up on welfare. Also, since many companies figure accident costs into the price of their product or service, a large amount of the cost of an aye injury is passed on to the consumer which again hits you as a wage earner.
Thus, an unprotected eye can be a painful and expensive proposition to the victim, to the employer, and to society. So, wear eye protection. An unguarded moment may result in tragedy. And what would make it even more tragic is if the accident occurred while ample eye protection was resting on the victim’s forehead instead of over his eyes.