New research conducted by Specsavers has revealed that over half of tradies are putting their hearing and eyesight at risk by not wearing appropriate protective equipment.
The findings also revealed that of those who have worked in the trades for more than a decade, 71% say they believe their work has had a negative impact on their hearing and 45% on their eyesight.
We think this is an important story to highlight to help prevent further eye and ear damage in our tradie community.
Specsavers, which offers Optometry and Audiology services, says the results are worrying and a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude is proving detrimental.
“Some tradies are not taking the necessary measures to keep their ears protected and as they are generally working in very loud conditions, are exposing themselves to volumes that could cause long term issues. I’ve seen retired and older tradespeople who have hearing issues and who have admitted to not wearing earmuffs regularly during their careers,” says Specsavers Audiologist Mikael Na.
Specsavers Optometrist Philip Walsh agrees and says the results indicate that tradies are also exposing themselves to eye damage unnecessarily. “Having small bits of metal, dust, dirt or grit in the eye can cause watering, redness, pain and a scratchy sensation on the eye. This type of irritation can cause your vision to become blurry or sensitive to light or even cause damage to the cornea, which is important to help focus your vision.”
Key research findings:
- 65% don’t regularly wear hearing protection when they are working in loud environments – only a third do.
- 51% don’t wear protective goggles and only 34% wear sunglasses when outside.
- Forgetting to wear goggles or ear protection was the most common reason for not doing so.
