Eye Injury Statistics And Facts in 2022

  • updated Aug 01, 2022

Wearing the proper personal protective equipment in the workplace can significantly reduce the risk of suffering a work-related eye injury. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are nearly 2.7 Million work-related eye injuries each year in the United States.

We’ve collected data to create this comprehensive resource on everything you need to know about eye injuries facts and statistics today.

Dr. Lynn Couturier

Chair of the Physical Education Department at SUNY Cortland and President of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education

" Teaching kids to utilize and take care of their physical activity and sport equipment and safety gear can prevent injuries. Equipment should always include proper eye protection which can save players from an eye injury that could have long term effects. "

Key Takeaways

  • Eye injuries account for an estimated annual $370 million in medical bills, compensation, and time off.
  • Compensation claims for disabling eye injuries in the workplace can be estimated at $924 million.
  • Nearly half of all eye injuries occurred in the home. In fact, home repairs, yard work, cleaning, and cooking caused more than 40% of eye injuries.
  • Chemicals such as bleach in household cleaning products cause 125,000 eye injuries each year.
  • More than 600,000 eye injuries related to sports occur each year, and approximately one-third of these injuries occur in children.
  • More than 78% of individuals did not wear protective eyewear during the time of injury.

Eye Injury Statistics And Facts

Each day nearly 2,000 American workers suffer the pain of avoidable workplace eye injuries that require medical treatment. Despite the elevated risk of eye injury in some industries, many workers skip the precautions that could protect their eyes. In fact, in 2022, nearly three out of every five workers that experienced eye injury were wearing either the wrong kind of eye protection or no protection at all at the time of the accident.

In addition to the physical toll exacted by these injuries, they also come at great cost to businesses, amounting to an estimated $370 million annually in medical bills, compensation and downtime. Lost productivity is another significant consequence: Among private industry employees in 2022, there were more than 27,000 reported days away from work due to eye injuries.

Perhaps most devastating is the fact that while vision loss is among the top 10 disabilities among American adults aged 18 years and older, 90 percent of eye injuries are preventable.

80%

Men between the ages of 25-44 comprise 80 percent of all workplace eye injury victims.

38%

And surface wounds to the eye involving foreign bodies such as splinters or debris occur in 38 percent of eye injuries.

45%

Eye injuries account for nearly 45 percent of all head injuries that lead to missed work days.

What Contributes to Eye Injuries at Work?

Not wearing eye protection, or wearing the wrong kind of eye protection for the job. Three out of every five workers who had eye injuries were not wearing eye protection at the time of the accident. 

Of the employees who were wearing eye protection were injured, these workers were wearing the wrong type of eye protection for the job.

What Causes Eye Injuries?

Flying particles. BLS found that almost 70 per cent of the accidents studied resulted from flying or falling objects or sparks striking the eye. Injured workers estimated that nearly three-fifths of the objects were smaller than a pin&head. 

Most of the particles were said to be traveling faster than a hand-thrown object when the accident occurred. Contact with chemicals caused one-fifth of the injuries. 

Other accidents were caused by objects swinging from a fixed or attached position, like tree limbs, ropes, chains, or tools which were pulled into the eye while the worker was using them.

Where Do Accidents Occur Most Often?

Potential eye hazards can be found in nearly every industry, but BLS reported that more than 40 percent of injuries studied occurred among craft workers, like mechanics, repairers, carpenters, and plumbers. 

Over a third of the injured workers were operators, such as assemblers, sanders, and grinding machine operators. Laborers suffered about one-fifth of the eye injuries. Almost half the injured workers were employed in manufacturing; slightly more than 20 percent were in construction.

Do’s and Don’ts of Emergency Eye Care

If an eye accident occurs, see a medical doctor or eye care professional as soon as possible since an injury may not be immediately obvious. Until a medical professional can be seen, heed the advice below

Do:

  • Protect the eye from further damage by holding a folded cloth over the eye, having it act as a shield.
  • Seek eye care immediately.
  • Bandage any cuts around the eye to prevent contamination or infection.
  • Flush the eye with water in the case of a chemical burn or if there is small debris in the eye
  • Use a cold compress to treat a blunt trauma injury such as a black eye, but be careful not to apply additional pressure

Don’t:

  • Do not remove any objects that are stuck in the eye as this could worsen the injury.
  • Do not wash out the eye when dealing with cuts or punctures to the eye.
  • Do not attempt to self-medicate, apply ointments or take any medications, including over-the-counter drugs.
  • Do not rub the eye or apply pressure. Doing so may cause more damage.
References

1. Injury Control: A Review of the Status and Progress of the Injury Control Program at the Centers for Disease Control. National Academy Press, 1988. 

2. Vision Problems in the U.S.—Data Analysis. National Society to Prevent Blindness, 1980. 

3. Ibid 

4. Product Summary Report—Eye Injuries Only, 2002. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Directorate for Epidemiology; National Injury Information Clearinghouse; National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), 2003. 

5. National Health Interview Survey Occupation Health Supplement. National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 1988. 

6. Accident Facts. National Safety Council, 1996. (National Safety Council estimate based on 1993-94 data from state labor departments.) 

7. Injury Facts. National Safety Council, 2000. (based on the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s Detail Claim Information file.) 

8. Ibid