Occupational Eye Injuries among a Group of Workers in Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Background & Objective(s): Occupational eye injuries can result in serious morbidity and great economic loss. Employees in every industry are at risk of eye injuries. Ocular injuries at work are preventable, so safety education is a priority This study aims at describing the most frequently encountered types of occupational eye injuries and their causes among different working groups as welders, carpenters, mechanics, accountants and delivery staff. . Methods: The study included 400 workers recruited from the emergency department of El – Demerdash hospital presenting with occupational eye injuries. The participants received ophthalmological examination and intervention according to their condition and filled an interview questionnaire, including socio-demographic data and occupational background. A focus group discussion was conducted among 12 workers who were interviewed later when they came for follow up. The session was about their opinion regarding causes of occupational eye injuries and best methods for prevention. Results: Workers involved in jobs requiring manual activities represented (62%) of those with occupational eye injuries. About 62% reported in-availability of protective equipment and 17% only reported receiving safety pre-employment training programs. About 47% knew that they were at risk of eye injuries. Foreign body injury was the commonest cause of occupational eye injury among the study population (32%). The percentage of manual workers reporting deep injuries (17.9%), requiring surgical intervention (46.2%), working with shift schedules (59%), with longer work duration (23.1%) and stating that their colleagues suffered from similar injuries in the last year (40.6) was significantly higher than that of mental workers. Conclusion: Eye injuries are an important category of work-related injuries to which attention should be drawn and resources allocated in the form of protective equipment and training programs especially to manual workers who face several hazardous work exposures. The recommended methods for prevention of occupational eye injuries by focus group discussion were better training of workers and improvement of the working environment of workers