World Sight Day: Love your eyes at work
Globally, 1.1 billion people have an untreated or preventable visual impairment. That’s an eighth of the world’s population – almost as many people as there are in Europe and the USA combined. Shocking, right?
World Sight Day is an annual event that aims to focus global attention on the importance of eye care.
This year, it falls on Thursday, 12th October 2023. And the theme is "Love Your Eyes at Work."
As per the World Sight Day website: ‘our focus is on helping people understand the importance of protecting their vision in the workplace and calling on business leaders to prioritise the eye health of workers, everywhere.’
That’s exactly what we’re going to do in this post.
The Rise of Computer Vision Syndrome
The rapid advance of technology over the past two decades has meant that we spend a considerable portion of the day staring at a screen. In fact, a study by Lenstore found that the average Brit spends a whopping 75% of their waking hours glued to screens.
As a result, there’s been a significant rise in Digital Eye Strain, also known as Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS).
A type of eye strain caused by prolonged screentime, DES encompasses a range of ocular and visual symptoms, including:
Sore, tired, dry, or itchy eyes
Blurred or double vision
Light sensitivity
Headaches or migraines
Neck or back pain
Muscle fatigue
Although DES is temporary, it’s not pleasant. It can also have a negative impact on productivity and focus.
Tips to reduce digital eye strain
As an employer, you have a legal duty to look after your employee's health, safety, and well-being. This includes the health of their eyes.
You can help your people protect their peepers by educating them on the importance of eye care.
Here are five tips to share with your team.
1. Remember to blink
Most of us blink 15-20 times a minute. But this drops down to five times a minute when we’re looking at a screen.
Blinking is crucial for eye health as it keeps our eyes lubricated, transfers oxygen to the cornea, and helps prevent infection.
All those missed blinks can quickly add up, leading to dry, irritated, and sore eyes.
Get into the habit of actively blinking whenever you open a new email or are waiting for a page to load. You can also keep your eyes lubricated with artificial tears/eye drops.
2. Give your eyes space
The closer the computer screen is to your eyes, the harder they have to work to focus.
Studies on computer-related eye strain suggest that a screen should be no closer than 40cm (16in) from your face.
If you struggle to read the text at that distance, increase the font size, rather than move the screen closer.
3. Follow the 20-20-20 rule
Maintaining a fixed focus at a close distance for a long period of time puts strain on the ciliary muscles in our eyes, leading to fatigue and discomfort.
To beat the pain of eye strain, follow the 20-20-20 rule: look away from your screen every 20 minutes for 20 seconds at a time and focus on a fixed point 20 feet away.
Your eyeballs will thank you for it.
4. Adjust your monitor settings
Computer and laptop screens, flat-screen televisions, smartphones, and tablets all use LED technologies with high amounts of blue light.
Blue light waves are among the shortest, highest-energy wavelengths in the visible light spectrum. The wavelengths flicker more easily than longer, weaker wavelengths.
This flickering creates a glare that can lead to symptoms of CVS.
Long-term damage?
In addition to eye strain, some researchers believe that prolonged exposure to blue light can set off a biochemical chain reaction that permanently destroys cells in the retina.
The death of light sensitive cells in the eye is called macular degeneration. It’s incurable and leads to vision loss in about 2.4% of UK adults.
To minimise the impact of blue light, shift your screen’s colour levels away from the blue end of the spectrum towards the softer yellow end.
This short video explains how to do it.
5. Eye Care
If you wear contacts, your eyes have to work harder when staring at a screen. Give them a break by switching to glasses once or twice a week.
If you wear glasses, ask your optician to add an anti-glare coating to your lenses. Many offer this service for free.
Final Word
More than 50% of sight loss is preventable. So, the best way to look after employee’s eyes is to ensure they book their annual eye tests.
Why not put some posters around the office as a handy reminder?
To support the ‘Love Your Eyes at Work’ campaign, IAPB has created a bank of printable resources to educate employers on eye safety in the workplace and reinforce the importance of eye checks. Download them here.
Need an extra fundraising bod to help you manage your workload? We can help. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to find out how.