Injury prevention: where do we go from here?

Abstract

Background: Most eye injuries are preventable. Military personnel, workers, athletes, and other spectacle wearers--especially children and the functionally one-eyed--who require protection from impact, should expect that safety eye-wear actually protects.

Purpose: To present to eye care professionals the current state-of-the-art in eye injury prevention.

Methods: A review of the current eye protection standards, guidelines, and warnings for the activities of daily living, work, hobbies, education, and sports with emphasis on the importance of standards and the role of the recently organized Protective Eyewear Certification Council (PECC).

Conclusions: The prescriber and dispenser are obliged to prescribe, fabricate, and dispense safe and effective eyewear. PECC will help the eye care professional fulfill this obligation.