Employee health is part of an employer’s responsibility. Ensuring your workers are in optimal conditions guarantees they’re fit to work and aren’t burnt out or tired.
This is why many companies provide health benefits for their employees, even going as far as providing access to resources for mental health. After all, this is part of overall health.
Even if people are given time off, they can still suffer. Indeed, 41% of Americans experience burnout after taking time off, meaning the obvious cure isn’t always the best one.
Burnout can manifest in a number of ways, including affecting an employee’s physical health and mental well-being.
Employers must prioritize their employees’ eye health during work hours as well. The eyes are an important part of the body, and they, too, can suffer from burnout or overworking.
People can’t work if they’re uncomfortable or aren’t able to correctly see what they’re doing due to eye strain or issues.
Here are a few ways to ensure employee eye health at work.
Offer Eye Care Benefits
Eye care should be included in employees’ health insurance and benefits. It is one of the most vulnerable body parts, making it susceptible to scratching and similar damage.
Vision benefits will encourage employees to get annual eye exams, especially since they cost $230 on average—a price they may not afford.
Getting eye exams and treatment for possible conditions is important since 93 million people in the US are at risk for serious vision loss.
If you’ve yet to offer it, include eye care benefits in your employees’ insurance to guarantee that they have access to proper care.
Optimize Natural Light
Poor lighting in the workplace can result in eye strain and blurred vision for employees.
Their eyes will find it difficult to read or see what they’re doing, making them uncomfortable and affecting their productivity.
While extended periods of eye strain don’t have permanent consequences, they reduce employees’ concentration in the long run.
To avoid this, maximize natural lighting at work. Open the blinds or curtains to let as much natural light into the room. If this isn’t possible, invest in better lighting.
Provide lamps per desk if needed or add warm light sources—as these are the best for the eyes—in addition to overhead lighting.
Provide Employees With Blue-violet Lenses
Different eyeglass and lens technologies have emerged in recent years, benefiting people who want to protect or improve their eyesight—mainly working individuals.
Among these are blue light glasses, which you may already be familiar with. These have a special lens treatment that helps block potentially harmful light from natural and digital sources, including computers. As such, glasses-wearing employees may already have this type of lens.
Perhaps you could upgrade their glasses to blue-violet lenses that reduce wearers’ exposure to blue-violet light from gadgets.
This light carries the most damage, possibly resulting in retinal damage upon long-term exposure.
You can get blue-light lenses from online retailers for convenience since you’ll provide a pair for each employee, meaning a bulk purchase. Just make sure to collect their prescription before ordering.
Encourage Taking Eye Breaks
Long hours of staring at computer and gadget screens result in eye strain, damaging the light-sensitive cells in the retina. This can cause early age-related macular degeneration, which may lead to vision loss.
Encourage your employees to take breaks from the computer screen every 15 minutes to alleviate eye strain.
During this time, they can make coffee or do non-computer tasks, like completing a written report.
You may also lessen their time in front of computers by holding informal meetings outside the office, such as at a nearby park.
This reduces their screen time by just a few minutes, effectively avoiding eye strain.
During prolonged periods of work, it is worth remembering the 20-20-20 rule. The rule is a simple guideline to help reduce eye strain caused by prolonged computer or device use.
It suggests that every 20 minutes, you should take a break for at least 20 seconds and look at something that is 20 feet away from you.
The purpose of 20-20-20 is to give your eyes a chance to relax and refocus, as staring at a screen for extended periods can lead to eye fatigue, dryness, and discomfort. By looking at something in the distance, you allow your eye muscles to relax and prevent them from becoming overly strained.
Ensuring eye health in the workplace guarantees employees’ comfort. Employers must ensure that their employees are in good working condition in all aspects, including their eye health status.
If you’ve got your employee’s eye health covered, why not check out this piece on the benefits of a mouse or a tracker to see if there are other changes you might wish to make?