May 29, 2024

Water hazards and eye protection

As a service to our policyholders, Texas Mutual shares serious workplace injury trends based on catastrophic injuries and fatalities reported to our claims department. Not all of these reported injuries are covered by workers’ compensation insurance, but our goal is to help you ensure these types of incidents do not happen in your workplace. Find safety tips below to help keep your employees safe on the job.

If you have questions, we encourage you to contact our safety services support center at 844-WORKSAFE (967-5723) or safety@texasmutual.com.

In this alert:

• Water hazards
• Eye protection

Water hazards

An employee was part of a crew constructing a small building near a body of water. An important piece of construction material fell into the water and the employee moved to retrieve it. The employee was told by a supervisor to let it go, but the employee dove after it anyway. Unfortunately, the employee drowned while trying to retrieve the material.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 32 employees lost their lives from drowning while working in 2022. You must plan ahead when you’ll be working near or over water where a danger of drowning exists. Some of this planning involves being prepared with the proper personal protective equipment (PPE), but it also means being aware of your surroundings.

• Wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket or buoyant work vest.
• Be mindful of changes to the weather and strong currents in the water.
• Keep the work area clear of trip hazards.
• Follow all safety and fall protection procedures for your site and inspect your PPE before use.
• Use a buddy system, informing a co-worker where you’ll be and when you should return.

Eye protection

An employee was removing old shingles from a roof and was not wearing eye protection. A roofing nail flew into the employee’s eye, which resulted in the need for multiple surgeries. In a separate incident, a different employee was prying open a panel with a screwdriver and was also not wearing safety glasses. When the panel popped open, it sent the screwdriver into the employee’s eye.

Workplace hazards for the eyes include dangerous chemicals, sparks and flying objects. However, many eye injuries can be prevented simply by wearing proper eye protection.

• Eye protection is required whenever you might be exposed to flying particles, molten metal, liquid or gaseous chemicals or light radiation.
• Talk to your supervisor to ensure you have the right type of eye protection for the job.
• Your eye protection should fit snugly but not get in the way of your movements.
• Check your eye protection before each use and alert your supervisor if it’s damaged.

Get free safety resources

Texas Mutual policyholders have access to thousands of free training materials in our multimedia safety resource center, including our safety catalog with up-to-date resources.

To access the free materials, log in to your texasmutual.com account and select Safety. If you need help accessing the safety resource center or you have a workplace safety question, call us toll-free at 844-WORKSAFE (967-5723).

Download a PDF (232KB) version of the May Safety Alert.