Gambling with Your Eyesight Could Make You a “One Eyed Jack”

There are two sides to eye safety: first, safety for the eyes, and second, safety through the eyes. Safety for the eyes is concerns the use of goggles, colored glasses, smoked glass screens, face shields, and the like.

Do you know that your eyes guide 80% of your actions; that 85% of your knowledge comes through them?  Shut your eyes real tight for about ten seconds.  What do you see?  Nothing!  That’s what a blind man sees, and believe me, he sees plenty of it.  Remember!  You cannot buy one good eye with all the money in the world so you should care enough for your eyesight to wear goggles when necessary.  We never seem to realize just how wonderful and valuable our eyesight is until we lose it, and then it’s too late.

In considering safety for the eye, it is necessary for us to remember that the eye can be seriously and permanently injured by a small particle of dust or by a ray of powerful light.  Powerful rays of light pass through the lens and burn out the screen at the back, so that it no longer responds by accepting an image and transmitting it to the brain.

Someone has said it is easier to furnish goggles than eyes.  All such remarks are intended to impress upon us the supreme importance of saving our sight.

The second aspect of eye safety has to do with the use of the eyes.  Many danger signals are appeals to the sight.  A man who is colorblind cannot be a railway engineer.  A man who has no eye for clearances makes a poor truck driver and the man who has defective judgment of distance cannot become an airplane pilot.

We need to protect our vision and to train our eyes to be alert to signs of danger, and be prepared to interpret those signs.

Another use of the eyes should not to be forgotten.  It is through our power of vision that we read in magazines, newspapers, and books, the ideas and suggestions that help us get more out of life.

Contact with dirty hands, gloves or clothing should be avoided.  Also avoid wearing cheap sunglasses.  Have good illumination and hold reading material at least one foot from the eyes.

When performing close work, look up frequently and extend your range of vision by looking at something at a distance.  Try to maintain general good health.

Wear proper eye protection when performing work where there is a possibility of eye injury from sharp tools, loose wires, chips, acids and other corrosive chemicals, or other foreign matter.

In case of an eye injury obtain proper medical treatment at once.

Poor eyesight is the cause of many accidents.  To conserve your sight, your health and perhaps your life, be kind to your eyes.  Wear corrective glasses if you need them.

If you don’t protect your eyes:

1. When you and your family are on vacation, they will have to describe the scenery to you.
2. You will have to be led wherever you want to go.
3. Your spouse will have to describe the way your children’s eyes light up when they open presents you give them.
4. No more leisurely activities such as hunting or fishing, watching movies, sports events or TV.
5. No more driving the new truck you just bought.

Let your slogan be: Use your eyes—don’t lose them.