Labourers risk their sight by not wearing safety goggles

Health experts warn that labourers are suffering horrific injuries because they are not wearing basic safety goggles.

File photo of workers in Sharjah. Experts believe some labourers are risking their sight by not wearing safety glasses. Jaime Puebla / The National

Abu Dhabi // Labourers are suffering severe eye injuries because they are not wearing safety goggles, health experts warn.

Nails embedded in the socket, chemical burns to the retina and hooks in the eye are just some of the horrific injuries Dr Khaled Abu Haleeqa has treated over the past year.

The eye surgeon attends to at least three labourers for potentially blinding injuries at Mafraq Hospital every week.

This is despite rules to ensure every employee wears protective gear on building sites.

“It happens a lot,” said Dr Abu Haleeqa, 39, a Canadian-trained surgeon. “If you have workers under you, then advocate the safety of the eyes. Goggles are essential in any construction site. It is absolutely necessary.”

He said the three workers treated each week were just admissions to one hospital.

These injuries could have been prevented if goggles had been worn, he said.

“For example, nails in the eye – big ones,” Dr Abu Haleeqa said about recent injuries he had treated.

“A lot of the time injuries lead to blindness. We try to help them out a lot and we manage to fix a lot of cases but some cases are unfixable.

“Even a small, needle-sized injury can cause traumatic cataract or retinal damage, which can cause blindness.”

Decree 42, introduced in 2009, outlines the personal safety equipment that labourers must wear, depending on the job speciality. This includes a harness, safety goggles, helmet, appropriate footwear and protective gloves.

But Dr Haleeqa said the frequency of eye injuries on worksites showed these rules were not being followed.

While no amount of money can reflect the personal toll these accidents take, eye injuries also affect the employer, said Dr Haleeqa, the ophthalmology programme director at the hospital.

“It is very, very important because workers being injured is a personal tragedy but beyond this there is a loss of work,” he said.

Dr Khaliq Khan, a general surgeon at Al Sanaya Medical Clinic in Dubai, said the problem was countrywide.

“I see two or three workers with eye injuries a day,” said Dr Khan, from India, who estimates that 99 per cent of his patients are labourers.

These injuries occur because workers are not wearing the right protective equipment, be it the fault of the worker or the employer for not laying down the rules.

Dr Khan said one of the worst cases was a hook wedged into a labourer’s eye.

He believes injuries occur because the building sector is largely populated with Asian workers who do not place the same importance on safety measures as western labourers.

“They do not believe in safety until it is too late,” said Dr Khan. “If you don’t avoid safety measures like goggles and safety helmets then these injuries can be prevented.”

While there is a lack of data to determine the prevalence in the UAE, the American Optometric Association says about 2,000 workers in the US sustain work-related eye injuries a day.

The correct eye protection could have lessened the severity or even prevented 90 per cent of these, the association said.

Abdulaziz Zurub, acting deputy manager of the Health, Safety and Environment Department at Abu Dhabi Municipality, said 70 safety workshops have been held on building sites since 2010 to educate the sector about Decree 42.

The workshops were attended by more than 10,000 people.

Campaigns about hazards in the workplace, including the distribution of material and videos in English, Arabic, Mandarin, Hindi and Urdu, have also been stepped up to educate about 800,000 labourers in Abu Dhabi.

But Mr Zurub said some building companies were not ensuring every employee was working safely.

“Frankly speaking there are some bad constructors. I can say that honestly,” he said. “The construction site is dynamic and we can not eliminate all incidents. But we can do our best.

“But we can not do this alone. They [constructors and developers] have to support us.”

Last year, the health and safety department fined 90 companies for breaking the rules. Breaches can result in fines of up to Dh50,000.