THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF OCCUPATIONAL PENETRATING EYE INJURIES IN IRELAND

This paper is designed to establish the risk factors associated with s erious occupational eye injuries so that preventive measures can be ta rgeted at those most at risk. Few such studies have been published for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The incidence of thes e occupational eye injuries is over three times that of the non-occupa tional category. Present preventive measures appear to be inadequate. An association with certain socio-economic groups was found. A signifi cantly increased incidence of penetrating eye injury was noted in farm labourers and in skilled manual labourers. The left eye was significa ntly more at risk of serious injury than the right eye. The paper sugg ests improvements which should be made, particularly in the occupation al setting.