The global #LoveYourEyes campaign returns for another year
Coordinated by IAPB (The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness), World Sight Day is on Thursday 12 October 2023.
Through ongoing advocacy and education, the IAPB drives global awareness towards the importance of eye health and preventing avoidable sight loss. Founded in 1975, with over 150 organisations across 100+ countries working together, the IAPB’s current overarching goal is to ensure affordable and available access to eye care and rehabilitation services for all by 2030.
One of their key initiatives, World Sight Day is an international day of awareness for prioritising eye health, encouraging millions of individuals, families, and communities to participate.
Supporting their mission, the ‘Love Your Eyes’ campaign has returned for another year, following its huge success in 2022.
This year’s 2023 #LoveYourEyes campaign focuses on facilitating better eye care in the workplace.
Discover the importance of eye care in the workplace
From factory floors to farms, staff rooms to call centres, employers play a crucial role in helping their people understand the importance of protecting their vision in the workplace.
Whether it’s a heavy workload consisting of tedious visual tasks or prolonged straining on computer monitors, eye fatigue, blurred vision and headaches are just some of the common symptoms of poor eye health in the workplace.
Potentially leading to vision loss, poor eye health in the workplace can also lead to lower productivity and performance levels, avoidable injuries, and preventable accidents.
Here are 5 interesting and eye-opening statistics about how eye health can impact people in the workplace:
- A pair of spectacles can improve your productivity by 22%
- Almost 9/10 workplace eye injuries are preventable with appropriate safety eyewear
- Even the slightest vision impairment can reduce your productivity by 10% and your accuracy by 20%
- Around 160.7 million individuals who had moderate to severe sight loss were of working age
- A study reported that 46% of people moved up an income bracket after cataract surgery
Affecting everyone’s well-being, safety and productivity at work, ensuring better eye health for all is a shared responsibility among employers and their employees.
‘Love Your Eyes at Work’: An opportunity to motivate and implement change in the workforce
World Sight Day 2023 is a timely reminder for employers to make eye health initiatives standard practice and positively reinforce eye health habits.
As part of this year’s workforce-focused campaign, there are 3 main ways for employers and employees to get involved.
- Download and share IAPB’s free workplace resources
These handy resources cover everything from simple five-minute checks to comprehensive checklists for prioritising eye health in the workplace.
If you are an HR manager, an OHS officer, or run a small business, these free resources are great for displaying around the workplace and/or shared in weekly staff emails.
Download your workplace resources here.
- Pledge a sight test
To support World Sight Day’s aim to reach 10 million sight test pledges:
- You can pledge your own sight test as an individual
- Employers can pledge the sight tests of their organisation
Making a commitment alongside millions of others around the world, you can also spread the word via social media to encourage others to do the same.
Make a pledge before 12 October 2023 here.
- Join World Sight Day’s Global Challenge event
In the lead-up to World Sight Day, you can host a workplace vision screening event.
Click here to learn more about the global challenge and/or join.
Your eye health matters every day of the year – in and outside of the workplace
90% of all sight loss is preventable, treatable or manageable if detected early. From focusing on tiny laptop screens to relaxing in front of the television, digital eye strain is a growing modern-day problem leading to poor eye health – in and outside of the workplace.
20/20/20 is a simple 3-step rule for giving your eyes regular screen breaks:
- Take a break from the screen for 20 seconds
- Look at an object 20 feet away
- Do this once every 20 minutes
Alongside proactively booking eye checks every 1-2 years, the 20/20/20 rule is a daily habit that can save your eyes and body from easily avoidable strain and pain over the long run.
For more information, read IAPB’s 10 easy tips on how you can better love your eyes.
Classic is proud to support World Sight Day
Getting behind World Sight Day is aligned with Classic Architectural Group’s mission to make public spaces safe, attractive and accessible to all. By helping you to achieve your project’s compliance requirements, we can create stronger, more inclusive communities Australia-wide, particularly for the vision impaired or disabled.
This year’s workplace-focused eye health campaign also serves as a continual reminder to foster a positive work culture that prioritises our employees’ well-being beyond their general workplace satisfaction. Happy employees mean happier clients. You thrive, we thrive, everyone thrives – it’s a win-win all around.
Explore how Classic can support your goals – give us a call on 1300 244 377 or send an online enquiry today.
