When you want a more engaging and collaborative company culture, employee satisfaction is one of the most significant factors you will need to consider because they are 13% more productive and efficient when they are happy.
So the key to a positive work environment? You have to elevate the employee experience. One of the ways you can do this is by caring more for their health—including eye wellness.
Your workforce probably spends a lot of time looking at their computer screens, whether they work on-site or from home. Unfortunately, this causes many problems, such as eye strain, frequent headaches, blurred vision, and lack of sleep, affecting their performance.
Promote vision wellness and help your employees keep their eyes healthy at work with these tips and activities:
Adjust Employees’ Workspaces
One of the best ways to reduce digital eye strain in the office is to remind team members to assess their work environments and assist them in identifying hazards to their eye health. Even the simple act of changing their computer’s settings will make a difference.
Constantly communicate and emphasize the following points:
- Decrease screen brightness to help reduce the amount of blue light that gets into the eyes
- Keep work materials close together and within close proximity to the individual to limit eye and neck movement
- Increase the text size on their computer or utilize the built-in magnifier to lessen eye strain.
You can further decrease eye strain by altering the monitor angle, utilizing a monitor riser, and modifying the seat height to maintain a consistent and comfortable distance between the eyes and their computer screens.
Do Eye Exercises Regularly
Some parts of our body need constant movement for them to be strong and healthy—our eyes included! So while exercising your eyes won’t improve your vision, they can help with eye comfort, especially when you’re constantly in front of a screen.
So round up your employees and ask them to try the following:
- Palming can assist muscles in unwinding and easing tension after spending the day hunched over a computer screen.
- Put some heat between your palms by rubbing them together.
- Hold your hands cupped over your eyes for five to ten minutes without squeezing.
- Close your eyes and take in the warmth coming from your palms.
- Abide by the 20-20-20 rule. Spend 20 seconds staring at anything 20 feet away from you once every 20 minutes. Breaking bad habits like sticking to the 20-20-20 rule can prevent age-related vision problems and improve visual acuity.
- Do figure eights. Some employees might find it difficult to track an item with their eyes. To improve this, one can practice performing figure eights. Choose a spot on the ground that is 10 feet distant from you. Draw an imagined figure eight using your eyes. 30 seconds later, change directions.
- Promote blink breaks. When you’re too focused on your phone or a computer screen, you might not notice it, but you blink less. If you begin to experience dry eyes or the onset of a headache, stop and try to blink at a normal rate.
Send Eye Care Kits To New and Remote Employees
One of the best ways to welcome new employees is to show them how much the company cares about their overall health and wellness. So aside from gym perks and healthcare benefits, why not deliver a beautifully packaged eye care kit for new employees? Not only is it unique, but it will also remind them to keep an eye on their eyes.
The same goes for your remote employees. Chances are they’re probably in front of a screen more frequently than in the office. So send an eye care kit or a self-care package their way, complete with good eye drops, instant cold packs, eye pads, and the like. Toss in some protein bars, hot chocolate packs, and blankets for good measure.
Depending on the nature of your industry, you will also have to provide the proper eye protection for your employees. Low-impact safety gear, such as eyecup goggles, safety glasses, and face shields, is necessary for employees whose work involves riveting, chipping, and hammering. Workers who deal with cables, chop metal, or cut bricks might benefit from medium-impact protection. Lastly, those using explosive power equipment like nail guns or using chemicals require high-impact protection.
Conduct Eye Care and Protection Meetings
Offering eye protection to employees is one thing; making them aware of the dangers of not wearing it is quite another. Employees need to know of the potential risks involved with not taking screen breaks or opting out of wearing the appropriate eye protection.
If feasible, hold regular workshops or training on workplace eye safety and care. In addition, supervisors should conduct frequent evaluations to ascertain how well employees are aware of potential occupational risks for eye injury.
Employers can also publish information and guidelines on eye safety in key areas around the office or include them in the business newsletter.
Promote Regular Eye Checkups
Our eyes are the windows to our health as they also show us signs of issues and problems in other areas of our body. With regular eye checkups, your employees can keep track not only of their eye health but also their overall wellness. Through our eyes, optometrists and ophthalmologists can check for risks that can lead to diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic disorders.
Employees would choose not to go to an eye doctor because it costs more or takes longer to get an appointment. By offering extra paid time off (PTO) days and vision insurance, management can support the promotion of eye health.
Eye Wellness is Employee Wellness
We are more susceptible to eye injuries than we would realize, and since we spend a lot of time at work, this is likely where we are most at risk. Given the importance of eyesight to our quality of life and productivity at work, it is crucial to take proactive measures to maintain eye safety at work.
So when creating a better work environment for your employees, don’t forget to add eye wellness programs into your strategy! Check out The Successful Thinker’s blog for more insightful and motivational articles and actionable workplace tips and tricks.
