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Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 13:03:41 -0800
Reply-To: Debbie Decker <dmdecker**At_Symbol_Here**UCDAVIS.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: Debbie Decker <dmdecker**At_Symbol_Here**UCDAVIS.EDU>
Subject: Re: Goggles and Contact Lenses
In-Reply-To: <20041118.145505.3996.10.chemcon**At_Symbol_Here**juno.com>
As a 30+ year contact lens wearer, degreed chemist (where my bench
work was in the explosives industry and pesticide industry) and a true
believer in Eileen Siegal's research of contact lens use in laboratory - I
have _always_ worn my contact lenses in lab. My spectacles do not correct
my vision sufficiently to allow me to work comfortably and accurately in
the laboratory, particulary when coupled with goggles. I am always
meticulous about my eye protection.
Now - trust me on this. If the eye, with contact lens in place, is flushed
with sufficient water (like in an eyewash fountain), the lens will float
out of the eye.
This incident is an example of a GROSS FAILURE (try total lack) OF
TRAINING, INCORRECT PPE and INADEQUATE JOB HAZARD ANALYSIS - not an
indictment of contact lens use in lab!
Sez me!
Debbie M. Decker, Health and Safety Specialist
Environmental Health and Safety
University of California, Davis
1 Shields Ave.
Davis, CA 95616
(530)754-7964/(530)752-4527 (FAX)
dmdecker**At_Symbol_Here**ucdavis.edu
Co-Conspirator to Make the World A
Better Place -- Visit www.HeroicStories.com and join the conspiracy
At 02:55 PM 11/18/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>EXACTLY!
>
>THIS IS WHY I AM UNALTERABLY OPPOSED TO THE WEARING OF CONTACT LENSES IN
>A LABORATORY ENVIRONMENT.
>
>A hypothetical event that can become all too real:
>
>How can the victim, in advance on the day of the incident, know whether
>or not anyone nearby will remember that he or she was told by the victim
>that contact lenses are being worn by him or her that day? Think about
>it ---Something like a year or two ago, the victim signed a document
>stating that he or she wore contact lenses and at that time, but not
>since, have any of the new lab personal been told that the then future
>victim wears contact lenses, and all but one of the old lab associates
>have, by now, retired and the fellow who is still there has been promoted
>to a non-lab position. No one has ever reviewed the "contact lens"
>folder since it was first established and that is where the victim's file
>stating that contact lenses are worn is kept.
>
>Further, no one in the lab has ever known how to properly remove contact
>lenses (whether or not they are slippery) from an affected eye. No one
>knows whether anybody in the nearby neighborhood, or any physician or
>other para-med knows how to remove a contact lens in an emergency
>environment while the victim is writhing in panic and or pain.
>
>Daggone it! Contact lenses should not be allowed in a laboratory
>environment. I have lost a big chunk of my eyesight in one eye from
>disease; I know what it's like to not have full vision. Don't wear
>contact lenses in the lab. Sure, the likelihood of an accident is very
>low -- but when it happens, the cost is (may I say) out of sight.
>
>Jay Young, November 18, 2004
>
>
>On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 16:34:25 -0600 "BOTNICK, ERIC L [AG/1560]"
> writes:
> > I agree that contact lens use should be allowed in chemical and
> > industrial environments, with one warning.
> > Fellow workers and emergency personnel should be made aware of
> > contact lens usage by other people in the area.
> >
> > I had an incident in a chemical laboratory where an analyst had
> > contacts in, was wearing safety glasses with side shields and was
> > working with a 50% caustic solution. The caustic splashed and went
> > over the top of the glasses and dripped into one eye. The analyst
> > did not tell anyone it happened, they just went into a restroom and
> > tried to remove the lens and rinse out the eye. The caustic made
> > the lens very slippery and it could not be removed easily or
> > quickly. The delay caused a small burn on the cornea.
> > Of course the person should have yelled for help and should have
> > gone to an eye-wash, but even if they had - would anyone know to
> > remove the contact lens? How do you grab a slippery contact lens
> > without a suction cup?
> >
> > Eric L. Botnick, CIH
> > IH Lab Director / IH Chemist
> > 'B' Building
> > 12501 South River Road
> > P.O. Box 174
> > Luling, LA 70070-0174
> >
> >
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