Eye injuries are preventable, and the CNIB is working with WorkSafe Saskatchewan to get people to place a priority on taking care of their eyes. They were recently at YRHS to talk to students about the importance of protecting their eyes overall.
Beverly Kennedy with CNIB says that the goal is to talk to young people in order to get them to make eye protection a priority for their entire life. They want the kids to realize the seriousness of eye protection, and help teachers and employers when it comes to protecting kids from hazards in their lives. Students are notorious for believing they are invincible, and Kennedy says that they hope after the presentation these students will think about their eye safety for the rest of their lives.
"They're exposed at school to a variety of hazards, in the shops, the chemistry labs and on the sports field that the teachers are aware of and teach them about, but we want to drive the message home."
The goal is to reduce the number of eye injuries in the province and the country. Kennedy says that since one hundred per cent of eye injuries are preventable, they believe that with increased awareness from an early age they can ensure people take more serious care of their eyes.
The program is funded by WorkSafe Saskatchewan, and Kennedy says that they are making it possible to actually do the presentations and reach the number of schools that they are visiting. She notes that everyone has the same goal in the project, to reduce the number of workplace eye injuries in the province, so it has been a positive partnership and one that they believe is seeing real results.
The message has been well received by students, Kennedy says. She says that she has lost count of the number of presentations she's done, and she says that kids are responding with good questions and interest in the topic, and in some cases teachers have responded as well with their own positive actions.
