How Vision Problems Can Negatively Impact Productivity

When your vision is blurred, it can be hard to get work done successfully. Many studies show that poor vision leads to poor performance. This means your productivity is being drained, and your time is being robbed from your day. It might be that your prescription lens has changed slightly, or you are suffering from fatigue, eyestrain, or headaches, and therefore you are distracted. In this blog, we are going to get into how vision problems can negatively impact productivity and the most common vision problems.

Trouble Seeing Close-Up

The CDC reported in 2012 that 38% of American’s responded saying they have some difficulty seeing up-close. 16% reported they have trouble seeing things at a farther distance. They responded to questions about their difficulty level, if any, of reading smaller print and their ability to recognize a friend across the street.

The survey results showed that just about everyone after the age of 40 would have trouble seeing close-up. It also concluded that more than 4 out of 5 adults need vision correction in their lifetime. When you realize your vision needs correction earlier in life, you can do something about it to help. Vision correction can include getting eyewear to help see up-close (to fix hyperopia or farsightedness) or see far away (to fix myopia or nearsightedness), blurriness (to correct astigmatism), or a combination of these. But almost everyone will still have trouble seeing close-up after age 40 due to the condition of presbyopia. Presbyopia causes the lens in your eye to lose the ability to focus as it did in the past.

We all know that wearing proper prescription eyewear can help with these problems, but many people wear out-of-date prescriptions. Having the wrong prescription can lead to trouble seeing even while wearing eyewear. Some might not even realize they see poorly because they haven’t gotten their vision checked. They don’t know they could have better vision.

Eyestrain & Fatigue

Eyestrain and fatigue are caused by intense focusing of the eyes. About 20% of Americans say they have these issues. Which can occur from reading up-close or working on a digital device for a long time without proper protective eyewear. Eyestrain and fatigue can also happen when your eyes try to adjust to a sudden change in lighting. If not addressed, blurred vision and squinting can occur, which in turn leads to headaches.

As the most prevalent issue from those who work on a computer, eyestrain is very common, especially now with technology being so present in our everyday lives. If employees didn’t have to take breaks due to tired eyes, they could save more time at work every day. Transitions Optical found that 45% of employees take at least one break a day to rest their eyes. On average, employees usually take more than three breaks of about 20 seconds each. The 20-20-20 rule comes to play here.

Headaches From Harsh Lights & Glare

When you get a headache, it can be hard to focus and sometimes debilitating, which leads to missing work and a hard time concentrating. For those who report headaches, 1 in 4 say the cause is from light or glare. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, out of all headaches, 5.4% are severe enough to cause a loss in productivity of 3.5 hours per week at work. Out of those surveyed, 90% of employees said their headaches affected their work performance, but only 33% would tell their employers. These stats show that it is likely a more significant issue than most know. Every year, $17 billion is spent on absenteeism, medical expenses, and lost productivity due to headaches, according to the National Headache Foundation.

If your employees are experiencing any of these vision problems, talk to us at SafeVision. Together we can find the best prescription safety lenses to combat Blue light, sudden brightness, fogging, and glare no matter the industry. Visit our website at www.safevision.com to learn more.