Sports eyewear protective standards

Abstract

Eye injuries sustained during sport comprise up to 20 per cent of all injuries to the eye serious enough for medical attention to be sought. The prevalence of eye injuries in sport is not easily assessed due to lack of authoritative participation rates, so most studies report total numbers in a time period. The evidence on the proportion of all ocular injuries that are from sport is reviewed. The relative frequencies in different sports are compared in a qualitative manner and the sports with greater numbers of ocular injuries are detailed. In common with occupational injuries to the eye, most sports eye injuries are considered preventable.

The hierarchy of action for occupational risk is detailed and adapted to use in a sports scenario.

All the available international, regional and national standards on sports eye protection are detailed and their provisions compared. The major function of the standards is to provide adequate protection against the hazard of the sport concerned. These are detailed and compared as a function of energy transfer. Eye protection must not introduce additional or secondary hazards (for instance, fracturing into sharp fragments on impact) and not introduce features that would deter the wearing of eye protection (for instance, restricting field of view to impede playing the sport). The provisions of the standards intended to limit secondary hazards are detailed and compared.

The need for future work in standards writing and the activities of the International Standardization Organization in sports eye protection are detailed.

Key words:

• eye and face protection
• eye injuries
• eye protection
• sport
• sports injuries

Acknowledgements

My thanks to Ronald Rabbetts for checking the tables and to Annette Hoskin for alerting me to the Irish standard on helmets for hurling and camogie.