A Geelong tradie is warning young tradespeople to protect their eyes and ears all year round while on the job site as Tradies Health Awareness Month wraps up for another year.
Surveyor Ashley Roberts, 40, said it was “really important” that the younger generation use the proper protective work equipment and continue to monitor their health.
“When you get older protecting the ears is crucial especially around loud noises because you can have damage to your hearing when you get older,” he said.
“Especially on the sites I work on, if we use heavy machinery, we have signs advising the need for hearing and eye protection.
“It’s really important that tradies make sure that they’re using the correct equipment so that they can go home to their family and friends and enjoy the time when you’re not at work as well.”
Waurn Ponds optometrist David Truong said the “younger tradies could learn from their older colleagues” and that once hearing or eyesight is lost, “there is no getting it back”.
“We would really like all tradies in the Geelong area, particularly those aged 18 to 34, to understand the importance of taking preventative measures to look after their hearing and eyesight,” he said.
“We often see older tradies come in citing their workplaces as the reason for their hearing being worse than it used to be or attributing work-related sun damage to their eyes.”
Mr Truong said wearing polarised sunglasses or safety goggles and earmuffs on-site could help protect a person’s eyesight and hearing.
“We know that a large percentage of tradespeople gain eye injuries or sun damage on the job,” he said.
“Health professionals want tradies to know that prevention is always better and getting regular health checks is important to retain quality of vision and hearing, both now and for years to come.”
