life in lockdown

At Morgan Sindall Infrastructure a lot of us are working from home - we have created a series of stories of Life in Lockdown - and here is mine including a Safety Share which I really hope you will find useful

video here and safety share below

https://vimeo.com/435681043/3af3470027

Safety Share Tina Catling

Innovation Director

Working from Home – Care for your eyes

Avoid Eye injury from strained eyes and Dry Eye Syndrome 

Something not many people know about me is that I am blind in my left eye.  This was something from childhood.  So, I know how precious your eyes are and taking care of them.

However even with that I was so focussed the other day – and having fun meeting with people that I totally didn’t notice that I had actually been on teams calls from 8am until 6pm with only a few short breaks.

That night I woke at 3am as my left eye was very sore and swollen.

I went to the pharmacy – who told me to rest it and bath it with cold water but several days later it was worse.  I contacted my GP who referred me to an optometrist – who referred me to an eye specialist – all on the phone ?

Who said this:

When we are on dial in calls via our screens, we look at people differently – in fact we stare. This causes us to blink less – this causes our eyes to be dryer and this can cause injury to the surface of the eye

We also tense the muscles in our eyes as we are at a fixed distance from the screen for long periods.

Her suggestions

·      Hydrate your eyes with Clinitas Sooth or similar every hour

·      Your screen should stand at eye level, or just below it. 

·      It is also advisable to look away from the screen every five minutes for a few seconds and take a few blinks

·      Take breaks when you turn off your video stream off and just use audio so you can shut your eyes or look into the longer distance

·      Drink lots of water during the day

The eye injury I have sustained, which I could and should have avoided by paying more attention, will now take 6-8 weeks to heal – in the meantime I will follow the guidelines on eye care and hope you will too