Vision Screening Of Employees

The general purpose of any vision screening programme is to detect those people who have defective vision but who do not present with symptoms that
result in them seeking attention. Every occupation has specific visual requirements that must be met to perform tasks efficiently, safely and with comfort. Therefore the main aim of screening is to detect those people whose visual ability is below the standard required. Vision screening programmes are generally carried out either by government organizations such as education authorities and the forces, or by employers. For instance, vision screening is commonly used to identify young children with defective vision which can affect their progress at school.

There are a surprisingly high number of people with defective vision. The need for vision screening has been clearly demonstrated by the results of several surveys, which have shown that, on average, one-third of employees in industry have visual defects and aren therefore presumed to be operating less effiiciently. In fact, a study shows that 40.87 percent of employees whose task was to inspect piston rings for flaws were referred for full eye examination after a vision screening. The main reason for referral was found to be defective near vision.
In general the employees were unaware of their visual deficiencies and had never considered that their vision might not have been adequate for the task. The prevalence of vision defects in school children increases with age and has been reported to be about 30 percent at 14 years of age. It would therefore appear from these studies that vision screening is indeed a worthwhile exercise.

Advantages of vision screening to industries

These are summarized as follows:

1. Selection of personnel. Visual ability can be used in the selection of new employees or the transfer of an employee to a task they can perform efficiently.
2. Identify employees with visual disabilities. The may be due to an uncorrected refractive error or ocular pathology. If the visual problems cannot be corrected then the employee can be transferred to a task they would be visually capable of performing efficiently.
3. Improved employee-employer relationship.
4. Compensation claims can be settled more easily.
5. Improved visual efficiency can result in:

• Increased productivity;
• Fewer accidents and therefore reduced insurance costs;
• Reduced absenteeism as the task is less visually fatiguing.

Given that an employer decides in favour of a vision screening programme what steps need to be taken? First, visual standards for the various tasks must be established. This may be a relatively straightforward procedure or, if the task is unique or highly complex, it may involve detailed analysis and assessment. Second, the method of screening must be selected, along with the appropriate tests. For advice on these matters a professional person, such as an optometrist, can be consulted.

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