This Tradie Awareness Month, Parramatta tradies are being encouraged to take care of their hearing and eyesight to prevent long-term damage.
Optometrists and audiology professionals are joining forces to remind local Parramatta labourers, tradespeople and home DIY’ers alike to be vigilant in looking after their eyes and ears.
It comes after new research, commissioned by Specsavers Australia, revealed around half of tradies surveyed are continuously putting their hearing and eye health at risk by not wearing protective equipment while at their workplace.
The study was undertaken by YouGov and consisted of 514 Australian tradespeople completing an online survey in July 2022.
The results found that nationally, over half of the tradies surveyed admit to not wearing hearing protection in loud working environments or around loud machinery, with 34 per cent forgetting to wear hearing protection and nine per cent believing loud noises won’t have an impact on their hearing.
Only half of those surveyed said they wear protective goggles all the time and less than two in five ensure they always wear their sunglasses when working outdoors.
Local Parramatta Specsavers optometrist Jenny Tam said health professionals across the country are encouraging all tradies to be aware of the potential risks at work.
“It’s important for tradies to look after their eyes because there is a very high risk of them having workplace injuries,” she said.
“Prevention is always better than a cure and getting regular health checks is important in keeping your eyes and ears safe now and for years to come.”
Ms Tam said that the environments tradies work in make them more vulnerable to experiencing damage to their hearing and sight.
“We can’t stress enough how important it is to look after your hearing and eyesight – once you lose it, there is no getting it back,” she said.
“However, there are preventative measures you can take and it’s even more important for our tradies to be taking these precautions.”
To prevent any hearing or eyesight loss, Ms Tam recommends tradies make some simple changes to their work, and every day, routine.
“It is really important for them to wear the safety eyewear and hearing protection whilst doing their work, and to also have regular eye checks just to make sure that there are no underlying eye conditions as well,” she said.
“I know sometimes it might be a bit of a discomfort having something on their face they’re not used to, but it’s just not worth the risk of having irreversible damage done to their eyes.
“It’s not like we can grow another set of eyes, so it’s really important to look after them.”
If you work in a noisy environment or outside on site and have noticed any changes to your hearing or eyesight you can book a free 15-minute hearing check at Specsavers by visiting specsavers.com.au/hearing or book an appointment with an optometrist at specsavers.com.au/stores.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.