Finding a nursing role in the prevention of eye injuries in the construction trades.

Construction workers have mostly preventable eye injuries. This pilot study investigated a convenience sample of 75 (72 men, 3 women) apprentice operating engineers. Most (52%) of the apprentices had been injured twice on the job. Injury was associated with age and longevity in the construction industry. There were no significant differences in health perceptions as measured by the Health Self-determinism Index when the safety glasses wearers were compared with non wearers of safety glasses (t[52] = -.94, P > .05) and the injured group was compared with the noninjured group (t[62] = -.38, P > .05). Literacy issues, recall, and underreporting of injuries may have affected the results. Nurses need to teach health promotion strategies to operating engineers.