Objective: To determine the level of awareness and practice of use of
protective eye devices among welders in Ile-Ife. Methods: This is a
cross-sectional descriptive study of 405 consenting welders. A
pretested proforma was utilized to obtain information on
sociodemographic characteristics, as well as awareness and use of
protective eye device. Results: The age of the respondents ranged from
16 to 80 years. The mean age was 39 \ub1 13 years. A large proportion
(315, 78%) of the welders was aged between 21 and 50 years. The
youngest group aged 6420 years accounted for 15 (4%) of all
welders, while the oldest group aged >60 years accounted for 21
(5.2%). 402 were males (99.3%) and three were females (0.7%). Three
hundred thirty-six (83%) of the welders had practiced for 6 years and
above. There was a high level of awareness of protective eye devices
among the welders (367, 90.6%), being higher among arc welders compared
with gas welders (P<0.001). Less than half (186, 45.9%) of the
welders possessed protective eye devices. Of these, only 39 (9.6%) made
use of the devices always. Some of the reasons for not using the
protective eye devices include discomfort and poor visibility (56,
13.6%) and inadequate appreciation of the necessity to wear it (49,
12.1%). Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that a
significant proportion of welders in Ile-Ife were not utilizing
protective eye device. Health education and awareness campaigns about
the importance and benefits of utilizing protective eye devices are
recommended