Keep your eyes on your work
An orange sheet with a large drawn palm, each finger and the palm labelled with an injury and its cause, such as 'Removed guard from machine' and 'Punctured palm drilling thru metal'. The slogan 'KEEP YOUR EYES ON YOUR WORK' runs below. Bodily injury is the fear-appeal; the one statistic, 23% of Navy accidents, is a selected figure.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy, Navy Department safety poster (artist Thorndike)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Mixed
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Labor, Health, War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Navy. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1218 (NAID 514824).
Text on the object
DIDN'T TAKE TIME TO USE PUSH STICK TOOK EYES OFF WORK WHEN USING PORTABLE SANDER REMOVED GUARD FROM MACHINE INFECTED FROM SPLINTER. CAUSED BY NOT WEARING GLOVES. PUNCTURED PALM DRILLING THRU METAL TOOK EYES OFF WORK WHEN USING HAMMER AND CHISEL 23% OF ALL NAVY ACCIDENTS OCCUR TO FINGERS & HANDS. NAVY DEPARTMENT SAFETY POSTER KEEP YOUR EYES ON YOUR WORK [signature:] Thorndike 662 440322 [imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1944-O-574429
