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An Eye for Safety: Protective Eyewear |
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These days, it seems every tool you buy carries a warning label imploring you to wear eye protection when using it. And few of us routinely follow this advice. But don't wait to have a close call—or a painful and slow-to-heal eye injury—to start wearing safety glasses or goggles every time. Your second eye is not a spare part.
Before you choose eye protection, consider the following:
- Eyewear that meets ANSI's Z87.1-1989 specification can stop a projectile such as an errant nail, wood spun out by a table saw or a chunk of masonry debris without the lens shattering or frame breaking.
- Safety glasses that aren't identified as meeting this ANSI standard, often termed "visitor glasses," may keep dust out of your eyes. But don't rely on them to stop significant impact.
- Polycarbonate lenses, which are far more economical than glass safety lenses, scratch easily. Always wet-clean them and dry with them a soft, clean cotton cloth.
- Comfortable fit matters: look for an adjustable model.
- Your breath makes lenses fog over, particularly when you work hard. If you're also wearing a mask, it must fit well around your nose to avoid channeling your breath toward the glasses. Antifog coatings help, but they drive up the price and get scratched easily.
- Get UV protection if you'll be working outdoors.
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| Here's a rundown of the basic kinds of eye protection and how to choose the right one for your work. |
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Safety Glasses
Available in an increasingly wide range of styles, safety glasses have either single-piece lenses or separate lenses with detachable side shields. Many are sold as UV-blocking sunglasses. Some oversize specs are made to fit over prescription eyeglasses. |
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Goggles
These seal the brow better than glasses but fog more easily. Goggles with splash-resistant vents are best for working with chemicals. If you wear prescription glasses, you can slip goggles over your glasses when you need more protection. |
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Full-Face Shields
Used alone, these hinged shields don't provide complete eye protection. Machine operators favor them for their full-face coverage from projectiles, but they're open at the bottom, leaving the eyes exposed to potential damage. When you wear a shield, be sure to wear safety glasses or goggles underneath. |
Prescription Safety Glasses
Even if your prescription glasses have polycarbonate lenses, they aren't as thick as the ones used in true safety glasses. Nor is the frame strong enough. To qualify as safety glasses, both frame and lenses must carry the ANSI Z87 designation. Ask your optometrist to show you safety frames; the selection of styles is much better than you might expect. You'll find that wearing prescription safety glasses with detachable side shields is much more convenient than having to put ANSI-certified protection over your glasses every time you crank up a saw or drive a nail. |
Welding Goggles
In addition to protecting the eye socket from injury and impact, these lenses prevent your being blinded by the bright light arc welding generates. |
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