Eye injuries can happen in a lot of different workplaces. Around 2,000 American workers experience severe workplace eye injuries every day. This doesn’t even factor in the number of less-severe eye injuries.
One way of preventing these from occurring is by wearing proper eye protection such as protective safety glasses and other safety eyewear.
Wearing proper eye protection can go a long way in avoiding eye injuries, both serious and less severe ones.
You’ll learn why safety glasses are so important in this article, including how they can prevent eye injuries in the workplace, as well as the different types of safety glasses that you can wear.
Potential Eye Hazards In The Workplace
Knowing about potential eye hazards at work can help you avoid eye injury from occurring later. Eye injuries can occur in a lot of different occupations and industries.
Other than piercing stab wounds, eyes can experience scratches, grazes, and bruises.
Some types of potential eye injuries are:
- Impact-related
- Steam related burns
- Heat association damage
- Chemical damage
- Mucous membrane injuries
- Optical radiation damage
Impact Related Eye Injuries
A lot of impact eye injury happen from flying items hitting someone’s eye. Some common examples are wood dust particles from saws and metal shavings from tools.
Steam Related Burns
These can affect people who work with steam pipes and boilers, as steam blasts can burn the eyes, as well as the face. This is why it is so crucial to be wearing eye protection and wearing safety eyewear wherever possible.
If these occur, you may not know how serious the burns are until the day after.
Heat Associated Injuries
Heat sources with higher temperatures can be found in some occupations, such as blacksmithing shops, foundry, and glassblowing.
The eyes can encounter eye injury from hot air blasts, molten metal spills, and flying sparks. Safety goggles can prevent debris like flying sparks from reaching the eyes.
Chemical Damage
Working with dangerous chemicals will mean you are at risk of chemical-related injuries. Chemical splashes may affect the eyes, as well as contact with chemical fumes.
Without sufficient PPE, known as personal protective equipment, or wearing incorrect types of eye protection, chemicals can effortlessly enter and affect the eyes.
Mucous Membrane Injuries
Individuals that work in laboratories and healthcare industries can be at risk of infectious diseases moving into mucous membranes in the eyes. These can be transmitted through respiratory droplets and blood spills.
Optical Radiation Injuries
Large amounts of optical radiation, such as the emissions from lasers, can easily impact the eyes.
Optical radiation examples are UV (ultraviolet) rays from sunlight, IR (infrared) radiation, and visible light.
Why Is Eye Protection So Important In The Workplace?
A lot of employees suffer eye injuries at work as they weren’t using protective gear, like safety glasses. Around three-fifths of people surveyed who experienced eye injuries on-the-job thought that they didn’t need to wear eye protection before they were injured.
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) states that employers are responsible for their workers' eye safety.
The company’s safety officer should employ the OSHA face and eye safety guidelines to assess particular workplace hazards.
They should then stick to the OSHA eye protection strategy to deliver sufficient protective gear, as well as carry out proper training for the employees at said company.
The type of safety glasses required will depend on the workplace, as well as the particular event. The person’s vision is also a factor.
For instance, safety glasses allow people who wear reading glasses to forgo them underneath. These may be right for you depending on your job and what hazards you may encounter.
Standard Glasses And Safety Glasses
It’s clear that well-made safety glasses, particularly the impact safety variety, can help you avoid on-the-job eye injuries.
Despite this, if you wear glasses, it can be frustrating having to look after another pair, so you may want to use your usual glasses at work instead.
In most cases, workplace safety officers will not let you do this as this doesn’t meet OSHA’s safety glasses rules.
Every protective safety eyewear needs to satisfy high-impact resistance conventions, but your usual everyday pair won’t meet these.
These strict safety rules apply to both the lenses and the frames of all protective eyewear. Your current prescription glasses won’t meet impact safety glasses standards, as well as prescription safety eyewear.
The frames and the lenses of safety eyewear need to meet higher impact resistance standards compared to usual eyewear. OSHA has three main standards, which are”:
High-Velocity Impact
This assesses how well the frames and lenses can withstand the impact of small items hitting them at fast speeds.
Large Mass Impact
Assesses if the lens will remain in the frame if a heavy item strikes the eyewear.
Durability
Checks the frames for fire resistance, corrosion, and various factors.
Frames that meet the American National Standards Institute’s basic impact requirements are labeled with Z87.
Frames that meet the standards for high impact are labeled with Z87+.
Prescription safety glasses are labeled with Z87-2.
Different Kinds Of Safety Glasses
No matter what your vision necessities are, the safety eye gear you wear needs to be suitable for your occupation and the potential hazards you may meet.
Some jobs mean that employees are at greater risk of experiencing eye injuries.
Some dangerous occupations are construction, welding, carpentry, and manufacturing. Auto repair work, plumping, electrical jobs, and mining can also put you at a greater risk of on-the-job eye injuries.
Many different kinds of safety glasses can accommodate particular requirements. Some examples have several features that can deal with potential workplace hazards.
What Are Prescription Safety Glasses?
Prescription safety glasses are designed for wearers that need vision correction. These safety glasses may have bifocal, progressive, or single-vision lenses, depending on whether the user needs help with short, intermediate, or long-distance vision.
What Are Non-Prescription Safety Glasses?
Non-prescription, also known as Plano safety glasses, are designed for people that don’t need to wear prescription lenses. These are available in several different designs as well as tinted lenses.
Those that have presbyopia may like to wear safety glasses with readers. These have bifocal reading portions in the lower half of each lens.
What Are Safety Glasses With Side Shields?
As the name suggests, safety glasses with side shields have screens on the side of the frames. These can prevent airborne debris from striking your eyes, such as metal or wood shavings, flying items, and dust.
Looking After Safety Eyewear
Keeping your safety glasses clean and in good condition can help them last longer, as well as sufficiently protect your eyes when at the workplace.
Here are a few methods that can help you look after your safety eyewear:
Rinse your eyewear with lukewarm water to clean light debris from them, then dry with a clean, lint-free cloth.
You can use compressed air to remove any leftover dust from the glasses.
Do not use abrasive cleaning products or textured towels to clean your eyewear, as this can damage the protective coating and lead to scratches.
Examine your safety glasses every day, ensuring they are free from scratches, cracks, or broken pieces. If your eyewear is damaged, you’ll need a new pair, as they won’t be able to defend your eyes against potential hazards.
Final Thoughts
Eye injuries can happen in many different industries, but wearing sufficient eye protection can help prevent these from occurring.
You’ll need to select the right kind of eye protection for your needs. Whether you need prescription eyewear, goggles that cover your everyday glasses, or glasses with side shields will depend on your job and the potential hazards you may encounter.
As long as you wear protective eyewear, you’ll lower the risk of you undergoing eye injuries in the workplace.