|  | Public Health Safety | Work Safety

How to Identify Safety Glasses

For use in the industrial workplace setting, safety glasses provide excellent protection against eye injuries. Every year, 40,000 to 50,000 new eye injuries occur resulting in partial or total loss of vision in the victim. Shockingly, many victims fail to use appropriate safety glasses for the tasks they're performing at work or around the house. In approximately 90% of these cases, damage would have been reduced or eliminated if the victims had been wearing safety glasses to protect their eyes. Safety glasses are inexpensive, lightweight, and easy to identify, and should be used in any situation where your eyes are at risk of being impacted by flying debris.

Things You'll Need

  • Ability to read fine print
Show More

Instructions

  1. Identification of Safety Glasses Lense Types

    • 1

      Select safety glasses according to the level of protection you require. Choose basic-impact lenses when your exposure is to dust, dirt, or soft materials. Glass or plastic safety glasses will suffice. Choose high-impact lenses when your exposure is to hot substances, metal, wood shards, or any debris that would penetrate the unprotected eye. High-impact glasses are especially important when working with high-speed machinery or tools. Polycarbonate or Lexan lenses will suffice.

    • 2

      Find the manufacturer's marks, often seen as a letter, stamped on the lenses, frames, or both. More important, find the national standards designation. The impact designation is the key to identifying whether the safety glasses meet national standards for impact resistance. In the United States, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard is Z87.1 (see References). In Canada, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) standard is Z94.3.1 (see References).

    • 3

      Select the appropriate tinted or clear lenses for your work environment. Clear lenses are ideal for use in indoor work areas. Choose colored or gray lenses for outdoor use, where bright sunlight can cause eye strain or fatigue. You may opt to select indoor/outdoor lenses, which have a slight mirror coating. This style allows more available light to pass through but provides protection similar to that of the outdoor lenses when you're dealing with bright artificial lighting found indoors.

Work Safety - Related Articles