Eye Protection Basics - How to Choose the Best Safety Eyewear

By Alicia Connolly


Why You Need To Purchase Eye Protection

The United States Federal Government has extensive legislation and a system of guidelines that has been designed to keep its citizens safe and healthy. The governing body that regulates this legislation is known as OSHA, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration. According to OSHA every year approximately $300-500 million dollars are spent in the U.S. because of eye injuries. OSHA estimates that 90% of all eye injuries can be prevented through the use of proper protective eyewear, other estimates put forth by OSHA regarding job-related eye injuries conclude that over 3 million workers' vision is at risk daily and that out of those 3 million workers over 2000 are actually injured every business day, from these 2000 job-related eye injuries 10-20% result in temporary or permanent vision loss. OSHA requires employers to provide appropriate eye protection to their workers while on the job because it is an investment worth making!

Eye Protection - What to Look For?

The American National Standards Institute also known as ANSI is the recognized entity that sets forth manufacturing safety standards within the United States. Currently, ANSI Z87.1-2003 requires safety glasses and safety goggles to provide adequate eye protection from the hazards for which they were designed, eye protection should provide a secure fit without interfering with movement or vision, they should be able to be easily cleaned and disinfected, protective safety eyewear should be reasonably comfortable, durable and have the ability to fit over or incorporate prescription safety eyewear. Z87+, an updated ANSI Standard includes new mass and high impact standards which are not yet mandated by OSHA.

When it comes to protective safety eyewear one size definitely does not fit all, it is important to know what to look for when choosing eye protection that will work with you on the job. The right fit is essential for comfort, performance and most importantly eye protection. If your safety glasses or safety goggles do not fit properly they will not protect you from risking a serious eye injury, if there are large gaps in coverage your eyes are exposed and flying debris, particles or chemicals could easily cause an eye injury. To ensure that your safety eyewear fits properly some styles of safety glasses and safety goggles offer adjustment features, or are available in multiple sizes to accommodate different facial shapes, thus providing a more customized fit for the worker. Workers are also more likely to wear comfortable fitting safety eyewear, that is stylish which increases worker compliance and decreases the risk of job-related eye injuries among workers.

If you are an employer in charge of determining what safety eyewear to choose for your employees or if you are a worker that wants the best fitting safety glasses or safety goggles for the job keep the following ideas in mind:

Frame & Fit:

Try or offer safety eyewear with multiple frame sizes so that the best protective eyewear option is chosen or available. Safety eye protection with adjustable nose pads or soft flexible fingers will easily conform to fit almost any nasal profile. Safety eyewear with adjustable temples or bendable wire core temples can provide a more secure fit and behind the ear comfort. Safety eyewear with ratcheting temples provides lens inclination to contour any cheek profile.

Filters & Shades:

Safety eyewear may be fitted with all different shades and filters to accommodate any job requirement or environment use the guide below to know how to choose the best eye protection for the job:

Filter Shades: Used to protect against ultra-violet and infrared radiation that are generated when working with molten metals, in welding, cutting, soldering and brazing.

Torch Soldering: Filter Shade 2

Torch Brazing: Filter Shade 3-4

Light Cutting up to 1": 3-4

Medium Cutting 1-6": 4-5

Heavy Cutting more than 6": 5-6

Gas Welding, Light up to 1/8": 5

Gas Welding, Medium 1/8"-1/2": 5

Safety Glass Lens Options:

Amber Lenses 85%-90%: Blocks the blue light in the visible color spectrum which creates contrast enhancement particularly in low light environments.

Clear Lenses 85%-92%: Provide excellent optics for most applications where impact protection in required, great for general purposes.

Indoor/Outdoor Lenses 50%-55% Reduce glare especially from artificial light sources.

Grey/Brown Lenses 12%-62%: Great for the outdoors, these safety glasses reduce sunlight and glare that cause eye fatigue and strain.

Blue Lenses 33%-70%: Protect from high levels of hazardous visible light, ultra-violet radiation and excessive glare in outdoor applications.

Mirror Lenses 9%-20%: Reduce glare and heat that pass through the lenses outdoors.

The standards and guidelines put forth by OSHA and ANSI are the standards that TnA Safety adheres to in our safety product catalog. TnA Safety offers a wide variety of the most popular safety eyewear brands to allow our customers to comply with federal regulations and industry standards for less. We look forward to working safely with you!

Alicia Connolly
TnA Safety
TnA Safety is a full service distributor of wholesale safety products, please visit our website to learn more about our company and to view our online product catalog!
http://www.TnASafety.com
Phone: 1-888-708-5580

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