Safety glasses and goggles for work
Most eye injuries which occur on the job do so because the person was not wearing eye protection or was not wearing the proper eye protection.
Lack of eye protection and inadequate eye protection are the two leading causes that contribute to eye injury at work. Most of the eye injuries occur among craft workers and industrial equipment operators. Dusts, flying particles, rays and fumes are among the most common culprits.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) sets the standards for safety glasses. The ANSI requires that safety glasses be able to withstand the impact of a quarter inch steel ball traveling 150 feet per second. Frames of safety glasses must also meet strict standards for strength and heat resistance. The ANSI Z87 standards are the safety standards by which
all safety glasses must conform to for impact resistant lenses and frames. According to ANSI standards, lenses must be able to pass a “drop ball” test. The test involves dropping a hard ball onto the lens from a certain height. If the lens cracks or shatters, it fails the test. The reason for the failure may be because the lens is too thin or the material is defective.
It is so important to wear safety glasses when operating machinery. Regular glasses do not withstand the impact of projectiles such as flying pieces of metal, which can shatter regular glasses. When working with machinery such as cutting tools, safety glasses protect from the hot bits of metal. Safety glasses with foam or rubber around the lens provide better protection from
dust and flying particles than safety glasses with only side shields.