Do workers really need to wear safety glasses? According to organization Prevent Blindness America, the answer is a resounding, “Yes!” The organization estimates that more than 700,000 workplace accidents in the US every year result in employees injuring their eyes, while another 125,000 eye-related accidents occur in the home. Yet another 40,000 US children injure their eyes playing sports, and those are only the accidents that are reported.
The saddest part about it is that many, if not most, of these injuries could have been prevented had the injured person been wearing safety glasses. Unlike prescription eyeglasses or sunglasses, safety glasses or safety goggles must adhere to a higher standard of impact resistance. This standard applies to both the lenses and the frames of the glasses.
An Easy Solution to Reduce Injuries
In most cases, safety glasses have non-prescription lenses and can be used by anybody regardless of the quality of their vision. Their purpose is to protect the eye from injury caused by impact with objects or liquids. Specialized safety eye gear can also be used to protect eyes from intense light — such as the sun’s rays or laser or the glare from an arc weld — or from caustic chemicals.
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration establishes guidelines for workplaces including, in many industrial settings, the requirement that employees wear protective eye-wear. If an accident occurs in which an employee has suffered an eye injury and was not meeting OSHA’s standards, the company could be subject to a citation and a fine.
OSHA has adopted a set of safety eye-wear standards that originally was developed by the American National Standards Institute, which is a non-profit organization that establishes quality standards for various types of products, including both prescription and non-prescription eyeglasses, goggles, face shields, welding helmets and full-face respirators.
Your Workplace Standards
Each workplace should have a standard in place the regulates whether or not protective eye gear is necessary and, if so, what kind should be used in which situation. For example, workers such as carpenters, laborers, millwrights, machinists, plumbers, pipe fitters and carpenters are usually required to wear high impact protective eye-wear while on the job.
Some jobs require even further protective eye gear, such as side shields, sealed goggles or full face protection. Fortunately, Bahrns.com can provide you with whatever type of eye gear you need in your workplace, and at competitive prices as well. Whether you are looking to provide protective eye gear for your employees or simply direct them to where they can purchase the protective eye they need on the job, Bahrns can provide a one-stop shopping solution for your company and its employees.