What have we learnt about safety spectacles within the construction industry?
From our experience of visiting live sites, interesting projects, and a range of construction companies from small, medium and large sizes. There is a key item of above the neck PPE which is visually not used as regularly as the main items such as hard hats, ear defenders and high visibility workwear.
Safety spectacles.
Stealth 16g Safety Spectacles
There was a recent study that has highlighted the importance of having safety spectacles, this study showed the percentage of construction workers that statistically will suffer some sort of eye related injury on site.
The below quote is from the safety & health practitioner in 2020: ‘figures show that 50% of construction workers will suffer a serious eye injury during their career. This includes injuries and conditions such as impacts and burns. Research also suggests that 90% of all workplace eye injuries are preventable with the correct use of eye protection’
There are a few reasons why workers don’t like to wear these products such as the fit, feel or appearance of the safety glasses and an even more common problem is that when wearing eye wear for long durations they are said to cause the user ‘headaches.
This is due to not having a high-quality product that is also not fitting your face shape correctly, a quick fix for this issue is to find a product which has adjustable temples or a full rubber temple that you can fit into a specific position, a nose bridge will also support a more precise fit.
The other common reason for works to not wear their eye protection and this is more common in goggles. Misting up of eyewear.
Similar to the above as an high-quality product is essential, that is the right fit and shape for the face with lots of adjustability and support on your face. If you still experience issues with misting up then you should consider moving to a vented goggle product such as the EVO goggle, which also has lens technology that reduces the build up of misting.
The EVO Goggle can be found within our online store.
EVO Goggle
Workplace hazards can have serious short and long term effects to employees, some of which are life changing.
So, to conclude this short blog, with the statistics suggesting such a high chance of injury regarding your eyes and the common reasons for not wanting to wear these products being such an easy fix. We would urge construction companies to talk to there employees and make sure they are happy with the fit of their PPE after all it is ‘their’ personal protective equipment. Look at it as clothing, if you have clothes bought for you and they don’t fit you – you are less likely to want to wear them, same rule applies, make sure the products being used are fit for purpose and specific to the individual. Taking the time to discuss an individual’s PPE product’s and making small adjustments like fit and size will overall decrease the injuries on site as the right PPE will be worn when required!
