Eye protection – what safety standard does my eye protection need to be?
When you think about the type of senses you use everyday without thinking too much, you will think of sight. It is very common within construction in the UK for workers to be involved in an eye related injury at work.
What is also unfortunately common is that these injuries could have been prevented should they have been using the correct eye protection.
There are risks to eye injury and a need for eye protection in most industries, whether you work within construction, manufacturing, automotive, food production, oil & gas or aerospace. There are serious risks to eye injury.
Understanding the risk is step one, reducing the risk by providing workers with the correct protection to the correct safety standard is step two.
What are the risks?
Lightand heat:
One of the primary causes of damage to the eyes is solar radiation. UV light can have a serious effect on your eye health. UVA rays can pass through the cornea and into the retina of the eye. Overexposure to UV light is one the leading causes of problems including cataracts and photo keratitis. When selecting low risk UV eye protection, look for the relevant standard for the task you are undertaking.
Sharp objects:
Very common on construction sites is sharp object penetrating the eye, this can be a range of objects depending on industry. In construction it can be airborne nails from a nail gun. In manufacturing it can be pieces of metal from grinding. Making sure you have impact resistance eye protection is essential along with making sure its to your correct safety standard.
Dust:
Dust is in the environment in most industries, while respiratory protection is being taken more seriously with regards to dust, eye protection is not. Dust can easily enter your eye while can cause short term effects which typically heal within a few days. More severe abrasions can cause lasting damage.
Here is a previous blog on filter selection for respirator products:
Chemicals such as acids and alkalis as well as solvents and cleaning agents can cause chemical burns if they come into contact with the eye. In addition, there is the risk of exposure to mists, fumes and vapours which can cause serious eye damage.
Goggles are often your best choice when unvented and with liquid splash properties.
The safety standards explained:
Where can I find the safety standard to my eyewear?
When you purchase eye protection for personal safety, the product will have markings on the lens of the product as well as the frame (if safety spectacles). Understanding what the markings mean can be complicated so below is a diagram to make this clearer.
Here is a table which covers the basic knowledge needed when trying to understand the safety standards.
You will need to take into consideration the environment you are working in as well as just the right safety standard. For example, using a face shield for impact protection in a confined space wouldn’t be suitable as the face shield is likely to get caught on objects and likely impair the user.
Make sure the eye protection chosen has the right combination of impact/dust/splash/molten metal eye protection for the task and fits the user properly.
PPE is seen as a last resort when all other controlled safety measures have been exhausted, eye protection is likely to be an essential bit of PPE for the user due to the exposure your eyes have to the world. Take the time to see if there is any likely danger to your colleagues when carrying out your safety assessments, the impact to the eye only needs to be minimal to cause life changing injuries.
You have one pair of eyes, protect them.
Our range of Eye/Face protection can be found on the link below:
