Like clouds of fog that form in humid conditions because of the temperature difference between the air and a surface; safety eyewear fog up due to temperature differences between the lens and surrounding air. This can happen when you move from a cold environment to a warmer one or the other way around. This is particularly common in construction, Oil & Gas, power, warehousing and other sectors where workers regularly move from indoor to outdoor environments or the other way round.

This can also happen as a reaction from warmth escaping your face compared to the cooler surrounding air. This becomes a safety concern in agriculture, construction and other environments where your role requires you to exert effort and heat up as you work.

There are numerous reasons that can increase the likelihood of your safety eyewear misting up.

For example, damaged and dirty lenses create more surface area of which condensation can occur. To reduce the risk of serious injury in the workplace especially industries such as construction, oil & gas and agriculture business need to ensure that their employees are provided with undamaged eyewear where the eyewear is regularly checked for damage as well as providing new eyewear annually.

How can I prevent my safety eyewear from misting up?

There is many ways to reduce the misting up of eyewear. The easiest method to try is making sure the safety spectacles are clean and ensure there is no damage to the lens of the product. Check to make sure the fit of the product is correct, make sure there is enough space between your face and the lens this will allow air to flow and better normalise the temperature on each side. Finally, if you are still experiencing issues when we would recommend purchasing eyewear with anti-scratch and anti-mist coatings to the lenses.

For more on anti-mist lens and the technology behind it, click here.

Why is my safety eyewear misting up when using a face mask?

This is likely down to your respiratory protective mask and the fit of this mask to your face not being correct, the face mask will be leaking air and moisture which will naturally ascend into and underneath the eye wear causing your eyewear to mist.

Try readjusting the fit of your face mask first to better position and fit your face, if the issue persisted, we would recommend you find out where the air is escaping from the mask by covering the valve and breathing out. You will be able to identify your area of leakage with this method.

How can I prevent my safety eyewear misting up when using a face mask?

We would recommend that you try different size masks to see which provides the best fit, there is a vast marketplace full of different style face masks so we are confident you can find one to best suit you.

A product that makes this selection very simple is JSP’s Force 8 half mask where you can carry out a face size guide test to establish the correct size mask for you. They have also manufactured filters which can check the fit of your mask so you can check your mask is fitting correctly every day. More information on this product can be found with our other blog here.

Here is a link to their product & the product on our store.

Once you have the correct mask, we would further recommend that you choose safety eyewear with anti-scratch & anti-mist properties that are designed and tested to work with your mask.

An example of this would be partnering the Force 8 half mask with the EVO Goggles.

Link to EVO goggles in our store.

Their products have been designed to work together in terms of the nose bridge of the half mask being underneath the EVO goggles fitting area.

90% of all workplace eye injuries can be avoided by using proper safety eyewear, according to the Prevent Blindness Organisation, but foggy eyewear creates another set of safety risks. Nearly 60% of workers sustaining eye injuries were not wearing eye protection at the time, according to The Bureau of Labor Statistics. This may be linked to the goggles fogging up, insufficient personal protective equipment training or other reasons.

See our full range of PPE products on our store:
www.oakeyssafety.co.uk