Protect Your Eyes: Glasses, Goggles & Shields

 Welcome to this week's safety topic, safety glasses, goggles, and face shields. So many of you, including me, may wear glasses and while these glasses are great for seeing they're not. Safe. They're not safe for work, they're safe for reading, and pretty much that's about it. So there's a few things to consider when buying safety glasses, goggles or face shields.

Today we'll focus a little bit more on goggles and of course some, uh, information about face shields. But if you have glasses, you can have glasses that you use for reading with safety glass in them. That does not mean that they're really the best fit or the best selection for your job and where you work.

So a few considerations is what will you be doing, especially if you're using tools with anything that has to do with grinding, chiseling, hammering. Something that could make projectiles or something fly or chip, or even hammering a nail. It could shoot off and then hit you. And the last thing you wanna do is wind up with an eye injury.

So safety glasses are not really just enough. You should look at some goggles. And there are a few considerations. Sometimes people will consider these safety goggles because they're bigger than glasses and they have a ridge over the top that brings them a little bit closer. However, there's space in here.

There's space on the sides, there's space underneath. So if you're cutting keys using anything and it shoots sparks or any kind of metal or wood or any kind of dust or particulates. That could wind up in your face. The last thing you wanna do is have it bounce off your face, off of a helmet, back into your glasses, into your eye.

And the same thing with these, there's plenty of room, and so don't be so worried about style as much as function and safety. There's a few things to consider as well too. So here's a pair of safety goggles, and I want you to take a look at the certifications and the specifications. In other words, what they meet, the standards that they meet, and why they're so important.

And you can see that it has to meet certain codes. A NSI oftentimes referred to as ansi, but make sure that the coat, the regulations, the safety standards that you need are met by the glasses, goggles, and face shields that you purchase. So you can see the goggles, of course, are bigger. Bigger, they're bulkier.

They do have something that will seal them off around your eyes. And if fogging is an issue, you can buy. Goggles that say anti-fog on them or that they have vents on the side. Some of them will even have vents on the top. So make sure you match the goggles, the face shields and the glasses to the job you're doing.

If you're worried about chemicals or just dust or sawdust or. If the, the risk is low, even with landscaping or something. But you know, if you could imagine hammering a nail and it shoots across the room or it shoots in your face, most of the safety glasses that have the correct ratings will stop them.

But they don't stop things from going around. So, uh, very often you should wear glasses underneath a face shield or goggles under a face shield, because sometimes. Glasses aren't enough. Goggles aren't enough. Face shields aren't enough, but together they significantly reduce the likelihood of you winding up with an eye injury.

So do yourself a favor. Go check out your glasses right now. See if they're chipped. Scratched. These glasses are scratched, they look worn, which means they need to be replaced. So don't buy the cheapest glasses, buy the best ones for you. So get up now. Go take a look at your glasses goggles. Face shields.

Make sure you have one set for every person that's supposed to have them. They're in good operating condition. If you're not sure what to get, CEO, supervisor or manager and make sure that you get training that you need. But overall, these will make a difference. But you have to have the right type. So ask questions if you need them.

Get training if you need them. You only get one set of eyes. Do your best to protect them and using one or more of these the right way for the right job will reduce the likelihood of an eye injury. Thanks for watching this episode. Take good care.