Improvements in Safety Glasses...

Yes, we all hate to wear them but I can assure you, you would hate even more damaging or losing an eye. When I began in construction back in '76 - wow, am I really getting old or what - no one ever wore them and I don't think OSHA even required them. Today however, it's a totally different story and OSHA requires them for most construction occupations if not all. They have come a long way too.

Here are some thoughts about safety glasses, they are not safety glasses unless they have this ANSI Z87.1-2003(Z87+1) printed or stamped on an ear stem. If they don't you have zero protection from impact. In the past we'd wear a pair that were tinted for working outdoors, when we needed to work indoors we couldn't see - no, it doesn't make you look cool to wear sunglasses at night or indoors, it makes you look like an idiot - so what did we do, we took them off. Today, we don't have to do that anymore because they now make photochromic lenses that will lighten or darken depending on the lighting. In the old days safety glasses were hideous looking, cumbersome, never fit well and heavy. Again, today that's a non-issue, you can get any style you wish so you can still be "joe cool" and have eye protection and they are very light and comfortable to boot.

The most important factor I would say since wearing cheap employer provided safety glasses has proven detrimental to my vision is optical clarity. Those two words OPTICAL CLARITY are probably the most significant factor in safety glasses. The cheap ones have none and WILL ruin your eyes, the expensive ones are a little better but still aren't on par with the really expensive ones. A pair with perfect optical clarity can set you back upwards of $200 but the difference it makes at the end of the day is priceless. I'm not going to get into marketing for the manufacturers here but for my money Oakley makes the best. The way to check for optical clarity is to put a pair on then raise them up above your eyes, there should be absolutely zero difference in what you see without them, absolutely zero! If they make things look out of focus, further away or nearer DON'T wear them, they're garbage.

Sadly, most employers will only do the minimum that OSHA requires because in all honesty they really don't care. So it is now up to us to protect our eyes and since they are ours we should protect them very well. I look at like this, most folks in construction will spend a small fortune on their boots, they'll even brag to their buddies how expensive, comfortable and wonderful they are. Ever hear anyone brag about safety glasses? Let me ask you this, what would be easier to get along without, a foot or an eye? Enough said!

By the way,

This wasn't meant to be a discussion or thread about personal preference in eye wear. If you like them, they are correctly rated as safety glasses, have perfect optical clarity and most important, YOU WEAR THEM then that's all that really matters!

I've been complaining about this of years and I won't wear them useless I need to or am forced too. When I put some glasses and all of a sudden I can't cut grade there is a problem. My "current" employer actually buys pretty good ones though wish I would of gotten a few sets for the road.

I hear you loud-n-clear Dozerboy,

Remember though, they're your eyes and ultimately your responsibility, it sucks I know but like I said most employers don't really care and contrary to popular belief Safety Personnel are not there to protect you just the company.

I did forget a very important improvement when I created this thread. UV protection from both UVA and UVB light, shaded glasses without UV protection are actually worse for your eyes than no glasses at all, the reason is the shading makes your eye dialate allowing more UV light in which can damage your corneas and if it gets bad it's called UV Keratitis or being snow blind and is extremely painful. So, please get good safety glasses and WEAR THEM it only takes a tiny spec of debris to wreak havoc.

Dozerboy said:

I've been complaining about this of years and I won't wear them useless I need to or am forced too. When I put some glasses and all of a sudden I can't cut grade there is a problem. My "current" employer actually buys pretty good ones though wish I would of gotten a few sets for the road.

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There doesn't seem to be much action with this thread, I wonder if you can't see how important safety is in general and eye protection in particular. Don't mislead yourself to believe you employers care more about your safety than you should.

That makes sense about the shaded glasses. My eyes would start to hurt after wearing them, so now I only wear clear ones unless I'm looking into the sun.

There's nothing wrong with shaded glasses so long as they have UV protection both A and B but absolutely A. The new photochromic lenses will work in light and dark conditions and change accordingly.

Dozerboy said:

That makes sense about the shaded glasses. My eyes would start to hurt after wearing them, so now I only wear clear ones unless I'm looking into the sun.

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I have to wear prescription lenses now with bifocals. They are expensive. You have to buy two pairs, one tinted. The tinted ones do not allow you to see the computer screens in the cranes. You would think this day and time it would better but noooo. The sides shields suck also. Can you see I hate the !@#$ things. I bought a pair of no line bifocals, they were not even wearable, I never got one single day of use out of them.

Well nice discussion guys.:tong I think every one should wear safety glasses, because your eyes are God's blessings.

Saftey glasses are required on all our sites. Construction Management/General Contractor always stipulate. Must be worn at all times on site. That doesn't mean on forehead or hardhat. You get a documented first verbal, second written, third time you are gone. The quality of the glasses is never discussed at toolbox meetings. Just the ANZI spec. It is up to the individual to research. This is a good topic as most workers have no idea the good, bad or long term consequences to their vision. SeaMac. I started in 1971. It was like the wild west, just about anything goes. We never policed ourselves so we got OSHA. No complaints. It really is much safer on the job today. But back then you had to stay sharp because it was every trade for themselves. Ciao.

Safety glasses have progressed over the years. My first exposure to them was in engineering school. Chemistry lab, machine shop and welding shop.

I saw them run the full spectrum from plastic that was very light to wear but would scratch every time you set them down. Then there were the ones with the metallic arms on the frame and big klunky side shields that were heavy and would never fit right. Then the same design came with full plastic frame which was better as you could adjust them. I got disgusted and took pair to local optomotrist and had him fit them for me the way they fit prescription glasses when you get them, but still heavy and just less comfortable.

Like many I hated them and avoided them and wouldn't wear them unless required.

Today there are a wide variety of safety glasses which are light in weight and for the most part comfortable. I use them for sun glasses these days and also carry my own when going out on jobs cause I have come to know what I like. Just like hard hat and boots, and flame retardant jacket and paints.

I now faithfully wear safety glasses in my shop because I have learned the "kind of hard way." After having welding slag, grinding wheel grit and other assorted things picked out of my eyes by an optimologist on three separate occassions to the tune of about $300.00 each time maybe the glasses were a good idea. Guess what, since I started doing that no more trips to the optimologist and no more $300.00 bills, and the chances of damaging an eye beyond repair greatly reduced. Even some of us more "mature" hard heads can learn a thing or two yet

Safety glasses became a 'must have' for me back in the '80s when a friend of mine was injured simply hanging a picture on the wall of his new house. He put a nail in the wall, went to remove it as he didn't like where he had put it, and as he pulled back on the claw hammer the nail came out of the wall with enough force to bury the nail into his eyeball.

Tragically, as his job required depth perception from having two eyes he lost his ability to continue his profession due to the loss of one his eyes.

You never can tell when things will go wrong. A few years ago I was firing a buddy's Kimber 45 pistol and although I always wear my glasses when I'm shooting I didn't have them or my pistols with me at the time. But what's the harm in just firing off a few rounds to sample a friends' side arm. Well, a piece of brass sheared off from one of the casings and buried in my cheek just below my right eye. As I pulled my finger back away from my cheek after touching the spot it had blood on it from the brass penetrating my skin.

Three quarters of an inch higher and I would have had a major eye injury. Lesson learned. I may look stupid at the dinner table wearing safety glasses, but if I fumble my fork...