Things to Look for in a Pair of Safety Glasses
Selecting a pair of safety glasses is more important than you might realize. Choosing safety glasses isn’t about finding what looks best on you.
When you need to get a pair of safety glasses — whether for work or just while engaging in your hobbies — we can help you choose the right pair. Here at Eye Q Optique, our team explains some of the features you should take into consideration.
Why you might need safety glasses
Safety glasses protect your eyes from flying debris, dangerous chemicals, and other environmental threats that can damage your eyes, or cause you to lose your sight altogether.
When selecting safety glasses, make sure they’re recommended by both the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Occupational Health Safety Administration (OSHA.)
Among the standards set by ANSI, your safety glasses should protect you from:
Dust
Debris
Impact
Heat
Radiation
Splatters and splashes
If you regularly come into contact with any of these materials, you should invest in a good pair of safety glasses. When it comes to glasses that you’re counting on to protect your eyes from damage, now is not the time to cut corners.
What’s different about safety glasses
Safety glasses have to be of a thickness sufficient to protect your eyes from flying objects or projectiles. However, you can choose between vented and non-vented types of glasses. The right ones for you depend largely on the environment you use them in.
Vented safety glasses are generally more comfortable, as they allow your eyes to breathe, but they don’t provide enough protection if your work or hobby environment poses different risks.
Impact protection
Because the impact on your eyes is such a risk during certain activities, safety glasses must meet certain minimum standards to protect your eyes, which are determined by OSHA and ANSI.
Glasses have to meet two key standards to adequately protect you from impact, including:
High mass test
This test involves placing the glasses on a headform and a sharp, conical-shaped object is used to measure their resistance.
High-velocity impact test
As the name might suggest, this involves placing glasses on a headform, which must then resist the impact of steel ball bearings fired at them at high speed.
If your safety glasses meet both of these criteria, we can recommend them as safe for your eye protection.
If you need safety glasses, you simply cannot avoid getting them any longer. The health of your continued vision depends on it. Come in and look at our selection of safety glasses.
Contact us at Eye Q Optique or request an appointment online at either one of our locations in Chicago or Buffalo Grove, Illinois.