Top 5 Importance of Safety Glasses
It is too easy to take eyesight for granted. People often know that wearing safety glasses is vital to maintaining proper eye health and safety in the workplace, but they might neglect it because of distractions or comfort. If avoiding wearing protective glasses because of a comfort issue, you are wearing the wrong frames. While there are many times when your eyes are best left alone, many work environments and home tasks require extra protection. There are at least five reasons to wear safety eyewear.
1. Protection Against Workplace Injuries
Where do you work? Are you in the construction or manufacturing industries? Does your job require working around hazardous chemicals? Whatever your position, it is necessary to consider the risks to your eyesight. The need to wear protective glasses is more evident in some jobs than others; for example, construction workers are often required to wear protective goggles, but cooks might not be. A cook works around hot stoves, boiling liquids, and other dangerous objects that can cause splashback and damage the eyes. Safety goggles protect the eyes against preventable injuries.
2. Better Field of View
Some jobs require working in environments with less-than-optimal views. For instance, welders might work in areas with constant and unpredictable sparking, making it hard to do things when their helmets and masks are off. Protective glasses, especially tinted glasses, can help reduce the effect of sparking, allowing workers to be more productive.
Goggles can also help in environments with heavy dust and debris, like construction sites. By keeping the dust on the outer frame and out of a worker’s eyes, the employee can keep their eyes wide open, allowing for a better field of view.
3. Federal and Workplace Requirements
Sometimes a worker does not have a choice of wearing safety glasses. OSHA and employers have the right to require protective eyewear. The one advantage to mandatory glasses is that the employer often must cover the expense, especially if they need the glasses to stay on the premises.
If employees do not wear glasses even when required, it can cost their employer a lot of money in fines. It is not uncommon for employers to take disciplinary action against workers who refuse or frequently forget to wear their safety goggles.
4. Protection Against Other Hazards
While people often assume that safety eyewear only protects the eyes against debris, that is not the case. Protective glasses can also protect against other hazards, like harmful chemicals and UV rays. While you will need to research the level of protection offered by individual pairs of glasses, you can often find the right pair for your exact needs.
5. Protection Against Home Maintenance Accidents
Wearing safety goggles at work is often required, but it is not the only place where such glasses come in handy. When working around the home, it is often beneficial to wear protective goggles as well. Cleaning out gutters, trimming the lawn, woodworking, staining decks, and much more are examples of jobs where wearing safety eyeglasses is beneficial.
Do you work in a high-risk environment, or do you have some hobbies that present eye hazards? Find the perfect safety glasses for your needs at Safety Gear Pro.
