The eyes finally have it - Or do they?

With stylish, comfortable, highly functional and low cost designs, there’s no excuse for workers not to wear the correct protective eyewear on the jobsite. Just beware of imposters.

by Tom Hammel

Protective eyewear for construction workers is covered by OSHA 29 CFR 1926 and ANSI Z87.1-2003. Both are well established and have not changed much recently, but be aware of a distinction between basic and high-impact requirements in the ANSI standard.

Many OSHA violations now pertain to failures of contractors to assess site hazards and enforce OSHA guidelines with their crews and subcontractors. As far as OSHA is concerned, the buck usually stops with the general contractor. When dealing with the question of optical quality, which is difficult and expensive to test, the best course is to stick with well-known brands with reputations for high quality.

America’s next top (eyewear) model
Protective eyewear compliance has increased dramatically on jobsites in the last few years, but it is not yet to 100 percent. Driven by broad availability, cool designs that scream “Wear me!” and lighter-weight, more comfortable materials, protective eyewear is largely standard issue on – and even off – the jobsite. Many workers find these products so cool and comfortable they wear them for everyday use as well as on the job.

“Style, comfort, innovation and functionality are the major considerations when users choose protective eyewear,” says Ariel Rodriguez, product manager for Sperian’s Uvex line. “For example, polycarbonate lenses protect against 99.9 percent of UV rays, but we still see workers squinting, often from reflections cast by metallic materials, which are everywhere on jobsites. Lenses with Spectrum Control Technology (SCT) and tints like espressos, dark grays and SCT-Reflect 50, reduce that glare and help workers keep the equipment where it needs to be – on their faces.”

Scratch-resistant and anti-fog coatings are now common on glasses, goggles and face shields and their applications continue to evolve. Uvex now offers eyewear with Dura-streme technology, a scratch-resistant hard coating on the outside of the lenses and anti-fog coating on the inside. This was unavailable just three months ago.

Goggles
Goggles are the ugly cousins of protective eyewear. They have never been stylish or particularly comfortable. But goggles are required by ANSI and the Canadian Safety Association (CSA), for applications like grinding and welding that produce flying chips or shavings, fibers, heavy dust, particulates, chemical or impact hazards.

To encourage compliance, manufacturers have developed more “socially acceptable” goggle designs. The Uvex Stealth safety goggle, for example, features a low-profile futuristic design and a soft neoprene headband to encourage employee compliance. Its lens has Uvextreme anti-fog coating and ventilation channels that direct airflow to minimize fogging and improve vision. It costs $11 or less.

MSA’s Clearvue goggles feature an integrated frame design and a flexible, rolled-in cushion at the temples for comfort without or pressure points. They sell for $11.95.

Shields
Protective shields are recommended for applications that tend to produce splashes, flying chips, high volumes of dust or heavy particulates into the air.

In these situations, ANSI recommends users wear primary eye protection, such as goggles, in conjunction with secondary protection, such as full-face shields.

Shields are available in many tints and shapes that are also specified by application in ANSI standards.

Shields are evolving in their ability to play well with others. In the past, workers often faced a choice of wearing a face shield or hearing protection with a hard hat, but not both. New products like the MSA Defender+ Easy Release Frame have solved this problem, where users can easily add or remove protective shield or hearing protection.

The price is right
The low price of eyewear is a major reason no worker should go without it. Good-looking, high-quality protective eyewear with UV and basic impact protection that meets ANSI standards can be had for less than $5 a pair.

“Using the right tool for the job gives you the best chance of completing it as efficiently and safely as possible,” says Donna Rentler, product manager for MSA.

“PPE is that safety tool on your toolbelt. If you think about the fact that for sometimes less than $5, you can protect your eyes, what’s more important than that?”

Wrong at any price
However, competitive pressures to cut costs can result in reduced or inconsistent quality where it counts the most – and where it is hardest to spot – in the lens itself.

The safety product market is flooded with imported products. This coin has two sides: users have a huge choice of products and price points from which to choose, but they also face a caveat emptor situation in terms of verifiable quality.

In the safety eyewear market, this question is, “What if my safety eyewear is actually creating hazards, not reducing them? Can my product really protect me to the extent outlined in the ANSI standard? Are the optics in my lenses going to provide me with clear, glare-free vision, or will they cause headaches, dizziness and set me up for a potential fall?”

“It’s important to have eyewear that will protect you from debris, splashes and particulates, but it’s also important to be able to see clearly though them,” Rodriguez says. “An imbalance in one side of the lens vs. the other can cause dizziness. When I think of guys on scaffolding wearing eyewear that may not be optically correct, it scares me. A guy may get dizzy, step the wrong way and boom, he’s down.”

The need for strict quality control is the reason Uvex produces and tests its coatings in the United States.

If you are the general contractor on a job and an accident occurs due to substandard safety equipment, the price can be immense.

“It’s essential to assess the hazards on your worksite,” Rentler says. “The OSHA and ANSI guidelines are specific so you don’t really need to be an industrial hygienist to make an assessment, especially if you do the same type of work from one job to the next, but you do have to do it. As the general contractor, you have the ultimate responsibility for what happens on your site.”

The good news is that high-quality products are readily available at very low cost. There has never been a clearer reason not to be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Published in the January/February 2008 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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