A little safety reminder.

[scorrpio]

Tonight I been doing some work in basement, including taking out some stray nails from joists. On one especially stubborn nail, about 16d size, I applied a little extra force with crowbar, and it popped out suddenly - and went flying straight for my eye.
I didn't even have time to blink or flinch aside - I felt an impact and a dull thud...

...as it bounced off my safety glasses. I don't even want to think about what would happen were I not wearing them.

Always protect your eyes when working.

[Hoakie]

Good post, I'm glad to hear you were doing the right thing and are O.K.

Thanks for the reminder

John

[LCHIEN]

Get some real prescription safety glasses! I did.

I have taken to wearing my safety glasses all the time. I ordered a new pair and I'll pick them up tomorrow.

I had on prior ocassions just worn regular glasses in the Wood shop and when fishing. I work in situations in the lab at work that require safety glasses (drilling, soldering, light mechanical work) and on oil & gas exploration sites (well sites, seismic crews and vessels, offshore platforms) where safety glasses are required. I wear progressives (multifocal) and before I had prescription safety glasses I had to wear the over-glasses shields. My company had safety
glass reps come out and offered safety glasses subsidized, I got some safety frames, safety lenses with progressives and transitions (light activated tinting) and clip on side shields. some of the frame choices were a lot like my everyday glasses - I like the wire rims in gold.

I wore them pretty much full time for three years, the main difference between them and my last set of "normal glasses" was the lack of Anti-reflection coating and the glass is thicker (the safety requirement precludes the use of the specialty high index leses which can be thinner and lighter for the same prescription). The lens is watermarked with the ANSI Z87 code, so you can tell they are safety glasses.

The main difference in glasses was the thicknesses (safety was thicker) and the safety also had the Transitions. No one ever approached me and suggested I was wearing safety glasses. In the field locations I carried the side shields in my computer case and clipped them on. I also felt a little safer in the woodshop. With the auto-gray Transitions I don't have to change to sunglasses - they go quickly to a dark gray in the sun.

Over wearing safety shields over regular glasses (the other way to be compliant), there's no comparison - you don't have to look thru multiple layers, sometimes the shields rubbed or chafed and added weight, just overall more convenient, fewer things to condense on when going between air con spaces and outdoors, especially when its 100°, sunny, humid, and your dealing with all other kinds of problems, having convenient eyewear that doesn't add a burden is great. No forgetting them, no forgetting to switch, no need to change when going from sun to indoors. We wear hardhats, gloves, and steel-toed shoes as well.

As for my new glasses, I decided to go all out safety and got another gold-rimmed pair, progressives, transitions, anti-reflective coating and clip on shields. My insurance was Vision Source and The optometrist to his surprise said that the insurance covered all but $126. The last pair of regular prescription frames with progressives cost me about $300+.
I'm going to turn in the remainder $126 as an expense, I think the company will pay for them since they are required safety equipment.

So my suggestion is to consider getting some real safety glasses for full time wear. Ask your optometrist to show you the frames and options and see if the cost is comparable. Ask for ANSI Z87 compliance.

And yes, I've had some flying objects bounce off my lenses.

[brecklundin]

excellent reminder!

I am new here but thought I would add a comment here...I just got a fancy new circular saw with a laser guide. The guide so far is sorta, well, useless....BUT...it came with a pair of ruby colored safety glasses. These are AWESOME for working outdoors in bright sunlight. Almost no glare or eyestrain as well as making everything brighter.

Plus they do make the laser guild line easier to see in the sun...

[twistsol]

I've had my regular prescription glasses made as safety glasses for the last four years or so. I've had two big scratches in them, one from the corner of a gutter I was putting up a few weeks ago and the other from bending over and smacking into a piece of rebar. Those two scratches irritated me until I realized they could have been my eyes.

[gsmittle]

I don't have prescription safety glasses as I almost always wear contacts in the shop. My everyday safety glasses have the bifocal thingy on the bottom--great for detail work!

When I use an angle grinder I wear a face shield and safety glasses.

My biggest problem used to be getting my students to wear glasses when they build scenery until one of them took his off when I wasn't looking and promptly got sawdust in his eyes. After a dousing at the eye wash station and a trip to the nurse, he came back the next day with a scratched cornea. I didn't have as many problems with safety glass wearing after that.

g.

[ExYankee]

I’m not sure this isn’t just a local thing, but at Sams Clubs and Wallmarts here in Tennessee, they price their prescription safety glasses very cheap. I was told it to draw in customers from the local manufacturers. The frames range from $9 to 79, but the kicker is that the lenses are polycarbonate AND coated for only $20. So you can get a real pair of ANSI glasses with side shields for $30-100. You might check this out to see if it’s a national deal.

[gsmittle]

I’m not sure this isn’t just a local thing, but at Sams Clubs and Wallmarts here in Tennessee, they price their prescription safety glasses very cheap. I was told it to draw in customers from the local manufacturers. The frames range from $9 to 79, but the kicker is that the lenses are polycarbonate AND coated for only $20. So you can get a real pair of ANSI glasses with side shields for $30-100. You might check this out to see if it’s a national deal.

Good tip! I'll give them a look...

g.