Safety eyeglasses/eyewear

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  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20914
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    Safety eyeglasses/eyewear

    Hey, for the new year, lets talk about safety eyewear.
    The last company I worked for was big on safety. One of the things we had at the periodic safety meetings was personal protective equipment. Now this could cover respirators and hardhats and steel toed shoes and proper clothing and gloves, but I'm talking about eye safety here.
    As we had machine shops, assembly shops, electrical labs with soldering and drilling etc, and we were also prone to visit customer sites which were rife with machinery and impact sources we were required to have safety eyewear. I found it difficult and irritating to wear goggles and shields over my existing prescription glasses and even bad in inclement weather or hot weather, Even just carrying the stuff was a pain. I decided to buy some prescription safety glasses and even charge them as an expense.

    I found a shop - my normal optical shop, where he carried ANSI Z87-2 rated frames and lenses which was what the company required. And for me, they had some nice metal wire frames that looked like everyday professional wear, not those heavy glasses you see machinist wearing. So basically you find me wearing my safety glasses 100% of the time I am awake. Because aside from work, and woodshop at home, I participate in air guns, fishing and tennis.where there can be flying objects! I wear progressives, and got alll the cool features - antireflective coating, scratch resistant, transitions (auto grey in sunlight) and progressive multifocal with high index (lightweight) polycarbonate impact-resistant lenses.

    Since I retired I have not had sugar daddy pay for new glasses, but I have been having my close distance vision changing to the point where I see better with the glasses off so that's bad as I want to ripoff the glasses when routing, sawing and sanding.

    So I find my Medicare Advantage is paying 150 toward eyewear and will be reducing it to $100 next year.
    My optical shop closed and I've been looking but no local shops carried a line of safety frames that I could chose from.
    I found on the internet a outfit Safetygearpro.com that had a local office. I went to the office and picked out a frames and a size from the samples they had, and got all the features below for $195 shipped. I should have them in a few days. The antireflective coating cost me a bit and I probably don't really need them but I find when I am in pictures I don't get this big glare over my glasses. The frames style are by Honewell/Uvex, style BC101. Anyway $195 seems pretty reasonable and I've filed for $150 back from insurance.
    • Step1: Select Lens Type:
      Progressive (Digital HD) $59.99
    • Step 2: Select Progressive Lens Thickness:
      Thin 1.59 Index (Polycarbonate) ✔ANSI Rated✔Polycarbonate ✔Impact Rated $44.95
    • Step 3: Select MULTIPLE Eye Protection Options (Progressive):
      Premium Anti-Reflective $34.95
    • Step 4: Select Lens Tint Option (Progressive +1.59 Index):
      Transition (Light Adjusting) $44.95
    • Select Transition Tint Type:
      Standard Transition
    • Select Standard Transition Color:
      Grey
    • Provide Your Prescription Details:
      Email an Image
    • :
      Want BC 101 Grey SIze B medium
    1 $216.84
    $216.84
    -$21.68
    Free Shipping
    Secure Credit Card Payment
    $195.16
    Anyway I mention this so that those of you who don't wear safety glasses in the shop perhaps should think about it and do it.
    Click image for larger version  Name:	me on web cam.JPG Views:	2 Size:	22.1 KB ID:	835567
    My current safety glasses.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by LCHIEN; 12-31-2018, 05:01 AM.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions
  • Condoman44
    Established Member
    • Nov 2013
    • 178
    • CT near Norwich
    • Ryobi BT3000

    #2
    When I started work in 1967 for a Bell company eye safety was a big deal and there were no excuses. We watched movies of people with a metal shard in the eyeball. Never forgot that and to this day protect eyes when working.

    Comment

    • leehljp
      Just me
      • Dec 2002
      • 8429
      • Tunica, MS
      • BT3000/3100

      #3
      Farm workers (and metal / wood workers back in the day) considered safety to be the pure responsibility of the individual worker. I remember working on construction of a two story metal building in HS helping one of dad's friends and the people I worked with joked at me for wearing a metal hat in the hot sun. That was until I was helping put up the 6 ft hurricane fence around the perimeter. The fencing had tangs top and bottom (security). AS we got it attached on one end and stretched on the other end, I was in the middle of about 70 yards of fencing. I pushed the fencing up to the middle pole and another began to wire it. He said "Got this one" and I let go. About 2 seconds later it jumped loose with those sharp tangs grabbing the edge of my hard hat, pulling it down over my face and forcing me backward. The hard had saved my eyes, face and more than likely my chest. The aluminum hat had deep scratches on it. Face/head protection is a must.

      Dad had a friend that worked on another farm that got a metal shard (from grinding) in his eye one morning and waited until the next morning to go to the doctor. Doctor said the shard was bad enough but it was the metallic content that did the most damage. He went blind in that eye from the metallic content, not the sharp edges. Unfortunately, Back in the 50's and 60's poisonous material was largely disregarded.

      I can't complain about others though. I "played" with dynamite enough when blowing stumps out of the ground and I handled mercury many times in my hands.
      Last edited by leehljp; 12-31-2018, 11:39 AM.
      Hank Lee

      Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

      Comment

      • Carlos
        Veteran Member
        • Jan 2004
        • 1893
        • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

        #4
        Metallic mercury is safe. You could even swallow some without a problem. It's the organic mercury that is deadly, and you wouldn't play with that.

        Comment

        • LCHIEN
          Internet Fact Checker
          • Dec 2002
          • 20914
          • Katy, TX, USA.
          • BT3000 vintage 1999

          #5
          Originally posted by leehljp
          Farm workers (and metal / wood workers back in the day) considered safety to be the pure responsibility of the individual worker....
          In the oil industry, for many years now, service contracts all have safety clauses that if anyone gets killed during the performance of work then the contract will be cancelled and the contractor fired.
          I remember the time we got a huge lecture in the 1980's or 90's from the company CEO about safety and watching out for your team after we lost a huge contract when one of the local laborers ewe hired took a nap during a break under a large truck to get out of the middle eastern sun, and got run over when everyone went back to work after the break.
          Loring in Katy, TX USA
          If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
          BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

          Comment

          • cwsmith
            Veteran Member
            • Dec 2005
            • 2737
            • NY Southern Tier, USA.
            • BT3100-1

            #6
            When I worked for Ingersoll-Rand's Painted Post plant (later Dresser-Rand), safety was an absolute must and the company really stood by that. A safety shoe company drove their show-room truck to the plant once a month and the contracted eye-wear specialist was there every Thursday. The company would pay $50 toward safety shoes and 100% of the cost of the eyeware as well as a good sum (I forgot the amount) toward a once-a-year eye exam. That benefit was continued even in retirement and I used to still visit the plant for such for a few years after I retired.

            Up until about 1968, you were required to wear a hard-hat when in the shops, but that requirement was dropped for whatever reason as was the requirement that all personnel wear safety shoes. Safety shoes were still required by manufacturing personnel, but "sensible shoes" was the requirement for the office and engineering staff. "Leather" was the shoe requirement, with no cloth, canvas, open-toed (alarming for the female staff) shoes allowed in on "the floor".

            Today I live 75 miles from the plant and it is now owned by Seimens. I think the benefit still continues, but in all honesty I just don't bother with it anymore. The last couple of pair of safety glasses I have are now about five or six years old and YES, I do wear them when doing any of the yard work or in the shop.

            Safety glasses always came with side-shields and that was a requirement with every employee, whether they were shop people, or guys like me who visited the shop on an almost daily basis. Even the office secretaries were required, should they have a need to out there. (Many of our conference rooms, offices, the medical center, class rooms, etc. were in office space over some of the shop areas.) Every employee was taught shop safety and at every entrance to the shop, there was signs and floor markings to note that you were entering a "safety glasses" area; and, there was always a dispenser for those plastic safety glasses, which almost everybody had. I always kept a couple of new pair (which were always individually sealed in a plastic bag), for visitors that I may take to the shop areas. Likewise, there were dispensers for those little green ear protecters. Still have a few of those, although I keep my ear-muffs hanging right there by my RAS and table saw.

            I usually would get a couple of different prescriptions, one of close up work and one for normal, and they offered a variety of frame styles. You had to pay the extra, if you wanted "progressives" though.

            Even with such great benefits, there were those who would forget, or just lazy about it. If you got caught, you'd get a warning, if you got caught three times you would be fired.

            My eyes are vital to me! I even put on my safety glasses when I'm taking the garbage out, raking, etc.; and definitely when I'm mowing or using any tools. It's more than "second nature" to me.

            CWS
            Think it Through Before You Do!

            Comment

            • woodturner
              Veteran Member
              • Jun 2008
              • 2047
              • Western Pennsylvania
              • General, Sears 21829, BT3100

              #7
              Originally posted by Carlos
              Metallic mercury is safe.
              Metallic mercury IS NOT SAFE AT ALL.

              Here is a link from CDC that explains the dangers in detail:
              "Because metallic mercury vaporizes into the air at room temperatures, it presents an immediate health risk to anyone spending a significant amount of time in a room where metallic mercury is sprinkled or spilled onto the floor, or where opened containers of metallic mercury are present."
              https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunicat...poisoning.html
              --------------------------------------------------
              Electrical Engineer by day, Woodworker by night

              Comment

              • cwsmith
                Veteran Member
                • Dec 2005
                • 2737
                • NY Southern Tier, USA.
                • BT3100-1

                #8
                Off the subject of safety glasses I suppose, but I do agree with WoodTurner. Here is a quick quote from the CDC website (https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunicat...Poisoning.html ):

                "Exposure to high levels of metallic mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing fetus. Effects on brain functioning may result in tremors, changes in vision or hearing, irritability, shyness and memory problems. Short-term exposure to high levels of metallic mercury vapors may cause effects including lung damage, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, increases in blood pressure or heart rate, skin rashes, and eye irritation."


                CWS
                Think it Through Before You Do!

                Comment

                • leehljp
                  Just me
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 8429
                  • Tunica, MS
                  • BT3000/3100

                  #9
                  Originally posted by cwsmith
                  Off the subject of safety glasses I suppose, but I do agree with WoodTurner. Here is a quick quote from the CDC website (https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunicat...Poisoning.html ):

                  "Exposure to high levels of metallic mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing fetus. Effects on brain functioning may result in tremors, changes in vision or hearing, irritability, shyness and memory problems. Short-term exposure to high levels of metallic mercury vapors may cause effects including lung damage, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, increases in blood pressure or heart rate, skin rashes, and eye irritation."


                  CWS
                  I don't doubt the seriousness of it at all, but something is amiss. When I was young, the full effects of radioactivity were not fully known; The effects of smoking were not believed either - back in the 50's and early 60's by the general public.

                  That said, I should have been dead a long time ago according to the "Exposure to high levels of liquid mercury". Dad had mercury switches that I loved to play with, especially if they broke. AS a kid, reliable thermometers were filled with mercury. Loved playing with broken ones. As much as we played with it as kids, it had little effect on my grade school buddies or my self. I went 1st grade through 12th grade without missing a single day - 12 years of perfect attendance.. The following year, another student graduated accomplishing the same thing.

                  So, What is "Exposure to high levels of metallic mercury". Can that be quantified?

                  Granted, it was not a daily thing but it was 2 to 4 times a year from age 5 or 6 though high school.
                  Hank Lee

                  Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

                  Comment


                  • capncarl
                    capncarl commented
                    Editing a comment
                    You go Lee...... aka “ Mercury Man “
                • LCHIEN
                  Internet Fact Checker
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 20914
                  • Katy, TX, USA.
                  • BT3000 vintage 1999

                  #10
                  Hank, you'd be superman today if you hadn't handled all that Mercury back then...

                  I understand that there can be some absorption through the skin due to extended handling of it, but it needs to be extensive..
                  Most of the problem is breathing fumes of mercury compounds, Recall the expression Mad as a Hatter (from Alice in Wonderland) when hatmakers were known to be exposed to a lot of mercury nitrate in the making of felt for top hats,

                  Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” famously features an eccentric character called the Hatter, who’s referred to in the story as “mad” and became popularly known as the Mad Hatter. However, the phrase “mad as a hatter,” used to describe someone who’s crazy or prone to unpredictable behavior, didn’t originate with Carroll. Instead, […]
                  Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-02-2019, 03:18 AM.
                  Loring in Katy, TX USA
                  If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                  BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                  Comment

                  • LCHIEN
                    Internet Fact Checker
                    • Dec 2002
                    • 20914
                    • Katy, TX, USA.
                    • BT3000 vintage 1999

                    #11
                    So, getting back on topic, lets say, wear your safety glasses and avoid mercury and mercury bearing compounds in either liquid or other chemical compound forms.
                    Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-03-2019, 03:17 AM.
                    Loring in Katy, TX USA
                    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                    Comment

                    • woodturner
                      Veteran Member
                      • Jun 2008
                      • 2047
                      • Western Pennsylvania
                      • General, Sears 21829, BT3100

                      #12
                      Originally posted by LCHIEN
                      Most of the problem is breathing fumes of mercury compounds
                      According to the CDC site, the metallic mercury vaporizes readily at room temperature:
                      "Because metallic mercury vaporizes into the air at room temperatures, it presents an immediate health risk to anyone spending a significant amount of time in a room where metallic mercury is sprinkled or spilled onto the floor"

                      Probably why there is so much concern over even the trace amounts of mercury exposed when a CFL breaks. EPA does not consider it "hazardous" in a residential setting though, we are allowed to do a lot of things without proper protection at home.
                      Last edited by woodturner; 01-04-2019, 07:21 PM.
                      --------------------------------------------------
                      Electrical Engineer by day, Woodworker by night

                      Comment

                      • Carlos
                        Veteran Member
                        • Jan 2004
                        • 1893
                        • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

                        #13
                        Originally posted by LCHIEN
                        Hank, you'd be superman today if you hadn't handled all that Mercury back then...

                        I understand that there can be some absorption through the skin due to extended handling of it, but it needs to be extensive..
                        Most of the problem is breathing fumes of mercury compounds, Recall the expression Mad as a Hatter (from Alice in Wonderland) when hatmakers were known to be exposed to a lot of mercury nitrate in the making of felt for top hats,

                        https://www.history.com/news/where-d...tter-come-from
                        Yup, extensive as in a great deal of time with large quantities. That was inconsequential.

                        Comment

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