Safety goggles

Did you know that eye injuries are a major cause of lost working days in the entire country? Safety managers often feel that their obligation towards the workers have ended after providing them with safety goggles or safety glasses; it is a pity that such people never close their eyes and try to think what it would be like to not be able to see again! Industrial accidents are very common nowadays and vision is one of the first things to get lost and the last to get restored (if at all that happens). There are a lot of people who lose their vision every year by either not using safety goggles or using the wrong type of safety goggles. As far as safety goggles are concerned it's not a one-size-fits-all thing; safety managers need to make sure that employees working in different sections of the workshop have specific safety goggles manufactured for specifically those conditions.

There are different varieties of my goggles available in the market and all these different varieties are aimed to provide eye protection for people working in different hazardous conditions. The first question that you need to ask yourself is "how much protection is required"? If you just plan to go out on the beach together with your friends and family you would probably not need safety goggles used for welding purposes. Similarly, if you're working in a workshop that is full of poisonous gases around you, you cannot make do with simple clear vision safety goggles. You need to have those kind of safety goggles that are impermeable and would keep all gaseous substances at bay.

Before choosing a type of safety goggles for your eyes you need to do a hazard assessment and that could help you pick the right safety goggles for you.

• Is your workplace full of heavy particles such as dust, metal, concrete and glass? Well, it is very unlikely that a huge chunk of concrete would come flying towards your eyes, but small debris such as sand and metal powder could easily float around in the air around you and affect your eyes. You need to have heavy duty safety goggles under those conditions.
• If you are working in an acid factory that is full of acids, alkalis, solvents and fuels etc. you need to have a pair of safety goggles the glasses of which are impermeable to acids and similar solutions. You also need to keep in mind that there could be acid fumes around you and your eyes need to be protected from them as well. There's a variety of safety goggles available that have special shields on the sides of the glasses and keep your eyes protected at all times from all sides.
• If your work exposes you to a lot of electrical arcs and welding light, you need to have a pair of safety goggles that is impervious to ultraviolet rays and is also capable of keeping harsh light at bay.