If you are working in construction, welding, medical, or any other field, the risk of getting your eyes injured is high. The good thing is that there are lots of protective gear to protect your eyes from metal particles, radiation, chemical splashes, and others.

However, choosing the best safety goggle is not as easy as it may seem. With the different types of lenses, frames, materials, and the numerous options available, choosing the right eyewear provides you complete protection and ideal aesthetics. This guide will help you find the perfect safety goggle that will protect you from particles, radiation, and others.

Top 12 Factors to Know When Buying a Safety Goggle

Below are the factors that you need to focus on when choosing a pair of safety glasses. Some glasses may possess all the features, while others don’t.

1. Possible Hazards in Your Working Area

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), around 2,000 Americans are injured while at work. But, experts think that wearing the right eye protection can reduce the severity or prevent at least 90% of the eye injuries.

Some of the common injuries one can get when working in an industry are cuts or scrapes on the cornea and external objects entering your eyes. You might also experience splashes with oil and grease, burns from steams, infrared radiation or UV rays, and flying metal or wood chips.

Also, if you are working as a laboratory staff, health care worker, or janitorial staff, you are at risk of getting infected with diseases from eye exposure. Some infections can be transmitted in the mucous membrane of the eye. You can also get the infection through blood splashes, from touching the eyes with contaminated fingers, and respiratory droplets produced while coughing.

You also acquire eye injuries in your working area due to wearing the wrong kind of protection or not wearing eye protection at all.

2. Meets the ANSI Standards

The ANSI or the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is the organization assigned in setting guidelines for several products, and safety glasses are one of them. The institution rate how well safety glasses can handle the impact.

To stay safe, you should choose a safety mask and glasses. To stay safe, you should choose a safety mask and glasses. When choosing safety glasses, look for the Z87 mark. This will indicate if the pair of glasses you choose can handle the essential impact. If you are looking for more protection, look for a pair of glasses with Z87+ protection. This mark is given only to lenses that can withstand high impact.

Glasses without ANSI does not mean that they cannot protect you. But, you need to check the glasses thoroughly.

3. More Protective Features

Withstanding high impact is not the only feature that your safety goggle should have. It can be an essential feature, but you need a pair of protective spectacles that can do more when it comes to safety. It should also be comfortable and lightweight.

4. Tinting on Lens

One should search for comfortable safety goggles that protect from harmful UV rays. Working for long hours under the heat of the sun can be quite tiring. Without UV protection, your eyes may not be able to hold up longer. As a result, you might need to cut your working hours.

Having a grey or green tint on your safety glasses is enough since they can reduce the intensity of the light coming in through the lenses. Additional protection against too much heat and light is also essential if you are into the welding industry.

Many comfortable safety goggles can provide better protection for your eyes. Aside from getting protected against projectiles that can directly hit your eyes, these glasses can ward off shrapnel coming from angles you didn’t expect.

5. Coatings on Lens

Coatings on safety eye gear are not much essential, but they are beneficial depending on the industry you work. For those living in an area where it gets pretty humid, it is suggested that you get a pair of goggles with anti-fog coatings. If not, you might be spending more time cleaning your glasses than getting your work done. In the same way, you can get a hard coating, which makes your glasses scratch-resistant.

6. How Durable You Need It to be?

Some safety goggles are not as expensive as you might think. However, if you want something that will last for years, it is best to invest in the expensive one. You have planned your weekend to spend more time in the workshop, and you discover that you need to buy new safety goggles because the old one is broken. Isn’t it quite frustrating?

Get a pair of safety glasses that are scratch-free and resist heat. Scratch resistance feature is vital, given how often the lenses are subjected to high-speed projectiles.

7. Weight of the Glasses

Your working glasses should be light enough that you almost forgot you are wearing one. It should be something that will not destruct your work. For that, you need to wear lightweight glasses.

A few extra weight is fine if it is because of the added features. If it is heavy for no reason at all, you better look for another pair.

8. Vision Enhancement

Not all have perfect vision. If you have poor eyesight, it could be a great obstacle while working. If you can find safety goggles with a vision enhancement feature, it would help you see better.

9. Accessories

Pairs of safety goggles with added accessories are available in the market. Some of which include straps and earplugs.

Earplugs are beneficial if you are exposed to a workplace that uses high-powered equipment. It will be convenient for you if you can find safety glasses with earplugs.

Straps will keep the eyeglasses in place. You don’t have to adjust it now and then. Thus, it will not disrupt your work. Also, it will prevent the glasses from falling into the ground as you move around your workshop.

10. Polarization

When light hits any surface, it reflects in different directions. If light hits a flat surface like glass, metal, water, or snow, it reflects in a horizontal manner, which causes annoying glare and affects your vision. One can use safety glasses with polarized lenses to block the light transmitted in a horizontal direction, reducing the dazzling effect of the reflective surface.

Polarized lenses can be problematic if you try to read LCD or LED screens, but these usually emit light in horizontal patterns.

11. Materials of Safety Goggles

Many safety goggles are made from polycarbonate. It is another durable type of plastic that provides the best protection for your eyes without affecting your vision at all. Polycarbonate glass is much lighter as compared to glass, which keeps the protective eyeglasses lightweight, comfortable, and unobtrusive as possible.

As compared to glass, lenses made from polycarbonate are more impact resistant, and they protect you from the impact caused by accidental fall on the floor or from flying debris.

Another popular option for safety glasses’ material is NXT Polyurethane, which is also known as Trivex. The material offers optimum optical clarity while providing much better impact resistance than ordinary glass lenses. The lenses are lightweight and thin. However, goggles made from this material are expensive.

You can even find safety glasses made of acrylic material. The lens made from acrylic is quite inexpensive. However, they are not durable and don’t offer much clarity.

Last but not least, optical glass is remarkably scratch resistant. The lenses are heavy, expensive, and fragile. However, they offer a distortion-free vision.

12. How Do Safety Glasses Work?

Safety goggles or safety glasses protect your eyes from the possible injury that you can get while working in the construction, medical, and welding industry. You must use the type of eyewear, depending on your area of expertise. Your glasses should fit you tightly and should have a protective seal.

In most instances and standards, these glasses come with side shields to reduce the risk of getting objects and external particles into your eyes. You can also expect this protective gear to work efficiently in keeping your eyes protected from hazards with the help of its seal.

How each pair works will depend on the type and the material it is made of. That’s why you need to find the right kind of eye protection that will correspond to the hazards and risks in your workplace.

For example, if you always work in an area with flying objects, harmful particles, and dust, you should consider buying a pair of safety glasses with side protection or side shields. If your job requires you to work with chemicals, then using safety eye gear is a must.

Final Words

Always choose the right one instead of the expensive one. You don’t have to stress yourself when looking for the best safety glasses. With this guide, you can make sure that you are investing your money in the right product.

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