Safety goggles

Together with maintaining the basic demand on eyeglasses – correction aid, under certain circumstances, eyeglasses can serve also as protective equipment when working. The priority demand in this case would be sight protection with safety goggles. Safety goggles, as personal protective working equipment, are eyeglasses worn when working and are designated for safety and protection of our health. Safety goggles are defined as protective working equipment for protection of eyesil and face.

Safety goggles as personal protective equipment must fulfill general basic demands:

They have to provide effective protection from existing dangers and they shouldn't increase the risk
They have to meet current working conditions and working environment
They have to correspond with ergonomical demands, state of health and after a small adjustment also the personality of the worker
They have to be health unobjectionable

Construction conditions of safety goggles

The structure and shape of the safety goggles must be adjusted to the dangers, from which they should protect us. The possible risks are chemical, mechanical, thermo-mechanical, then cold and radiation.

The construction of safety goggles must be modified according to the risks, fulfilling the following requirements:

The eyeglass lenses must be tough enough and break resistant; they have to be tight and mechanically resistant. They have to fulfill the requirements for resistance against hot or molten materials. Filtration characteristics of the eyeglass lenses and absorption characteristics of the frame must be adequate according to the dangerous rays.
Other criteria of the safety goggles are: ergonomical solution, light-weighted, enough ventilation, size of the eyeglass lenses, fog (mist) resistant, easy maintenance and treatment, rounded edges, using safety glass, adequate speed of reaction of the photo-chromatic eye pieces.

What are the safety goggles protecting from?

As individual protective equipment they are specified in the group of working protective equipment for protection of eyes and face, specifically as “Safety goggles against physical effects and liquids”. As an example we can mention mechanical forces, X-ray, laser, ultraviolet, infrared rays, but also light reflections from water surfaces. Shields for protection of face, hoods, welding hoods and eyeglasses also belong to this group.

Protection against radiation from artificial sources

Another characteristic of safety goggles or is protection from radiation. Protection from different types of radiation is regulated in individual norms, related to their purpose, such as filters for welding, filters for UV radiation or filters for protection from radiation from artificial sources. The quality and demands on these filters are stated in separate regulations and they are guaranteed by the manufacturer or by the supplier of these protective equipment.

Protection against sunlight rays

Many occupations are carried out in natural light, the intensity of which can differ according to the environment. The main purpose of antisunlight filters is to protect human eye from intense sunlight rays and to decrease the load on the eye. Norms state the levels of protection, transmission and other related requirements on antisunlight filters used in the industry. The criteria of selection and usage of these filters are set according to the environment, where they should fulfill the purpose of protection. The darkness of the filter is considered according to the average common light intensity in the environment, where the work is carried out. For example, level “dark” is used in middle Europe. Levels “very dark” and “extremely dark” are used in tropical and subtropical regions, for sky observation, in high altitude areas, on snow-covered surfaces, on light water surfaces, on sandy surfaces, in chalk-pits and lime-pits. These filters are not suitable for usage in traffic and when driving a vehicle.

We can say that this type of eyeglasses is getting more and more significant for the wearer. After many years of absence of offering protective working equipment, safety goggles are getting into foreground and employers are beginning to pay more attention to this part of protection.

Safety goggles and diopter correction

From the point of view of an optics store, we can divide safety goggles into certain groups, according to the construction of the frame, whether they have dioptrical correction or not, while maintaining the above mentioned safety requirements.

Prescription safety goggles with directly built-in diopter correction

Those are goggles, the lens of which makes up the protection from danger. These types of safety goggles usually have metal frame with side covers, which prevent flying particles to penetrate to the eye. These safety goggles are used mainly to prevent small foreign particles with low energy to get through to the eye, with activities such as sharpening, polishing and drilling.

Prescription safety goggles with additionally added dioptrical correction

Those are goggles with an additional frame for diopter lenses. The frame or the middle of the eyeglasses is made of a frame, to which it is possible to put in eyeglass lenses with the required diopters. This frame is protected with the shield, which is bent in the way that it also makes up the side protection. These safety goggles can be also used as non-diopter if you take out the inside frame. This type of goggles with additional correction is used to protect from flying pieces with greater energy, for example flinders, chippings, squirted fluids, hot particles with high speed. With this type of prescription safety eyeglasses the eye is protected with double visor.

Safety goggles without the opportunity of diopter correction

These are goggles, where due to the construction of the frame, it is not possible to build-in the diopter correction. Some types are designed in a way that they enable the usage of other (own) eyeglasses, which are placed under the safety goggles. This type of safety goggles is, according to the construction material used, designated to protect from flying pieces with greater energy, for example flinders, chippings and squirted fluids. Some types need to fit tightly to the face, so that they prevent especially fluids and dust from getting through to the eyes. This type is very useful in dusty places, when laying on colors and when working with biological material.