09 June 2008
Laura Barton

Eyes and eyesight are at risk in many working environments. Any requirement for eye protection will be identified by a thorough risk assessment. Staff who usually wear glasses will need either over-goggles to fit over their spectacles or prescription safety eyewear.

Over-goggles (or eye shields) are suitable for many environments but shouldn't be provided to glasses-wearers for long-term use, as they don't give comfortable vision, due to the effect of light refraction through two sets of lenses.

The nature of the hazard will determine whether safety glasses should have plastic, glass or polycarbonate lenses. The latter are usually the lightest and offer the greatest impact resistance.

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, eye protection is defined under the EN (European norm) standard. Safety glasses don't protect against all hazards and it is important to consider the full range of personal protective equipment (PPE) options for anything more than a low-energy impact risk.

All safety eyewear issued in the UK must conform to EN166:2002, which comprises different levels of impact resistance. Low-energy impact grade (EN166 F) is the highest level of resistance offered by safety glasses. It will resist a 6mm, 0.86g ball travelling at 45 metres per second.

Decisions on impact protection levels shouldn't be left to the optician dispensing the prescription safety glasses, as they can offer only general advice.

Form and function

There's no requirement for employers to arrange and pay for eye tests before providing prescription safety glasses, but it's worth checking the employee's prescription is up to date - the safety glasses could be of limited use if a routine re-test (usually every two years) leads to a new prescription.

The safety glasses should match the type the employee usually wears, whether single vision, bifocals or varifocals. Safety eyewear styling is limited by functionality, but it is available in a small range of male, female and unisex styles. Frames are almost always metal or plastic.

Nickel alloy is the most commonly used metal, and polyamide, polycarbonate and cellulose acetate the most common plastic materials. Industry-specific considerations, such as the unsuitability of metal frames for food preparation environments, may limit the employee's choices. Safety glasses usually include sideshields for lateral protection, which shouldn't restrict the wearer's field of view unnecessarily.

The lenses should be replaced at least every three years and the frames every five; the usual eye-test cycle of two years is a suitable interval for most users to purchase a new pair of glasses. Broken or damaged safety glasses must be returned, usually via the prescribing optician, to the EN166 licensed manufacturer to be repaired or replaced.

There are several different ways to purchase safety eyewear. The costs to the company will, as in all other areas of business, depend on the length of the supply chain. Larger companies can set up accounts directly with safety frame manufacturers, or purchase direct from PPE catalogues. The cost should include glazing, but there will be extra dispensing fees. The success of these options depends on health and safety managers' knowledge and ability to order the appropriate products.

A third-party network coordinator will offer glasses from a single manufacturer at a fixed price, usually inclusive of dispensing fees, through a range of opticians, or a direct arrangement can be made with an optician; the costs will depend on the optician's level of involvement in the process. They might source the frames individually from the manufacturer and send them to a certified safety eyewear laboratory for glazing, or the optician might have their own range of frames and their own certified glazing facility, which will be a more competitively priced option.

Whichever route you choose, it's worth ensuring the administration processes are as simple and straightforward as possible, the pricing structures are transparent and consistent, and that the provider takes full responsibility for the quality of the safety glasses, offering complete end-to-end customer service.

Laura Butler is corporate account manager for Specsavers Optical Superstores.

 

Categories:
Personal protective equipment (PPE), Safety, Article, Accident reduction, Work equipment