Why do we wear safety glasses? Safety glasses are essential for any situation or environment where there’s a possibility of injury to your eyes.
The most common type of injury that safety glasses protect against is impact. This can be from wood chips, small pieces of rocks, and other materials.
Sports like racquetball, shooting and cycling also have a high risk of impact to the eyes. Wearing a pair of safety glasses will protect your eyes.
Safety glasses also protect your eyes from wind, smoke, and dust. This is useful for outdoor sports and work. Make sure you get a pair that also has UV protection.
Some safety glasses offer protection from chemical fumes and gases, including acidic vapors. This is important if you paint, work in a lab, spray insecticides or do anything that involves dangerous chemicals.
Which Are The Best Safety Glasses?
The best safety glasses have tough polycarbonate lenses that can resist impact from small objects and are scratch-resistant. Even the cheapest safety glasses offer UV protection.
Spend a bit more and you can get safety glasses with additional features such as chemical protection and anti-fog design.
Make sure the glasses sit snugly on your face without being too tight, and not falling off either when you bend.
They should wrap around your eyes to provide a wide field of vision. For comfort, look for lightweight safety glasses with rubber tipped arms.
How To Prevent Safety Glasses From Fogging Up
Look for safety glasses with an anti-fogging design. They usually have some form of ventilation to prevent moisture build-up on the lenses.
Anti-fog safety glasses are a bit pricier than regular safety glasses, but they ensure you enjoy clear vision throughout. It also saves you the trouble of constantly wiping the lenses.
If your safety glasses fog when you have a mask on, it’s an indication that the mask doesn’t fit you properly. Look for a mask that moulds around your nose to create a tight seal that warm air can’t escape through.
If fogging occurs when you are wearing a half mask respirator, it’s also an indication of a poorly fitting respirator, and that could be dangerous in environments with toxic gasses or particles.
Tighten the respirator to get a tight fit, or buy a better fitting respirator. Also, make sure you are clean shaven. Even a day old stubble can create air leakage around the respirator.
Can I Wear Safety Glasses Over Prescription Glasses?
It depends on the type of safety glasses. Regular safety glasses are too small to go over prescription glasses.
What you need is a pair of over-glasses safety goggles. These are big and deep, easily fitting over prescription glasses.
