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Safety Eyewear Fails Testing
They're heavy, they're dorky, but they're made that way to protect your eyes from accidental injuries.Every year in this country safety glasses are prescribed to millions of industrial workers, emergency responders, athletes and ordinary folks seeking protection from blinding eye injuries.
Most accidental eye injuries are preventable and safety eyewear is a time-honored preventive step. Many employers (as well as OSHA and insurers) demand that at-risk employees use safety glasses.
Did you know that over 2,000 work-related eye injuries occur every day in the USA? Eye injuries cost the economy over $300 million annually due to lost productivity, medical expenses and workers' compensation.
New data from the Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) challenges the effectiveness of protection in safety eyewear offered by several leading manufacturers.
The issue concerns a voluntary industry safety standard called ANSI Z87.1. Safety eyewear that claims to meet the ANSI 287.1 standard are expected to withstand a high velocity, high energy impact. ICO researchers tested 75 safety spectacle frames from five different manufacturers. Each frame was fitted with durable polycarbonate lenses by laboratory experts. The eyewear then underwent a series of high velocity, high mass pellet strikes that simulated real-world mechanical forces. The frames from half of the eyewear samples failed the safety tests. Metal frames fared poorest.
Only one manufacturer's products passed all of the tests - A2 frames from Hilco (photo above).
Eye safety experts point out that there is no government oversight regarding ANSI standards - it depends solely on manufacturer self-regulation. When eyewear frames break the lens can become dislodged, severely injuring the eye and other facial structures.
What to do? People exposed to the more dangerous types of projectile injuries (heavy industry, machinists, etc.) should have their present safety eyewear inspected. For all others their current spects will likely protect them from an opponent's thumb or a flying twig. If you are thinking about new safety spectacles check the labels! Ask the optician if their merchandise passed ANSI testing performed by an independent testing laboratory.
Reference: McMahon JM, Beckerman S. Testing safety eyewear: how frame and lens design affect lens retention. Optometry 2007; 78:78-87.
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Technorati Tags: vision, health and wellness, eye injuries, safety glasses
