PPE :- Eye Protection

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Chapter : Personal Protective Equipment sonal Protective Equipment

Eye Protection

Eye protection should be used when employees are exposed to flying particles, molten metal, acids or caustic liquids, chemical liquids, gases or vapors, bio-aerosols or light radiation

Every day several eye injuries are occurring at work place . The financial cost of these injuries are very high also loss in production time, medical expenses, and workers’ compensation.  Money figure can reflect the personal toll these accidents take on the injured workers.

The protection of your sight requires three extremes: extremely easy, extremely important, and too often, extremely forgotten. Once you have lost an eye or your ability to see, it’s too late. Protecting your eyes is the easiest thing to do, if you care about your eyes.

No one has to tell us that seeing is important. But it’s surprising how many jobs we do without protecting our eyes.

Just think of the eye hazards in Industries & construction:

• Flying dust and slivers from sawing, chipping, grinding
• Dirt and grit blown by the wind
  
• Welding arcs
• Ultraviolet radiation from the sun
• Sparks and slag from welding and cutting
• Abrasives from sandblasting
• Splash from chemicals and cleansers
• Pipe and wire sticking out of walls
• Ties and wire hanging down from ceilings.

Hazards:

• Flying particles. Almost 70 percent of the accidents result from flying or falling objects or sparks striking the eye.
• Contact with chemicals. On average chemicals cause one-fifth of eye injuries.
• Wearing the wrong kind of eye protection for the job.
• Particles trapped in eyebrows or hair, and then falling into the eye after the safety glasses are removed.

Safe procedures:

• Always wear effective eye protection. OSH standards require that employers provide workers with suitable eye protection.
• Make sure eye wear is the appropriate type for the hazard and properly fitted.n Safety glasses with side shields are required when there is a hazard from flying particles. A face shield is often required to effectively block particles when grinding.
• Splash goggles or a face shield is required when pouring hazardous chemicals.
• Carefully brush particles out of the hair before removing eye protection.
• Maintain eye wear. Scratched and dirty safety glasses reduce vision, cause glare, and may not offer full protection. They should be replaced

Follow these rules of thumb:

• Contact lens wearers must also wear appropriate eye and face protection in hazardous environments.
• Side protectors must be used when there is risk of flying objects.
• Goggles and face shields must be used when there is risk of chemical splashes.
• Face shields must be worn over primary eye protection such as safety glasses or goggles when the situation requires.
• Prescription lens wearers must either incorporate the prescription into their PPE design or it should fit properly over the prescription lenses.
• Equipment fitted with appropriate filter lenses should be used to protect against light radiation. Tinted and shaded lenses are generally not filter lenses.

Types of eye protection.

1. Safety glasses. Made with safety frames constructed of metal or plastic and are fitted with either corrective or impact-resistant lenses. They come with and without side shields, but most workplace operations require side shields.
2. Impact-resistant glasses. Can be used for moderate impact from particles produced by such jobs as carpentry, woodworking and grinding.
3. Side shields. Protect against particles that might enter the eyes from the side. Eye-cup side shields provide the best protection.
4. Goggles. Choose from many types of goggles, each designed for specific hazards. Generally, goggles protect eyes, eye sockets and the facial areas immediately surrounding the eyes from impact, dust and splashes. Some goggles fit over prescription lenses.
5. Welding shields. Constructed of vulcanized fiber or fiberglass and fitted with a filtered lens. Welding shields protect employees’ eyes from burns caused by infrared or intense radiant light and protect the face and eyes from flying sparks, metal spatter and slag chips.
6. Laser safety goggles. Provide a range of protection against the intense concentrations of light produced by lasers. The type you choose depends on the equipment and conditions in your workplace.
7. Face shields. These transparent sheets of plastic extend from the brow to below the chin across the entire width of the employee’s head. Some are polarized for glare protection. Choose face shields to protect your employees’ faces from nuisance dusts and splashes or sprays of liquids.

It is important a that emergency eyewash facilities are available in areas where the eyes of any employee may be exposed to corrosive materials.

Types of Eye Injuries

• Small flying objects such as dust or other microscopic objects.
• Particles resulting from chipping, grinding, sawing, brushing, hammering or using power tools (including nail guns). (These items move with the speed of a bullet and can permanently damage your eyes.)
• Liquids such as chemicals, tar, asphalt solvents, paints or masonry cleaning solutions.
• Invisible light rays such as those generated by welding operations or by a laser beam.

Methods of Protection

• Safety glasses
• Safety goggles
• Face shields
• Welding hoods

Eye protection is the answer. 

• To be effective, eye protection must be properly selected and fitted. Wearing the right protection can prevent most eye injuries.
• Basic eye protection is safety glasses with side shields. Your glasses should meet the safety standard for impact resistance. This means the frames must be manufactured so that the lens won’t push through on impact.
• Safety eye wear must have the manufacturer’s mark on the frame and on the lens. For welding, the eye wear must also be marked with the “shade” number.
• Non-prescription or “plano” eye wear must also be marked with the safety logo.
• Don’t wear contact lenses on site. Dust and other particles can get under the surface. If you must wear contact lenses for medical reasons, wear appropriate eye protection.
• [Where applicable, review the company policy on providing and replacing safety eye wear.]
• Keep your safety glasses on when you wear other protection such as a welding helmet or face shield.
• Why? Because when you lift up the visor or shield you may still be exposed to flying chips, dust, or other hazards on site.
• Match eye wear to hazard. Goggles that protect you from dust may not protect you from splash or radiation.

Eye wear should fit firmly.

• Clean dirty lenses by using water or a lens cleaning solution to float the dirt away instead of scratching it into the lenses.
• Ensure that pitted or scratched lenses and filters are replaced, since they may impair vision and reduce impact resistance.
• [Review any special requirements with your crew— welding helmets, sandblasting hoods, face shields, etc.]
• Get your eyes checked every couple of years to make sure that problems haven’t developed or gotten worse.
• Protecting your eyes from injury on the job is one of the easiest things you can do.
• You’ve only got one pair of eyes. Make them last a lifetime.
• [Take a look at eye protection currently used by crew. Talk about jobs on the project where eye protection should be worn.]

We’ve all had dust and dirt in our eyes. Some of us have been hit in the eye by chips of wood, concrete, or stone.

A little bigger, a little faster – these particles can leave us with limited sight or none at all.

Important Notes : 

• It is estimated that 90 percent of eye injuries can be prevented through the use of proper protective eye wear. Nearly three out of every five workers injured were not wearing eye protection at the time of the accident.
• There are many kinds of safety glasses or goggles available on the market; some are really cool. Eye injuries occur in a split second. Don’t blind yourself to the necessity of protecting your eyes.