A Guide To Knowing About Safety Equipment At Work

It’s important for an employee to have a basic knowledge about the PPE made available by your employers or company that provide reasonable safety assurance. According to the US Burea of Labor Statistics, two out of five eye injuries result in employees wearing the wrong kind of equipment. Hence, it is no brainer to educate yourself on the right type of equipment needed to keep your eyes safe. Doing so not only will help you become more well informed about safety aspects every PPE offers but it will also let you choose the right type of prescription safety glasses for the type of environment you work in. In the same regard, this guide sheds light on some of the important facets of what makes any PPE reliable & standardized to be deemed suitable for use.

Ensuring PPE is ANSI Rated

ANSI compliance is a must for maintaining a standardized health & safety culture at the workplace. Formal documentation must be done by your employer/company which is needed for any further upgrade PPE in case any worker needs a prescription change or declare any equipment as outdated or unfit for further use when needed.

ANSI Z87.1 is the fundamental standard for ensuring shatterproof protection offered by any eye protection PPE. Any protective eyeglasses that come with the promise of a certain safety assurance will have an ANSI rating in order to comply with the required level of safety standards set by OSHA.

Most safety eyewear will come marked with an ANSI rating, a code that starts with Z87. Some vendors also put a ‘+’ sign at the end of the text denoting ANSI rating. Such frames are usually deemed applicable for protection against high impact accidents.

Other Markings

Markings are a great way to know about the specific purpose that an eye protection PPE is tailored for. There are other markings that indicate safety against a specific set of hazards.

• W – Protection against welding with a certain temperature in degrees written after the very marking. This will be accompanied by a number indicating the light transmission.
• S – Otherhazards which may be of unusual or exceptional nature.
• V – this means the lens consist of a tint that is required to protect against glare, used mostly for photochromic lenses.
• U – Provides safety against UV A & B types of rays. This is probably one of the most effective protective aspects offered by ANSI rating.
• D3 or D4 – Certain safety goggles may come with the very marking that imply it’s effectiveness against toxic splashes of liquid.
• R – This is to indicate safety against infrared light that is emitted by many electrical devices that produce heat such as microwaves & many other appliances used in manufacturing.

High Quality Pays Well

One should always purchase top drawer eyewear, such as 3M Safety Glasses, for their workforce. Doing so not only helps protect your employees in the best possible manner but it also saves companies huge monetary costs such as labor absence or health insurance of workers that may arise as a result of unfit protective gear. No company wants that.

Moreover, there’s a huge range of eyewear that offers different options. For instance, people who don’t want to give up on their prescription glasses can go for OTG eyewear, which is quite economic in terms of use as compared to RX Safety Glasses.

Nevertheless, protecting your eyes with the best is a no brainer. The majority of employees in industrial jobs are exposed to a wide range of hazards which raises the need to wear appropriate PPE that is ANSI rated & is suited for guaranteeing safety assurance against a specific hazard.