This material is for training purposes only. Its purpose is to inform employers and employees of best practices in occupational safety and health and general OSHA compliance requirements. This material is not a substitute for any provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act or any standards issued by OSHA.
MODULE 3: EYE AND FACE PROTECTION
Introduction
Every day an estimated 1,000 eye injuries occur in American workplaces The financial cost of these injuries is enormous -- more than $300 million per year in lost production time, medical expenses, and workers compensation. No dollar figure can adequately reflect the personal toll these accidents take on the injured workers. What contributes to eye injuries at work? Take a moment to think about possible eye hazards at your workplace. A survey by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of about 1,000 minor eye injuries reveals how and why many on-the-job accidents occur.- Not wearing eye protection. BLS reports that nearly three out of every five workers injured were not wearing eye protection at the time of the accident.
- Wearing the wrong kind of eye protection for the job. About 40% of the injured workers were wearing some form of eye protection when the accident occurred.
- Flying particles. BLS found that almost 70% of the accidents studied resulted from flying or falling objects or sparks striking the eye. Injured workers estimated that nearly three-fifths of the objects were smaller than a pin head. Most of the particles were said to be traveling faster than a hand-thrown object when the accident occurred.
- Contact with chemicals caused one-fifth of the injuries. Other accidents were caused by objects swinging from a fixed or attached position, like tree limbs, ropes, chains, or tools which were pulled into the eye while the worker was using them.
- Craft work; industrial equipment operation. Potential eye hazards can be found in nearly every industry, but BLS reported that more than 40% of injuries occurred among craft workers, like mechanics, repairers, carpenters, and plumbers.
- Over a third of the injured workers were operatives, such as assemblers, sanders, and grinding machine operators. Laborers suffered about one-fifth of the eye injuries. Almost half the injured workers were employed in manufacturing; slightly more than 20% were in construction.
- Always wear effective eye protection. To be effective, eye wear must appropriate for the hazard encountered and properly fitted.
- Better training and education. BLS reported that most workers were hurt while doing their regular jobs. Workers injured while not wearing protective eyewear most often said they believed it was not required by the situation. Even though the vast majority of employers furnished eye protection at no cost to employees, about 40% of the workers received no information on where and what kind of eyewear should be used.
- Maintenance. Eye protection devices must be properly maintained. Scratched and dirty devices reduce vision, cause glare and may contribute to accidents.
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The employer must ensure that each affected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation. The employer must ensure that each affected employee uses eye protection that provides side protection when there is a hazard from flying objects. Detachable side protectors (e.g. clip-on or slide-on side shields) meeting the pertinent requirements of the PPE standard are acceptable. |
| The employer must ensure that each affected employee who wears prescription lenses while engaged in operations that involve eye hazards wears eye protection that incorporates the prescription in its design, or wears eye protection that can be worn over the prescription lenses without disturbing the proper position of the prescription lenses or the protective lenses. |
| The employer must ensure that each affected employee uses equipment with filter lenses that have a shade number appropriate for the work being performed for protection from injurious light radiation. |
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| Source | Assessment of Hazard | Protection |
|---|---|---|
| IMPACT - Chipping, grinding, machining, drilling, chiseling, riveting, sanding, etc. | Flying fragments, objects, large chips, particles, sand, dirt, etc. | Spectacles with side
protection, goggles, face shields. For severe exposure, use face shield over primary eye protection. |
| HEAT - Furnace operations, pouring, casting, hot dipping, and welding. | Hot sparks Splash from molten metals High temperature exposure |
Face shields, goggles, spectacles with side protection. For severe exposure use face shield. Face shields, reflective face shields. Screen face shields, reflective face shields. |
| CHEMICALS - Acid and chemicals handling | Splash Irritating mists |
Goggles, eyecup and cover types.
For severe exposure, use face shield over primary
eye protection Special-purpose goggles |
| DUST - Woodworking, buffing, general dusty conditions | Nuisance dust | Goggles, eyecup and cover types. |
| LIGHT and/or RADIATION
Welding - electric arc Welding - gas Cutting, torch brazing, torch soldering Glare |
Optical radiation Optical radiation Optical radiation Poor vision |
Welding helmets or welding shields. Typical shades: 10-14 Welding goggles or welding face shield. Typical shades: gas welding 4-8, cutting 3-6, brazing 3-4 Spectacles or welding face shield. Typical shades: 1.5-3 Spectacles with shaded or special-purpose lenses, as suitable. |
(1) Care should be taken to recognize the possibility of multiple and simultaneous exposure to a variety of hazards. Adequate protection against the highest level of each of the hazards should be provided. Protective devices do not provide unlimited protection.
(2) Operations involving heat may also involve light radiation. As required by the standard, protection from both hazards must be provided.
(3) Face shields should only be worn over primary eye protection (spectacles or goggles).
(4) As required by the standard, filter lenses must meet the requirements for shade designations in 1910.133(a)(5). Tinted and shaded lenses are not filter lenses unless they are marked or identified as such.
(5) As required by the standard, persons whose vision requires the use of prescription (Rx) lenses must wear either protective devices fitted with prescription (Rx) lenses or protective devices designed to be worn over regular prescription (Rx) eyewear.
(6) Wearers of contact lenses must also wear appropriate eye and face protection devices in a hazardous environment. It should be recognized that dusty and/or chemical environments may represent an additional hazard to contact lens wearers.
(7) Caution should be exercised in the use of metal frame protective devices in electrical hazard areas.
(8) Atmospheric conditions and the restricted ventilation of the protector can cause lenses to fog. Frequent cleansing may be necessary.
(9) Welding helmets or face shields should be used only over primary eye protection (spectacles or goggles).
(10) Non-side shield spectacles are available for frontal protection only, but are not acceptable eye protection for the sources and operations listed for "impact."
(11) Ventilation should be adequate, but well protected from splash entry. Eye and face protection should be designed and used so that it provides both adequate ventilation and protects the wearer from splash entry.
(12) Protection from light radiation is directly related to filter lens density. See note (4) . Select the darkest shade that allows task performance.
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