Slide 1
Eye Protection
Welcome to the training session about protecting your eyes at work.
Slide 2
Session Objectives
You will be able to:
• Identify potential eye hazards
• Prevent eye injuries with protective eyewear
• Use, maintain, and inspect proper protective
eyewear
• Use appropriate first aid for emergencies
© Blue Tuna Documentation
By the end of the training session, you will be able to:
Identify the potential work areas and activities that could cause injury to your eyes.
Understand how to prevent those injuries.
Use, maintain, and inspect protective eyewear.
Use appropriate first aid for emergencies.
Slide 3
Eye Injury Statistics
• Each day, more than 2,000 workers suffer
eye injuries
• Annually, 62,000 eye injuries result in lost
workdays
• Eye protection can reduce the number and
severity of eye injuries in 90% of accidents
© Blue Tuna Documentation
According to Prevent Blindness America, a national nonprofit organization, each day of
the calendar year results in another 2,000 workers suffering a serious eye injury.
Annually, about 100,000 of these eye injuries result in temporary or permanent vision
loss.
Approximately 62,000 of those eye injuries are severe enough that the injured worker
misses at least one day of work.
According to some experts, eye protection can reduce the number and severity of eye
injuries in 90% of accidents.
Note: Statistics listed on this slide can be referenced to Prevent Blindness America
(www.preventblindness.org).
Slide 4
Eye Hazards
• Flying objects
• Harmful dust particles
• Chemical splashing
or spraying
• High-intensity heat
or light
• Welding, brazing, torch
cutting
• Direct or reflected
sunlight
© Blue Tuna Documentation
Eye Hazards depend on the type of work you do, but here are some main categories:
Flying objects
Harmful dust particles
Chemical splashing or spraying
High-intensity heat or light
Welding, brazing, torch cutting
Direct or reflected sunlight
Slide 5
Flying Object Hazard and
Protection
• Hazard—flying objects
cause lens damage
• Fragments, chips,
particles, sand, dirt
• Work processes
• Chipping, grinding,
masonry work
• Eye protection
• Glasses with side
protection, goggles, or
face shield for severe
exposure
© Blue Tuna Documentation
Most flying objects pose impact hazards to the eyes. According to the federal Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 70% of serious eye injuries are caused by flying or falling objects, and
60% of those objects are smaller than the head of a pin. Flying objects that can create an
impact hazard include:
Fragments, large chips, particles, sand, and dirt. Can anyone name some other flying objects
specific to our facility that could get into your eyes?
Jobs or work processes that might create some of these flying
objects include:
Chipping, grinding, masonry work, woodworking, sawing, drilling, chiseling, riveting, and
sanding. Can anyone name some jobs or work processes at our facility that could create flying
objects, chips, etc.? Are there activities you do at home that could create flying objects?
If we are going to talk about the hazards, we also have to discuss how to protect our eyes.
For most jobs, approved safety glasses with side protection are adequate to protect against flying
objects. For jobs with large numbers of flying objects, goggles would be required. Wear a face
shield over the goggles if your face needs protection from flying objects.
Slide 6
Dust Hazard and Protection
• Hazard—walking into
floating particles
causes irritation,
redness, and abrasion
• Wood dust, foam dust,
soot
• Work process
• Woodworking, buffing,
cleaning
• Eye protection
• Goggles for tight seal
around the eyes
© Blue Tuna Documentation
Dusts usually include items that do not fly at you; rather, they will usually float around or
slowly fall toward the ground. Often dust can get in your eyes if you just walk through an
area with a dust hazard. This can cause eye irritation, redness, excessive tearing, and
abrasions (scratches) to the lens.
Besides wood dust, foam dust, and soot, can anyone name some specific dustlike items from our
facility that could get in your eyes?
Jobs or work processes that create dust hazards include:
Woodworking, buffing materials, and cleaning with air wands or brooms. Can anyone name
specific jobs at our facility that can create dust hazards?
Use eyewear to protect your eyes from dust hazards.
Because dust can easily float behind normal safety glasses and still get in your eyes, goggles or
some type of safety glasses that create a seal around the eyes are required. The more hazardous
the dust, the tighter to the face the safety eyewear needs to be.
Slide 7
Chemical Hazard and
Protection
• Hazard—splash, spray,
or mist causes burning,
pain, or blurriness
• Acids, caustics, solvents
• Work process
• Handling or processing a
chemical
• Eye protection
• Goggles
• Face shield over goggles
for severe exposure
© Blue Tuna Documentation
All chemicals can cause injury if they make contact with your eyes. Common ways of
contact are splashes, spray, or mist.
Acids and caustics will severely burn your eyes. Degreasing chemicals, such as solvents, can
damage your eyes in many ways depending on the type of solvent.
Many processes and activities at work involve the handling or use of chemicals. Can you
think of any?
Anytime you handle, use, mix, or otherwise process chemicals creates potential exposure to the
eyes.
Appropriate protective eyewear can effectively prevent injury to the eyes.
If you are working with any liquid chemical that could potentially splash onto your face and eyes,
or that is misted or sprayed, you must wear chemical-resistant goggles, at a minimum.
If working with dangerous chemicals such as acids or in situations with severe exposure, you
must wear a face shield over the goggles.
Ask trainees to name the chemicals and work processes used in their work areas that are
potential eye hazards.
Slide 8
Heat Hazard and Protection
• Hazard—Steam, hot liquid, hot air, or flame
cause pain, eyelid burns, and blurred vision
• Work process
• Furnace operations, pouring or casting molten
metals
• Any high-temperature operations
• Wear eye protection such as a screen or
reflective face shield
© Blue Tuna Documentation
Working with high temperatures can also be very damaging to the eyes. Steam, hot
liquid, hot air, or flame cause pain, eyelid burns, and blurred vision.
Some examples of work processes that create such hazards include:
Operating a furnace or working with molten metals
Any other high-temperature operations
When working with hot molten metals that could potentially splash into your eyes, wear
goggles with a face shield over the goggles.
When working with high temperatures that do not pose a threat of splashing hot materials
or flying hot sparks, such as working with a furnace, wear a protective screen or a
reflective face shield that will keep the extreme heat away from your eyes. When
working with hot sparks, safety glasses are sufficient. However, if exposure to hot sparks
increases, goggles must be worn, and if the exposure becomes severe, a face shield must
be worn over the goggles.
If your facility has any potential heat exposure hazards, be sure to stress the importance
of eye protection in these areas. Often, because the work is already hot, workers are
reluctant to wear protective eyewear because it makes them even hotter.
Slide 9
Welding Hazard and
Protection
• Hazard—Welder’s
flash or flying sparks
cause pain, extreme
sensitivity, and burns
• Work process
• Walking unprotected
near welding operation
• Eye protection
• Welder’s face shield
• Sunglasses inadequate
© Blue Tuna Documentation
Welding, brazing, and torch cutting create a number of potential eye hazards. Welder’s
flash occurs when the eyes are overexposed to the intense lights of welding operations.
This often occurs when welders strike the arc a split second before dropping their face
shield or hood over their eyes. The skin or eyes can be burned from the heat or intense
light created when welding, brazing, or cutting. Flying sparks could enter and damage the
eye. Metal fragments or slag could enter the eye, particularly when welding overhead.
Work processes that can produce such hazards include:
Welding operations, or walking past or observing welding operations, can cause eye injuries.
Always use eye protection when welding
A welder’s face shield is the best protection against the intense light from welding.
Sunglasses are totally inadequate protection from welding light damage.
Slide 10
Sunlight Hazard and
Protection
• Hazard—direct or reflected sunlight
• Retinal burn, blurred vision, pain
• Work process
• Working outside on any job, working near water
• Eye protection
• Sunglasses and hat
© Blue Tuna Documentation
Exposure to direct or reflected sunlight can cause both temporary and permanent eye
damage.
Exposure can lead to retinal burns, blurred vision, pain, and total loss of eyesight.
Work processes that leave a worker exposed to sunlight include:
Working outside, especially around water where the sunlight is reflected into the eyes even when
looking down
Eye protection includes:
Sunglasses and a hat
Slide 11
Use Proper Protective
Eyewear
• 90% of occupational eye injuries could have
been avoided with proper protective
eyewear
• Many injured workers believed protective
eyewear was not necessary in their
particular situation
• Follow company rules for eye protection
© Blue Tuna Documentation
According to OSHA, 90% of occupational eye injuries could have been avoided with
proper protective eyewear. Note the use of the word “proper.” Many injured people may
have been using eyewear and thought they were adequately protected, but they were not.
OSHA also found that many of the injured workers did not think that protective eyewear
was necessary in their particular work situation.
We want to make sure that all employees know when wearing eye protection is necessary
and what type of eye protection should be worn for each potentially hazardous situation.
Slide 12
Eyewear Standards
• Comply with ANSI
Z87.1
• Eye protection
equipment will be
marked with “Z87”
• Sunglasses or
prescription
glasses usually do not
meet the standard
© Blue Tuna Documentation
The American National Standards Institute has developed manufacturing standards for
eye protection. Meeting this standard ensures that the eye protection equipment has met
certain impact standards, shatter standards, and chemical-resistant standards.
Look at your safety glasses, goggles, or face shield. They must be marked with “Z87” to
indicate that they meet the ANSI standard.
Normal sunglasses or prescription glasses will not meet this standard. These could
potentially shatter or break if impacted by a flying object and cause additional eye injury.
Slide 13
Choosing Eye Protection
• Fit the protection equipment to the person
• Ensure high-quality equipment is used
• Ensure good fit and comfort
• Lens options
© Blue Tuna Documentation
Choosing and selecting the right protective eyewear for the type of job and
each particular person is very important. Protective eyewear must fit well to
protect properly and be comfortable. Improper fit will not provide the required
protection and if uncomfortable, employees will continually remove them to
make adjustments, or not wear them at all.
Once the type of protection (i.e., safety glasses, goggles, face shield) has been
selected to protect against the identified hazard, you will want to find
equipment that is appropriate to each person working with the identified
hazard.
Quality eyewear should be selected because it will last longer and protect
better.
Be sure your eyewear fits well and is comfortable. Without a good fit, the
eyewear can’t protect you properly. Without comfort, the eyewear will
inevitably be taken off.
Lens options include antifog, antiglare, indoor/outdoor lenses, and different
colors or shades. Your supervisor will choose the appropriate lens for each job.
Consider having a selection of eyewear for employees to evaluate and try on.
Some safety vendors will lend a selection of eyewear to try out.