You’ve just started a new job, and your employer has given you the rundown on job safety. There’s just one problem: your employer says you need to get a pair of OSHA prescription safety glasses. Since you already wear prescription eyeglasses, you’ll need safety glasses in the same prescription while you’re on the job.
Don’t worry. Though it sounds like a daunting task to find these magical glasses, we can help. The team at Stoggles specializes in safety and style. We’ll help you learn what OSHA safety glasses are, why it’s important to get them in your specific prescription, and why Stoggles is a solution you can trust.
Who Is OSHA?
So who is OSHA, and why do they need you to wear protective safety glasses in the first place? Good question.
OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This government agency was formed in the 1970s to enforce a set of workplace standards to keep workers and employers safe. Set aside what you think about government agencies. OSHA exists to keep you safe while you work, and make employers more responsible for the environments they expose their employees to.
Through training programs, education, outreach, and assistance, OSHA aims to keep the workplace safe and foster an environment that places safety first, regardless of the tasks being performed. To do this, OSHA relies on the cooperation of employers, the correct procedures followed by employees, and several outside agencies to develop the standards they implement.
Basically, OSHA is the guardian angel of job sites, protecting you from flying particles, rogue fluids, and bad vibes all around.
What Other Agencies Are Involved?
Teamwork makes the dream work. We know this. OSHA knows this. 1990s sports movies know this.
Agencies assemble: One agency that is especially vital to OSHA’s purpose is the American National Standards Institute or ANSI.
ANSI develops standards that OSHA uses in the workplace. These standards govern how safety measures are set in place, what procedures to take in case of an accident, and what (if any) personal protective equipment or PPE should be worn while on the job. The ANSI is like the fashion police, but instead of fashion, it’s safety.
Ok, But How Common Are Injuries in the Workplace?
Most of us don’t go to work each day aware of any potential threats to our safety. Thanks to OSHA and ANSI, we feel safe while we are working. Even if there’s imminent danger (i.e., we work around hazardous chemicals or in a construction zone), it’s easy to become callous to the risk and develop unsafe habits.
Many workplace injuries happen because the proper personal protective equipment wasn’t being worn, or the proper equipment wasn’t being worn correctly. This is often the case with workplace-related eye injuries. For example, if you’ve ever worked in childcare, you know that thrown wooden blocks are sharp and weirdly adept at finding all your weak spots.
The good news? It’s presumed that 90% of all eye injuries (including the ones at work) are completely avoidable simply by wearing protective eyewear. That’s a statistic we can get behind.
The problem is, it’s hard to get behind that statistic when the equipment you are issued isn’t comfortable and doesn’t fit. Or, let’s get real, if it’s just not attractive. If you don’t feel good in your protective equipment, you’ll be more likely to let it slide or take it off and forget to put it back on.
That’s a mistake — if you remove your eyewear, you could become an eye injury statistic.
The Cold, Hard Facts on Eye Hazards
Workplace eye injuries are common. More than 2,000 eye-related injuries happen each day on the job. Of those, about half require a trip to the doctor or emergency room, and one in ten require missed time off from work. This results in medical bills, loss of pay, and draining sick banks that most of us can't afford to lose.
What Are the Threats?
Even if you sit at a computer all day, there’s a risk to your eye health.
Like:
- Spills, splashes, and splatters. Whether you work around chemicals, cleaning supplies, or work in patient care, you are exposed to fluids that could enter your eyes and affect your vision. Even if your vision is spared, bloodborne pathogens could risk infecting you and making you ill. Thanks, but no thanks.
- Strikes and scrapes. The most common of all workplace eye-related injuries are strikes and scrapes from flying debris. It’s easy to assume these types of injuries would only happen on a construction site, but that’s not the case.
- Punctures. Flying debris can also cause punctures in your eyes, and protective eyewear could be the difference between damaged eyes and laughing it off.
Dust, fragments, and shards can also interfere with your eye safety, so even if you aren’t working around large debris, the danger could still be present. Remember the flying wooden blocks? That’s what we mean.
- UV and/or infrared rays. Working with ultraviolet or infrared rays can also pose a risk to your eyesight.
- Blue light. Blue light is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that can penetrate the eyes and reach the retina. Although researchers aren’t quite sure how much damage blue light can do to our vision in the long term, they know that it can contribute to unhealthy sleep patterns and may play a role in developing tension-related headaches. Blue light comes from numerous sources, and your eyes are exposed to it virtually nonstop.
To deal with the danger to your eyes in the workplace, OSHA and ANSI teamed up to develop specifications for safety eyewear. When your employer wants you to obtain OSHA prescription safety glasses, they’re referring to glasses that have been approved and tested to meet ANSI standards. They really do take the “We have high standards” to a whole new level.
OSHA Prescription Safety Glasses
Back to the problem at hand: the prescription safety glasses that meet OSHA standards you need for your new job. If you’re feeling lost, that’s completely normal. Your employer may have offered you a pair of large safety goggles to fit over your regular prescription glasses, but unless you enjoy being uncomfortable, there’s a better option.
OSHA Prescription Safety Glasses: Wear or Despair
If you wear corrective lenses or contacts, you’ll want prescription safety glasses to protect your eyes while you’re at work. Trying to put goggles over your glasses is uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that most people are going to opt to not wear them. This is a major problem, because you’ll be placing your vision on the line if you go to work sans protective eyewear.
In addition, if you were to be involved in an accident on the job and aren’t wearing your safety glasses, you could be held liable for the medical expenses associated with your accident and recovery. General takeaway: You really, really need to wear your safety glasses.
How Do I Know If My Safety Glasses Are OSHA Approved?
Technically, OSHA doesn’t “approve” your safety glasses; ANSI certifies them as either “protective” or “not protective.” ANSI develops the standards a pair of safety glasses must meet to be protective while you are at work around certain hazards.
Most of the time, you’ll want to make sure your safety eyewear is ANSI Z87+ certified. This certification ensures your safety eyewear meets the latest safety standards for impact resistance, arguably the most crucial facet of any safety eyewear.
To become ANSI Z87+ certified, a pair of safety glasses must undergo a high velocity impact test.
High-velocity impact test. With the safety glasses on a headform, a ball bearing is fired directly at the glasses at a high speed. To obtain ANSI certification, the glasses must not break or shatter — make it or break it.
This test certifies that the eyewear will protect your eyes in scenarios that could lead to vision damage or total vision loss.
Where Can You Buy OSHA Prescription Safety Glasses?
Just like purchasing your regular eyeglasses, you can’t just go to the store and select something off the shelf. The mass-produced safety glasses you find at the home improvement store aren’t the best option. In addition to being cheaply made and probably not ANSI Z87 certified, they’re just not attractive.
Most safety glasses and goggles have a hyper-masculine design. This is because safety eyewear was developed primarily for men working in mine shafts in the 1800s. As time moved forward and women entered the workplace, eyewear unfortunately did not evolve.
Today we see the same, bulky, heavy protective eyewear that has been available for decades. Stoggles thinks protection should be gender-inclusive, and (dare we say it) fun.
That’s why Stoggles is the solution you need. Let’s discuss the eyewear that you’ll be excited to wear wherever you go.
Stoggles: The Clear Solution for Prescription Safety Eyewear
Stoggles aren’t typical safety glasses. In fact, they aren’t glasses at all. Our safety eyewear is a hybrid style that combines the protective elements of safety glasses with the comfort and vision correction of your favorite eyeglasses. (If you don’t wear corrective lenses, they’re available with non-corrective lenses as well).
No offense to other glasses, but Stoggles are just built different.
Here’s why:
Side and Top Shields
Regular eyeglasses leave your eyes vulnerable at the top and sides, creating gaps where debris, fluids, or objects can enter your eyes. Stoggles have a streamlined design with top and side shields that are low profile and comfortable, all while being safe and protective. Some safety glasses have wraparound lenses that work similarly, but they can be impossible if you order them with prescription vision correction lenses. Getting Rx safety glasses is difficult and expensive.
Top and Side shields allow us to provide the coverage while allowing the lenses to stay flat, making them perfect and easy to add a prescription.
Top and side protection as comforting and reassuring as a hug from grandma after a long day? Count us in.
ANSI Z87+ Certification
All Stoggles come standard with ANSI Z87+ certification, so you never have to worry about whether or not your safety eyewear is actually safe. You can always tell if your eyewear is ANSI certified by looking for the imprinted certification somewhere on the body of the product.
UV Blocking
We love a sunny day. The sun nourishes our soul and gives us that vitamin D we love. However, it’s also trying to destroy us, which is rude.
Unlike regular sunglasses, which provide UV protection, you’ll need impact-resistant safety glasses that also have UV protection while you’re on the job. Stoggles are crafted from lightweight, uber comfortable polycarbonate material. Polycarbonate lenses are naturally UV blocking, which keeps your eyes safe in the lab and in the sunlight.
A quick note about UV protection versus shade protection. UV protection and the tint of your lenses are two separate things. Stoggles safety eyewear is crystal clear but blocks out UV rays. If you need shade from the sun (like you’d find in a pair of sunglasses), you’ll want to shop our SunStoggles for our collection of tinted, sunglass-style protective eyewear — or, check out our Dimmers for photochromic lenses.
Anti-Fog
Fogging safety glasses aren’t safe. If you have to remove your safety lenses to wipe them down, you run the risk of exposing your eyes to the hazardous conditions of your workplace.
Plus, removing your safety glasses takes you off task, a distraction that could affect your performance and, at worse, result in an injury. (Or, perhaps even worse-worse, you’ll get a thousand emails about workplace productivity.)
Stoggles eyewear are all coated with an anti-fog material that keeps water vapor from collecting on the surface. With our unique anti-fogging LucidLens™, you’ll never have to remove your glasses to wipe them.
Anti-fog coatings do not last forever, but the anti-fog coating developed by Stoggles lasts for longer than you’d expect. Our specialized anti-fog coating took us nine months to develop, and generally lasts over two years with normal usage, or about six months for customers cleaning their eyewear with harsher solvents.
Blue Light Blocking
Even if you sit behind a desk all day, your eyes are still at risk of impairment. Computers, tablets, and smartphones all emit blue light. Blue light, like UV light, can penetrate your eye and access the retina. This can cause computer vision syndrome, a condition where you suffer from eye strain, fatigue, and even headaches.
The biggest source of blue light is the sun, but blue light is also emitted from LED televisions, tablets, smartphones, and LED light bulbs. Essentially, we are always exposed to blue light. That amount of exposure requires some serious protection.
Stoggles have blue-light blocking lenses that help divert the blue light from your devices and protect your eyes. So, when Netflix asks if you are still watching, you can confidently click “yes,” knowing that your eyes are perfectly comfortable.
Unmatched Style and Comfort
Safety eyewear isn’t safe if you aren’t going to wear it, and unfortunately, that’s the cause behind many workplace eye injuries. Workers don’t wear the eye protection they need because it is uncomfortable or ill-fitting.
Stoggles exist to resolve that problem because we believe you should never have to choose safety over comfort and style. With Stoggles, you can have both. Our protective eyewear is available in several different shapes and numerous colors so that you can completely customize your look to match your outfit or even your mood.
Additionally, our polycarbonate frames and lenses are ultra-lightweight. You’ll probably forget you’re wearing your eye protection, and we guarantee you won’t miss wearing a pair of bulky goggles or safety glasses that you have to keep pushing up or down on your nose.
With frame styles like cat eye, round, and square, you are protected from workplace and fashion disasters. Let’s be honest. We all want to look good when we’re working, even if we’re wearing safety eyewear. If you choose Stoggles, you’re on your way to retaining your style and winning the admiration of your coworkers. Who’s that person in shipping and receiving wearing the fog green aviators? It’s you, friend.
Stoggles, the Easy Way To Be OSHA Compliant
If you’re in need of OSHA prescription safety glasses, we’ve made it incredibly easy for you to get what you need and get back to work. Stoggles eyewear keeps your eyes protected from workplace hazards while ensuring you are incredibly comfortable and impeccable accessorized.
We handle your prescription for corrective lenses in-house, saving you time and money. With Stoggles, we do all the heavy lifting to deliver the eyewear that keeps you safe while you’re doing your job. Just upload your prescription to our website, and our partner lab will handle the rest. Better go ahead and grab a few pairs so you can coordinate your scrubs, hardhat, or boots to your eyewear. There are no rules, just serious protection and style.
Play it safe with safety, but go big with style. Your PPE should be just as dramatic as the breakroom drama. So go ahead, take that new job and trust Stoggles to keep you OSHA (and ANSI) compliant.
Sources:
About OSHA | Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Home | American National Standards Institute
3 most common workplace eye injuries — and how to avoid them | 2019-03-01 | ISHN
