EYE PROTECTION GUIDE
How important is Safety Eyewear?
Our eyes are the most sensitive of our senses. Good eyesight depends on the delicate interaction of a complex optical system. Since the eye is so easily damaged it’s not surprising that eye injuries are a major source of workplace accidents. An extensive study of data from 2007 to 2016 recorded 332,418 eye injuries of New Zealand adults. Of these, around 30% were workplace accidents and 94% were not wearing protective eyewear.
Main causes of these workplace eye injuries are:
- Being struck in the eye by flying particles and objects such as nuts, bolts, ball bearings, springs and fragments from abrasive blasting and grinding
- Eye contact with: Splashes (molten metals, hot liquids, corrosive chemicals, irritant liquids, infectious agents), Fumes (corrosive, irritant), Dusts (chemical, abrasive, corrosive, organic)
- Exposure to radiation from welding flash, ultraviolet or infrared radiation, very hot substances, laser beams, laser reflection or fiber optics.
- Striking the eye against an object, for instance by blundering into a protruding piece of equipment.
Assessing Workplace Risks
The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 requires employers to take all practicable steps to eliminate these hazards or to isolate the hazard from the employee.
Where elimination or isolation is not possible, employers must take all possible steps to minimise the likelihood of harm. Where there is a potential danger to any employee’s eyes, personalised safety eyewear should be provided.
If you are an employer, you need an eye safety program to:
Where elimination or isolation is not possible, employers must take all possible steps to minimise the likelihood of harm. Where there is a potential danger to any employee’s eyes, personalised safety eyewear should be provided.
If you are an employer, you need an eye safety program to:
- Identify and control hazards to prevent eye injuries before they happen.
- Provide employees with appropriate eye protection. Select eyewear to protect against the specific hazards in your workplace—radiation, flying particles or objects, splashes, fumes or dust. Ensure safety glasses fit properly (eye size, bridge size and temple length will vary for individual wearers). Safety glasses should be individually assigned and fitted.
- Make provision for correct storage of safety eyewear in a pouch or case and replace scratched, pitted or ill-fitting eye protection immediately.
- Instruct staff in safe working practices and ensure appropriate eye protection is worn when required.
- Train staff in use of their eye protection.
Eyewear Standards and Markings—What Do They Mean?
All our eyewear is tested and certified to meet AS/NZS1337: Personal Eye Protection and achieves at least Medium Impact protection level. This Standard sets out the specific Australia/New Zealand requirements for eyewear to protect the user from impact, UV and other hazards in the workplace.
Look for the symbols which indicate the product has been tested
and certified to meet AS/NZS1337 by an independent testing agency.
Approved safety eyewear will have markings on the lens and the frame arm to indicate suitability for specific applications. Check out the below key to uncover what these markings mean.
Outdoor Workers Need UV Protection Too
In New Zealand conditions, eye protection against ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is particularly important.UV radiation can lead to eye complaints ranging from mild irritation to macular degeneration, cataracts and cancer. All safety glasses from Esko prevent at least 99% of harmful UV rays from reaching the eye. The Magnum and Destination ranges block 100%.
Be aware that UV radiation can pass round the edge of glasses, so choose eyewear that is wraparound or at least close-fitting. Tinted lenses reduce the intensity of visible light but do not necessarily block more UV radiation, check the product information for the degree of resistance to UV light.
The amount of outdoor UV exposure will be influenced by where you are working. UV radiation from the sun is also reflected off the ground surface. Bare ground will reflect about 15% of UV radiation, the sea about 25% and snow about 80%. Also protect your eyes by wearing a hat—a hat with a wide brim can reduce UV radiation reaching the eyes by around 50%.
Protecting your workers' eyes
This quick guide is for businesses or undertakings whose work activities may create a risk of injury to people’s eyes from WORKSAFE.
> Find out more here
Check the UV rating on your specs
Exposed to UV light in outdoor glare or laboratory radiation? Choose UV-blocking lenses.
> See UVI forecast for Specific Sites here
Do I need a Foam Seal?
Working in dusty environments? Select glasses with a foam gasket that seals comfortably against the face—or, in higher-risk environments, goggles.
See Options Here
Selecting the Best Safety Eyewear for Your Needs
Safety eyewear used to look heavy and impractical, but all
that has changed. The latest generation of safety eyewear is well designed,
stylish and modern. With proper safety eyewear, most injuries are preventable.
But to be effective it must be appropriate for the hazard. Use this guide to
narrow down the best eyewear for your requirement:
Impact Resistance
Eyes exposed to impact danger from flying particles, sparks, shavings, shards? Choose the right level of impact resistance:
Low Impact Rated: Eyewear that can withstand impact from an object moving at 12 metres per second. Suitable for manual chipping, riveting, hammering, handling wire, brick cutting.
Medium Impact Rated: Eyewear that can withstand impact from an object moving up to 45 metres per second, tested side-on as well as front-on. Suitable for tasks like machine disc cutting, scaling, grinding, and machining metals, certain woodworking operations, stone dressing, horticulture and outdoor work, including lawn mowing and using weed eaters/ line trimmers.
High Impact Rated: Can withstand impact from an object moving up to 120 metres per second. Suitable for tasks like using explosive power tools, high speed disc grinding, metal cutting. Under AS/NZS 1337.1, high and extra high impact protectors must cover most of the face, not just the eyes, so this rating is limited to full-face visors, faceshields, welding helmets, etc.
Extra High Impact Rated: Can withstand impact from an object moving up to 190 metres per second. Suitable for tasks like shot blasting, ballistics, military, electrical maintenance. Under AS/NZS 1337.1, high and extra high impact protectors must cover most of the face, not just the eyes, so this rating is limited to full-face visors, faceshields, welding helmets, etc.
Lens Colour
Understand the uses and benefits of different lens colours:
Clear Lens: Clear lenses protect against general indoor/outdoor hazards and UV rays.
Smoke Lens: Smoke lenses are good for sunlight and outdoors glare conditions.
Amber Lens: Amber lenses enhance contrast—ideal for indoors or lower-light environments.
Bronze Lens: Bronze lenses work similarly to amber, giving enhanced contrast in low light but they also cut down glare in brightly lit situations.
Polarised Lens: Polarised lenses cut out horizontal reflections from water, snow or flat road surfaces, greatly reducing distracting glare.
Mirror Coating: Mirror coatings give excellent filtering in strong sunlight and outdoors glare conditions.
Shade-5 Lens: Shade-5 lenses are ideal for working in proximity to welding or in very brightly lit conditions.
Goggle Style
Do you need protection against hazardous splashes, flying particles, extremely dusty environments? For the highest level of protection choose goggles.
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