What Does OSHA Say about Prescription Safety Glasses?

Work-related eye injuries happen every day. Using a pair of dependable OSHA-approved prescription safety glasses at work can help prevent many of these safety risks – But, what exactly makes a pair of safety glasses “OSHA-approved”?

OSHA – or, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – is part of the US Department of Labor. This administration plays a powerful role in establishing and enforcing safety standards in the workplace. Basically, OSHA’s mission is to assure the safety of all employees. This is usually established by creating industry-wide safety rules and standards, requiring safe working environments, and securing employee access to appropriate workplace personal protective equipment (PPE), like prescription safety glasses. In this article, we will explain everything you need to know about OSHA rules and regulations for prescription safety glasses and how OSHA-approved safety eyewear can protect employees from workplace eye injuries. We’ll also discuss how to select the best ANSI and OSHA-approved safety-rated eyewear for your workplace.

OSHA & Prescription Safety Glasses

There is no way to encompass everything OSHA says about PPE, but we do want to highlight a few things:

• If your job has a certain set of risks, they are required to give you Eye and Face protection
• Employers should provide prescription safety glasses for employees who need prescription glasses
• Depending on the job, side shields should be required by employers

Many workers who wear prescription glasses choose to forgo wearing eye protection at work, usually because of compatibility issues with their RX or glasses. Other times, workers simply don’t know that they need safety glasses. Unfortunately, this can leave workers even more vulnerable to eye injury or blindness at work.

Understanding what safety glasses OSHA requires is important for both employers and employees. As it turns out, different safety glasses offer different levels of protection. So, the type of prescription safety glasses you need can largely depend on your work environment.

When it comes to determining which OSHA-approved prescription safety glasses are right for you, here are a few common workplace-specific rules to consider – as outlined by OSHA’s face and eye protection requirements.

Although not a complete list, this quick checklist of OSHA rules can help you select the best prescription safety glasses for your specific set of potential workplace hazards.

• Employers are required to provide OSHA-approved eye and face protection when employees are exposed to hazardous conditions. These hazards include exposure to flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids, caustic liquids, chemical gasses, vapors, or harmful light radiation.

• If you wear prescription glasses, your employer is required to provide eye protection that incorporates the prescription in its design, or eye protection that can be worn over the prescription lenses without disturbing the proper position of the prescription lenses or the protective lenses. So, if you wear protective eyewear over your prescription glasses, it should fit your glasses comfortably to be OSHA-compliant.

• In work environments where flying debris may pose a risk to eye health, employers are required to provide OSHA-approved safety glasses with removable or permanent side shields.

• Employers must ensure that your OSHA-approved safety eyewear has a filter lens that is dark enough to protect against harmful light radiation.

How to Tell if Prescription Safety Glasses are OSHA Approved?

Understanding the basics of OSHA-approved prescription safety glasses can help workers and employers make more informed workplace safety decisions. However, before wearing the standard safety glasses issued to you by your employer, it’s important to learn how to tell if your new prescription safety glasses are OSHA-approved.

To put it simply, to know if your safety eyewear is OSHA-approved, look for an ANSI Z87.1 certification.

The American National Standards Institute, or ANSI, is the governing entity that works with other agencies worldwide, like OSHA, to develop global safety standards on everything from safety glasses to workplace equipment and workplace safety protocols.

All safety glasses that are OSHA-approved are also ANSI.Z87.1-certified. This means that whichever Ocusafe™ prescription safety glasses you choose that are ANSI-rated will also meet OSHA rules. When shopping for OSHA-approved prescription safety glasses online, make sure that the glasses you choose are marked with an ANSI.Z87 safety rating. You’ll also want to ensure the safety glasses you choose are designed to protect against hazards specific to your place of work.

Order OSHA Approved Prescription Safety Glasses from Ocusafe™

If you’re looking for the best selection of OSHA-approved prescription safety glasses online, Ocusafe™ has a great pair of affordable prescription safety glasses for your workplace needs. From trusted names like Art-Craft, WileyX, OnGuard, and more – Ocusafe™ has a wide selection of reliable eyewear brands to choose from.

At Ocusafe™ all of our lenses and frames are ANSI.Z87.1 certified and have passed high velocity and impact testing. In other words, all of our safety glasses are OSHA-recommended and built to last, so you know they’ll protect you when you need them the most.

Ocusafe™ is a company that was founded by eye doctors. We are committed to making dependable protective eyewear for the workplace. Each pair is carefully designed to your RX and safety specifications, and each order is backed up by a worry-free guarantee.

Shop our collection of high-quality and affordable prescription safety glasses at Ocusafe™ to start defending your eyes from work-related injuries.