Procuring safety eyewear

Research carried out among health & safety professionals
has highlighted a worrying lack of knowledge about safety
frames and their procurement,explains Jim Lythgow

The procurement of safety eyewear
can be complex as each different
working environment presents its
own risks. The starting point for any
provision of safety eyewear must, therefore,
be a thorough health and safety audit and
risk assessment. The high-street optician is
not the appropriate person to determine
the risks and propose the precautions.

Impact resistance
The overall purpose of safety eyewear is to
resist impacts which may be of varying levels
and from varying objects and substances.

Safety eyewear issued in the UK must
conform to the European standard
European Normals (EN)166:2002 within
which there are various levels of resistance.

Each lens will be marked with the
appropriate symbol regarding its properties:
Symbol Property
S Increased robustness
F Low energy impact
B Medium energy impact
A High energy impact
9 Non-adherence of molten
metal and resistance to
penetration of hot solids
K Resistance to damage by
fine particles
N Non-fogging properties
A worrying 59% of companies believe that
wearing ordinary prescription glasses will
provide protection from corrosive materials,
31% believe they protect from electric arcs
and 25% believe ordinary glasses provide
protection from welding materials.

Prescription glasses will not suffice once the
energy impact resistance required reaches
‘medium’ (denoted as EN166 B), or if work
involves the need for protection against
corrosive materials, electrical arcs or welding
materials. At this point, goggles or visors
carrying the appropriate EN specifications
will need to be sourced. For high-energy
impacts, visors or face shields will be
required (as defined by EN166 A). In some
low-energy impact situations (EN 166 F),
safety spectacles or glasses are acceptable.

The right level of protection
Usually, safety glasses will include side shields
to offer lateral protection, but these should be
selected so as not to unnecessarily restrict
the field of view. For circumstances where
protection is required for more than just the
eyes, full-face protection is often appropriate.

Frame options
83% of companies believe that if safety
frames are not comfortable they are likely
to be removed so comfort is important.

Lens selection
Those who regularly need to wear safety
eyewear and have a prescription
requirement should be provided with safety
glasses of the type they most commonly
wear – either single or multi-focal.

Procurement routes
There are four main stages in the
provision of prescription safety eyewear:
1. The manufacture and supply of
certified safety frames
2. The eye test to determine the correct
prescription
3. The insertion of the appropriate lenses
(glazing) in a certified laboratory
4. The fitting and dispensing of the
spectacles to the wearer
A different supplier can be selected for each
of these stages or, a single source can provide
the full service, so there are a number of
different ways to purchase safety eyewear:
From a safety frame manufacturer
Manufacturers of safety frames may have
regional sales representatives who will set
up accounts directly. Pricing is often
dependent on volume. The cost of glazing
should be included but the optician
providing the dispensing service will apply
additional, variable, dispensing fees.

Through a PPE catalogue
PPE catalogues will often offer a range
of plain and prescription safety
eyewear. Any discounts will be
dependant on volumes. Again, glazing
should be included, but the dispenser
may apply additional fees.

Through a third-party network coordinator
This is a way of procuring safety glasses
from a single manufacturer at a fixed
price, usually inclusive of dispensing
fees, through a range of opticians.

Through an optician
The costs incurred will depend on the
optician’s level of involvement in the
process. At one extreme, the optician
will source the frames individually
from the manufacturer and send them
to a certified safety eyewear laboratory
for glazing, before dispensing.

At the other end of the spectrum, the
optician may have its own range of frames
and its own certified glazing facility if the
safety eyewear is made in-house.

Final decision
Procurement of safety eyewear is a huge
responsibility and it is vital to take as
much guidance as possible from health &
safety experts. A free copy of Specsavers
health & safety research 2010 can be
obtained by emailing: corporateeyecare@
uk.specsavers.com or by calling the
number below.

Jim Lythgow is director of strategic alliances
at Specsavers Corporate Eyecare
Specsavers will be at Health & Safety ’10
Scotland on Stand 88.