| Types of Protective Equipment - Eye, Face & Head
| | Spectacles (Safety Glasses) | | The minimum protection required. | | • | Use for general working conditions where there may be minor dust, chips or flying particles. | | • | Use safety glasses with side protection such as side shields or wrap-around styling. | | • | Use safety glasses with polycarbonate lenses for impact protection. Anti-fog and hard-coated scratch prevention is preferable. | | • | Use an eyewear retainer to obtain a tight fit and to keep glasses hanging from the neck if not in use. | |
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| | Goggles | | Better protection than safety glasses. | | • | Use goggles for higher impact protection, greater dust, chemical splash and welding light protection. | | • | Use goggles designed with high air flow to minimize fogging. | | • | Workers who wear prescription eyewear must wear tight-fitting goggles over streetwear glasses or over contact lenses. | | • | Even if prescription safety eyewear is used, goggles should be worn over them in high dust environments. | |
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| | Faceshields/Windows | | For greater impact and face protection. | | • | Use for full-face protection for spraying, chipping, grinding and critical chemical or bloodborne hazards. | | • | Face shields can be tinted or metal coated for heat and splatter protection. | | • | Attach to headgear/crown protector or to protective caps with proper type of cap adapter. | | • | Always wear safety glasses or goggles under a face shield for protection against particles or splash coming around the sides of the face shield. | |
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| | Welding Protection | | Shields eyes and face from dangerous welding light with tinted lenses in suggested shade numbers. | | • | Use appropriate welding goggles and face shields for operation performed. Use darkest shade possible. | | • | Lenses must be marked with the shade number (1.5 to 14; 14 = darkest). | | • | Protect eyes even when helmet face shield is lifted up. | | |  |
| | Protective Caps (Hard Hats) | | Defining a hard hat is best done through a discussion of what the hard hat offers in terms of protection. | | There are two general categories of hard hats. The standard kind of hard hat is called a Type I helmet, a helmet that provides protection for the top of your head. Helmets that provide some degree of top and off-center protection are called Type II helmets. | | Gateway Safety protective helmets are type 1 helmets. They meet ANSI Z89.1-1997 standards for class E, G, and C hard hats. These classifications deal specifically with electrical insulation, that is, it is a measure of the electrical shock resistance capability of the helmet. | | What do the classifications mean? Here’s the detail: | | • | Class E (Electrical) helmets intended to reduce the danger of exposure to high voltage electrical conductors, proof tested at 20,000 volts. Class E is tested for force transmission first, then tested at 20,000 volts for 3 minutes, with 9 milliamps maximum current leakage; then tested at 30,000 volts, with no burn-through permitted. (formerly Class B) | | • | Class G (General) helmets intended to reduce the danger of exposure to low voltage electrical conductors, proof tested at 2,200 volts. Class G is tested at 2,200 volts for 1 minute, with 3 milliamps max. leakage. (formerly Class A) | | • | Class C (Conductive) helmets not intended to provide protection from electrical conductors. Class C is not tested for electrical resistance. (no change in class designation) | |  |
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Face the Facts About Safety
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