Protective Eyewear

"Why risk losing precious eyesight when wearing safety glasses or protective goggles can keep your eyes safe for a lifetime of good vision? According to Prevent Blindness America, each year more than 700,000 Americans injure their eyes at work, and another 125,000 injure their eyes at home. More than 40,000 American children and adults suffer eye injuries during sports, while many thousands more eye injuries go unreported. Because experts say proper protective eyewear could prevent up to 90 percent of all eye injuries, you might want to learn more about the safety glasses and goggles that suit your lifestyle best.

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Safety eyewear must conform to a higher standard of impact resistance than regular eyeglasses, which optical professionals sometimes call "dress eyewear." This higher standard applies to both the lenses and the frames of safety glasses and goggles. There are two kinds of safety glasses: prescription safety glasses  and non-prescription (also called "plano" safety glasses. Regardless of their size or the durability of the frame and lenses, regular prescription eyeglasses do not qualify as safety glasses unless they meet specific criteria. In the United States, the federal government establishes safety guidelines for workplaces, to decrease the risk of on-the-job injuries. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within the U.S. Department of Labor oversees safety practices in the workplace and in educational settings. OSHA has adopted safety eyewear standards established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a private, non-profit organization that creates quality and safety standards for a wide variety of products. 

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The ANSI standard applying to eye safety includes several types of eye protection devices, including eyeglasses (both prescription and non-prescription), goggles, face shields, welding helmets and full-face respirators.

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Source - All About Vision