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Safety Glasses vs. Face Shield

longranger

longranger

Well Known Member
I've always used wrap around safety glasses when running the cutoff wheel. Tonight while trimming the longerons, I found that glasses, even the wrap around type, aren't adequate eye protection for the task. Evidently the glasses had slid down my nose slightly and either a piece of abrasive or aluminum dust found its way into my left eye. I was hoping the massive amount of tearing would flush out what ever it was and relieve the irritation, but it was not to be.

Another half hour of flushing with saline and direct spray in the shower with no improvement convinced me it was time to head for what passes for an emergency room here. Two hours later I was diagnosed with a corneal abrasion. The good news is that the doctor saw no remaining foreign objects in my eye, and it should heal in a day or so.

The anesthetic only lasted an hour, and the doctor warned me not to use it more often than I absolutely have to, so I currently am not a happy camper...

Bottom line: FROM NOW ON I WILL ALWAYS WEAR A FACE SHIELD WHEN RUNNING A CUTOFF OR ABRASIVE WHEEL!!
 
Miles - sorry to hear about your eye! As an ER doc I've seen lots of injuries like that, so I am crazy about wearing eye protection. Sometimes I wear both the glasses and the face shield!

If the anesthetic you were given is tetracaine drops for the eye, I would generally avoid using those. The recommendation is that they not be sent home with patients, as prolonged / repeated use may delay healing and cause other problems. My guess is the doc knew you were a reasonable guy, and gave them to you with the intent that you'd use them maybe once a day when falling asleep, but not repeatedly.

Fortunately corneal abrasions heal pretty quickly, so you should be back at it soon! Good luck!
 
Thanks for the encouragement, Axel and Thomas!

Thomas, that is exactly what the ER doc said about the tetracine drops. The dose he administered only lasted an hour, and I almost knuckled under just to get to sleep last night, but a couple of 400mg doses so of ibuprofen about 2hrs apart got me through it. Today it's just a mild irritation, but I'm on my way to see an ophthalmologist to follow up.

I feel good enough to get back on the project this afternoon, but not before hitting the orange big box store to replace the face shield i don't wear due to broken head band....
 
Personal protective equipment

As a safety tech. in the oil and gas industry I've seen my share of eye injuries.
The most common issue I find when it comes to grinding and cutting is improper PPE. You should wear safety goggles with a face shield to properly protect your eyes from grinders, cut-off and wire wheels. Also it is a good idea to leave the guards on the tool if it is equipped with one.
I preach safety in the workplace and tell the guys it also carries over to the home. Just how many actually take my advice is anyone's guess.
Hope you have a speedy recovery.
 
I feel obligated to weigh in here, this is kinda what I do...

First, as far as the safety glasses, tight-fitting spectacles that meet ANSI Z87.1 are good, although a full face shield is better but more cumbersome. The small stuff that gets around spectacles into the eye is "low speed" and generally gets stuck on the surface, where it is painful and annoying, but generally not sight threatening. Grinders/dremels etc are some of the most common offenders, but some of the worst injuries I've seen are from broken drill bits, tire failures, and batteries exploding. Also anything that involves striking hardened steel with a steel hammer (like driving a nail)

Please be careful when connecting/charging batteries and airing tires, as many people don't consider the possibility of eye injury.

If you do get something in your eye, many ERs and the vast majority of "minor meds" aren't well equipped to deal with it, so you're better off finding an ophthalmologist if you can.

If you do find yourself in a ER and they give you tetracaine (or proparacaine or anything else to "numb" the eye) politely refuse except for a single dose to allow a thorough exam. Giving a patient anesthetic drops to take home is a really bad idea. Kind of like cleaning your paint with MEK. I still unfortunately see this on at least a monthly basis and make a point to call the ER doc directly to educate them. I have seen permanently lost eyes, and have to do emergent corneal transplants once or twice a year for this. There are ways to manage the pain, but anesthetic drops are not a good one.

Also don't use steroid drops unless you're very sure what you're treating, even though they make the eye feel better. It's quite common that patients will have leftover drops from an eye surgery (or a family member does) and put them in out of desperation. This increases the chance of an infection.
 
flyeyes said:
. . . <snip>

If you do get something in your eye, many ERs and the vast majority of "minor meds" aren't well equipped to deal with it, so you're better off finding an ophthalmologist if you can. <snip>
Click to expand...

+1 I had the same experience with just a shield on a bench grinder and a lawn mower blade. I have a 3mm shard in a medicine bottle that the eye Dr removed. I knew a veterinarian and went to his office first to be sure something was in the eye, he said yes. I went to the ER, they x-rayed it!! How the heck are you going to see a .004" did shard on the X-ray? After 3 hours they finally said they could not remove it anyway!! The next day I went to the eye Dr and he removed it with tweezers, polished the lens and gave me some lubricant drops.

This was 40 years ago and with good eye protection, including full face shields for the chop saw, I have been ocular accident free since.
 
flyeyes said:
If you do get something in your eye, many ERs and the vast majority of "minor meds" aren't well equipped to deal with it, so you're better off finding an ophthalmologist if you can...
Click to expand...
Second this. Go to the opthamologist.
 
Eye shields

I have a nephew who left his safe ray goggles on the bench....lost the vision in his eye due to a penetrating wire. Don't work without them.
 
Low Pass said:
Second this. Go to the opthamologist.
Click to expand...

flyeyes said:
I feel obligated to weigh in here, this is kinda what I do...



If you do get something in your eye, many ERs and the vast majority of "minor meds" aren't well equipped to deal with it, so you're better off finding an ophthalmologist if you can.

If you do find yourself in a ER and they give you tetracaine (or proparacaine or anything else to "numb" the eye) politely refuse except for a single dose to allow a thorough exam. Giving a patient anesthetic drops to take home is a really bad idea. Kind of like cleaning your paint with MEK. I still unfortunately see this on at least a monthly basis and make a point to call the ER doc directly to educate them. I have seen permanently lost eyes, and have to do emergent corneal transplants once or twice a year for this. There are ways to manage the pain, but anesthetic drops are not a good one.

Also don't use steroid drops unless you're very sure what you're treating, even though they make the eye feel better. It's quite common that patients will have leftover drops from an eye surgery (or a family member does) and put them in out of desperation. This increases the chance of an infection.
Click to expand...

I agree with the above, but with a caveat.

The standards for emergency care in the USA are not well defined. If you have a residency trained, ABEM certified doc in the ED (emergency department), they should be perfectly capable of evaluating and treating ALL eye emergencies ... and know when to refer to opthamology. Hopefully there is a specialist available when needed ... but "going to the opthamologist" is not always an option, after hours or weekends / holidays. You should ask the doc in the ED what their background and training is. Some moonlighters might not have the training and knowledge to evaluate certain types of emergencies.

Sorry for the thread creep. Don't want this to be a medical subspecialty you-know-what-ing contest. And I agree with flyeyes ... I NEVER give patients tetracaine to take home ... I make a point of pocketing it and throwing it away after using it for the exam, as some patients try to sneak away with it since it provides so much relief!
 
And don't forget

many times when you are using a cut off wheel or any abrasive tool, the debris will end up in your hair. You take the face shield and glasses off, rub the sweat off your forehead and touch the front of your hair. Down comes the fine debris, hits your eye and you rub it without thinking. We have seen this a number of times where I work.
As they say,
Let's be careful out there.

Paul
 
Standard in the chemical industry when working with chemicals that pose eye exposure threat (e.g., caustic, acids, etc) is monogoggles, often in addition to a face shield. Safety glasses do not adequately protect against liquids. I suspect for particles it would be similar.

Speedy recovery.

TODR
 
Just to follow up I did take the ER doc's recomendation and saw an opthamologist yesterday. No permanent damage, just antibiotic/steroid drops for a few days. This morning I would hardly know anything happened. I consider myself quite lucky. After re-reading of Gil's cutoff wheel incident a couple of years ago, I'll never fire up a cutoff wheel without a face shield or with anyone else in the shop.

On the way home I picked up this face shield. In reading all the fine print that came with it, they recommend safety glasses be worn in addition to the shield. Both are hanging on my bandsaw immediately adjacent to my bench grinder with scotchbrite wheel.
 
I had a similar incident a few weeks ago, using a cutoff wheel with safetly glasses and hearing protection. The cut off wheel broke and I felt/heard something hit my face. Never figured out if it hit my glasses or my ear muffs. I have a new full face wrap around that is getting lots of use.
Joe
 
TShort said:
... Hopefully there is a specialist available when needed ... but "going to the opthamologist" is not always an option, after hours or weekends / holidays...provides so much relief!
Click to expand...

Have to interject here; if an ophthalmologist is not available, an optometrist usually is. They will be able to deal with eye problems better than anyone barring ophthalmologists. Just another option to consider.
 
THanks!

Miles, I have been diligent about wearing safety glasses at home ever since I started work in the chemical industry over forty years ago where they were required. I remember the duPont plant where I worked had the philosophy that if an employee is safe at home, then he/she will be safe at work.

But I admit I have been negligent about even buying a face shield and I have done a lot of risky things in the shop when safety glasses alone would not have been enough should something bad have happened.

I will go by the local orange or blue store this week and buy a face shield and use it.

Thanks for initiating this thread. And consider yourself lucky that you still have good vision that makes flying so enjoyable...and possible!
 
Well I hate to add on, But as an industrial Electrician on the last few job sites I have been on, we have had thankfully few serious injuries, however eye injuries usually run about 5 to 1 for all other's. new rules on the sites usually go something like this, safety glasses 100% on site, same with hearing protection.

Double eye protection, that's safety glasses and face shield for any tool other then hand tools, so even a cordless drill means face shields, that has cut down on the eye injuries like you would not believe. just a tip, depending on what type of face shield you are using, see if there is a place near the top that can collect junk, if so, when you take off the shield, I would suggest you tip your head forward, then remove the shield, so any trapped material cannot fall into your eyes.

also do your self a favor, we spend huge cash on our tools and aircraft, buy a quality pair of safety glasses, that are light weight, and actually rated for impact, and make sure the lens is optically correct, so you don't have eye strain looking thrue crappy plastic that can effect your vision potentially long term vision problems.

Above all else, WEAR THEM make a station at the shop door, Put them on as you walk in, take off when you leave for the night. make it a habit. I would love a good deal on a kit, but hate to think its cause the previous owner lost his sight.
 
Kreeve said:
also do your self a favor, we spend huge cash on our tools and aircraft, buy a quality pair of safety glasses, that are light weight, and actually rated for impact, and make sure the lens is optically correct, so you don't have eye strain looking thrue crappy plastic that can effect your vision potentially long term vision problems.

Above all else, WEAR THEM make a station at the shop door, Put them on as you walk in, take off when you leave for the night. make it a habit. I would love a good deal on a kit, but hate to think its cause the previous owner lost his sight.
Click to expand...

What he said. Serviceable, reasonable quality safety glasses can be had for under $10 at Amazon, or any of the "big box" stores. I tend to buy 3-5 at a time, throwing a handful on top of other orders. More expensive ones are more comfortable, and will generally last longer, but anything that is tested to the ANSI safety glass standard is OK.

Goggles for racquet sports have the highest impact standards (higher than industrial safety glasses), and tend tend be more stylish and comfortable if you prefer that.

I saw 3 people after hours this last weekend, 2 of them with injuries that would have been prevented with saftety goggles. I can't tell you the number of people who've told me "I always wear safety glasses, I just forgot this one time."
 
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