We believe that your eyes deserve only the best protection! Medical advances have made many strides in replacing vital organs and other surgical transplants.

However, the eyes are still one of the few parts of your body that to this day, cannot be replaced. Once your vision is gone—it’s gone. This is why safety glasses are critical in work environments where there is a high risk of eye injury.

We’re talking workplaces with flying debris, whether big or small; dangerous chemicals, or prolonged exposure to UV rays. All of these hazards can easily trigger an accident that can destroy your eyes and render you blind forever.

It’s something you should take very seriously as with any safety precautions in the workplace—they’re in place to ensure your safety.

However, when choosing safety glasses, you have to make sure the pair you choose have all the features that apply to your environment.

For example, you may need tinted lenses with an oleophobic coating while working in the sun on an oil rig all day. However, in an indoor manufacturing plant, you would want clear lenses with high-impact resistance. Tinted lenses would affect your vision and could cause an accident.

Customizing The Lenses Of Your Safety Glasses For Your Job

We carry only the best brands of safety glasses and lenses from trusted brands such as Wiley X. Within that spectrum of safety eyewear there are tons of customizations you can make to get that perfect pair. Safety eyeglasses come equipped with various lens options that allow them to meet the specific needs of your workplace and personal preferences. Some of these options include:

• Clear lenses for optimal clarity
• Photochromic lenses for seamless indoor/outdoor use
• Mirrored lenses for bright spaces
• Polarized lenses that reduce glare from reflective surfaces
• Anti-fog lenses that prevent fog build-up on the surface

What If You Wear Prescription Glasses?

If you normally wear corrective glasses in everyday life, then regular safety glasses can actually cause another safety hazard. Fortunately, you can get all of the above options we mentioned in a prescription lens format.

Prescription lenses offer both vision correction that you are used to and add a layer of safety when working around certain hazards. Just as with regular safety glasses, it’s still important to consider your work environment when choosing lens options.

Prescription safety glass lenses can be made from a variety of materials including polycarbonate, Trivex, and high-index plastic.

Which material works best?

While prescription safety glasses can come from a variety of materials, there are a handful that have become accepted universally.

Overall, one of the key factors is the index of the material being used. The index of a lens relates to the ability of the material to bend light. Higher index materials mean thinner lenses can be used and tend to be more scratch-resistant.

However, high-index materials also offer less in terms of optical clarity, but you sacrifice clarity for more ergonomic designs.

• Polycarbonate is considered medium index material that while being very impact resistant, is also easily scratched. It’s very flexible in terms of options as it’s available in almost every configuration imaginable with only a few rare exceptions. It’s best for low to medium scripts and is used in almost all prescription safety glasses. We recommend this material given its impact-resistance is superior to all other materials.
• Trivex is a less common man-made polymer that offers nearly the same impact resistance as polycarbonate lenses but with some added advantages and minor drawbacks. On the plus side, it offers better optical clarity than polycarbonate and better resistance to scratching. However, it’s not available with as many configurations as polycarbonate.
• Glass is the most scratch resistant in the bunch here, but naturally, it’s the most fragile. Glass lenses are good for safety glasses that don’t need impact resistance. They should only be used indoors in low-risk situations where clarity is a must. Glass is also very limited when it comes to customization options, it’s not tintable, and good luck finding polarized glass—it’s rare.

No matter which lens material you select for your prescription safety glasses, it is crucial that the prescription is accurate and the frames fit properly.

Let’s Talk More About Those Lens Options

So, we briefly touched on the type of lenses available that are most commonly ordered with our safety glasses, but let’s look at them a bit closer.

• Clear lenses are among the most widely-used lenses in safety glasses due to their unmatched clarity. Whether they’re glass, polycarbonate, or Trivex these lenses offer the most unobstructed vision. They are perfect when the job requires attention to details that require a sharp eye. They are also great indoors where UV rays are not an issue but other hazards exist.
• Photochromic lenses contain special light-sensitive molecules inside the substrate that shift in structure when exposed to UV rays. This allows them to absorb more of the light spectrum giving the lenses a darkened appearance. Once the UV light is no longer present, they shift again to give better clarity and become clear once again. This feature makes them a flexible solution for employees that go indoors and outdoors a lot during the workday. It’s far more convenient than having two pairs of glasses.
• Polarized lenses provide anti-glare properties when looking at reflective surfaces such as a windshield or on a boat. They’re great for outdoor use where natural light creates a glare, as well as indoors in well-lit areas. The clarity you get is a huge advantage when it’s important to be able to see obstacles and other hazards.
• Mirrored lenses reduce the amount of light entering the eye, reducing strain and making them best for use in areas with intense, bright lighting. Eye strain from bright lights can cause headaches, disorientation, and fatigue, all conditions that can contribute to an accident.

Which Options Create The Perfect Safety Glasses For You?

Customizing your safety glasses should be a standard part of the purchase process. If you buy a pair that hinder you in any way or lack proper protection for your environment—they’re pointless.

Let one of our eyewear specialists help you build the perfect safety glasses for you. All it takes is a quick consultation and we can get you the perfect pair.  Contact us today and let’s get you protected!