Eye Injury Risks Safety Glasses Aren't Addressing

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This episode focuses on why eye injuries still happen—even when eye protection is required. Drawing from real-world experience in the military, professional eyecare offices, emergency response, and industrial settings, Joe and Jen discuss that the issue isn’t just whether PPE is worn—but how hazards are evaluated, how PPE is selected, and how people actually use it in real conditions.

Key Takeaways
1. Stop focusing on the task—focus on how injuries actually happen
Most programs list tasks + required PPE, but miss how the injury could occur.

2. “Safety glasses” ≠ real eye protection
Not all eye protection is equal:
Z87.1-rated glasses → impact protection
Basic glasses → minimal protection (dust/debris)

3. PPE is the LAST control—not the first
The goal is to prevent the hazard, not just cover it with PPE

4. Human behavior is the biggest risk factor
Common real-world behaviors causing eye injuries:

Touching eyes with contaminated gloves
Removing PPE with dirty hands
Rubbing eyes due to irritation (dust, allergens, fatigue)
Complacency from repetitive tasks

5. Comfort & fit directly impact compliance
One-size-fits-all PPE doesn’t work
Poor fit leads to:
Headaches
Slipping glasses
Workers modifying PPE 

6. Storage & handling of PPE 
Scratched, dirty, or contaminated eyewear creates new hazards

7. One job can require multiple types of eye protection
Tasks change quickly → PPE needs change too
Example within one hour:
Safety glasses → face shield → goggles

8. Overloading PPE can create new risks
Too much PPE = reduced visibility + discomfort

9. Training needs to go beyond “what to wear”
Most training = how to wear PPE
Missing piece = why and how injuries actually occur

This video is intended for educational purposes.  Solutions offered are not designed to take the place of an attorney or medical professional, and should not be taken as legal or medical advice.  It is recommended that viewers consult a safety consultant, medical provider or an occupational safety legal team as applicable to help navigate their specific circumstances.

Transcript

Why Eye Injuries Hit Hard

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right, welcome back to the channel. This week we are going to talk about something near and dear to Joe that most.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Something we can see this makes a difference.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Something we can see that makes a difference. And it's something that most people don't know that he knows anything about, and that is eyes, eye protection. So here we go. Let's break it down.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

All right, welcome back this week. Um, real quick, I was in the military. I was a corpsman in the Navy. I got a lot of education and eyes, just as general corpsman. And then I went to more advanced training on eyes and glasses and PPE. Yep. And then I wrote an ambulance and got to deal with stuff with eyes. And then I got to go in the food industry and deal with eyes.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Deal with stuff with eyes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

So I've had a lot of experience in that. And actually, the way I paid my way through college was working at an eye doctor and optometrist and making glasses and scoping. Doing all the things.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Yeah. So, I mean, from just talking to you since we're married, I can tell you, I know that you've seen some stuff when you run an ambulances of those pretty inconceivable and horrific in the worst way. And some of some of the worst was eye stuff. Yes. Honestly.

Joe’s Background With Eye Safety

Control One Evaluate The Task

SPEAKER_00 1:10

It's amazing how you can hurt a lot of your body, but if you get anything in your eye, you just want to stop everything. Yeah. So today's episode is three controls. The first one is Are you ready for this one?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

On the edge of my seat. Okay, she doesn't have a lot of things. Here we go. I really don't.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

The first one is evaluating all the tasks that could cause the eye injury. If I go look at a plant's program, they have a PPE program, they have PP assessments, and they have jog tests, but they really don't look at what could cause the injury. Yeah. They spend more time on what is the task. I spend more time when I'm walking by. Yeah. Like how kitty get an eye injury.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

So I think that it's important here to make the comment that there are two things that locations have that I have seen. They have some have PPE assessments, some have risk assessments that include PPE, and then some have just SOPs for the job that list the PPE, and we're not sure how we identified that's what we're wearing. It's just in the paperwork.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

It's like everything is solved by safety glasses.

unknown 2:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

And and and to me, when you're looking at the systems of well, and that and that's I think really, let's just pause right there.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Safety glasses is not the same as IPS. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

But this is about when you look at the so if I walk by somebody doing a job, whether I like or not, because of my background, I'm looking at how they can hurt themselves as an eye injury. For example, maybe the workstation they're working at, they have to turn to the right every so often. Every once in a while they have to bend down. But if that edge is a little sharp or not ground off completely, you get an eye injury because they lean down.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Yeah, or it's like scratched up in this area.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Maybe maybe it's their handling a knife. They don't think about that. They have an itch somewhere or their glasses we've seen, we've seen that tip of the blade.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

It's either face like, what are you doing? Yeah. So we we get so it's it's it's complacency, it's comfort. Yeah.

unknown 3:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

So they're so comfortable with that. It's like an extension. Yeah, we'll have the mesh glove. I just don't have mesh on their face, but I mean they're not thinking about it.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

So when I walk by a grinder, yes, the guard's important. That's how they use it. Important, I really look at is there like a firewatch nearby and are they gonna get hit if something happens with the piece that comes off the ground?

SPEAKER_01 3:26

How close are they standing?

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Or if they're grinding the pipe, the remove, the product of the pipe coming off and hit them. I'm looking for things like that, not just oh, the firewash stands right here. That's because we have to have one if it's a hot work, but he could get hurt by because we don't always think about where they stand, where they're I'm looking at those kind of things.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Well, and so let's expand on that just a little bit. Of sometimes we don't always require safety glasses or eye protection in all of the areas that we might be doing some kind of hot work, grinding, whatever. And so if that's outside, you could argue that some locations, some locations do say this that they don't need to have some of that on when they're outside. Or it could be a break area outside. Yeah, and they're not the one doing the hot work, they're standing back. Well, are they standing back far enough? Or should they really have some stuff?

SPEAKER_00 4:15

That's what I look at. So when I walk by, if you're ever with me on site, I I can't turn that off. I've seen that so much in my life, spent so many hours studying it, so many hours reading about it, working it.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

It's the wiped down with some kind of chemical with on my glove, and then I itch my eye. Like, I don't know why everybody's eyes, I mean, like I guess allergies, I don't know, especially if they're in the Midwest during August rag wing season. I don't know, man.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

But yeah, it's it's everything goes back to like somehow touching our eye, and we forget what's on our hands, what's in our I've seen people in the morning get done with the job task, rip the PPE off their eyes like goggles, but their hands are covered in chemical, so they dumped it in their eye when they I mean, so it's looking at the job and don't look at it like what is the PPE? Who cares? I mean, I care.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

You can you care.

Real World Behaviors That Cause Injuries

SPEAKER_00 5:05

I really care about the task they're doing to prevent the injury. Okay, so they had PPE last resort.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Yeah, so let's back it up just a little bit. Some of that goes back to training.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Yes.

Control Two Fit Comfort And Fogging

SPEAKER_01 5:17

So yes, it's important. Here's your hearing protection, here's how you squeeze it, put it in your ear. Here's your safety glasses, wear them on your face. We should be going beyond some of that and say, like, here's why you're wearing it. Here's some of the weird behavior that you'd never believe happens, but it does happen and we've seen it. And so, like, just be cognizant of some of these things. And maybe that's a toolbox talk as a periodic reminder. Maybe that can look like a whole lot of different things. But you forget sometimes when you do some of these job tasks for hours every day, but it stops being a hazard.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

So, my next one is you have to be realistic, whatever you put on their face.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Because I have about, you know, 15 pairs of glasses because I'm a high person. Yeah, and some fit good on my nose, some fit good on my ear, and some are some are like pushing and give you a headache. I wear outside a headache. So just say one pair of glasses or one thing is good for everybody, is is not real. So they modify it. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, they do.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

I don't want to see they build up the nose pieces I've seen.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Yeah, or they or they find a way. So I'm looking for how they modified it and did they change the risk of and did the glasses, or you see the glasses so far down, but they're wearing them, and you're like, but is it really doing anything? So that's what I'm looking at. In reality, it foggy. I see that in a lot of times. I go from a hot room to a cold room, but they make me wear these glasses, but I can't see. Is that really the right tool at that moment?

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Or for my ladies that have fake eyelashes on, some locations still aware uh allow those, not all, but some do. And I can tell you they rub on safety glasses some of the different styles that you get, and it's irritating. So then the glasses start coming down, you know.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Yeah, I will say I absolutely so like for me, you're looking at me right now, I'm wearing glasses. Yes. Um, these may not be Z87.1 frames, but I only buy polycarp because that's I know it protects your eye the most.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Yeah, I know we do weird stuff, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

So even though it's not required me to have it in these, my daily life when I'm walking around because I never know what I'm gonna do. Even at the house, you never know random stuff. Right. I'm always looking for the protection side of it.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Yeah. Well, and we live on acreage, so there's always some kind of weird job. Let me just do this real quick.

Safety Glasses Versus True Eye Protection

SPEAKER_00 7:34

So that's what I would so look at so make sure that the the the job task reality what you're doing. Not really, what is the solution? Whatever that solution you decide actually works. You'll see people say, Well, just add glasses to them, or just do that with the don't make sure it works.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

What kind? So let's real quick break down what's the difference between eye protection and safety glasses, because there is a difference there, and it does matter when you put that on your PP assessment or your SOPs for required PPE. It does matter.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Correct. The biggest difference is the Z87.1 can take a hit.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Yeah, it's impact.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Yeah, and the other's more just as a crazy. It's kind of like a bump cap hard hat kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

I mean, and so and you that's a great way to think of it.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

The per it's one is to just keep stuff just from whatever dust, whatever just random things that work.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

You're working wall water and water gets in front of you.

Control Three Right PPE And Storage

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Yes, it's not expected that it's gonna be all the time, otherwise we'd put goggles on, but you just never know. Right. And we just want to make sure you're good. Well, that's a that's a different thing. Then I expect to take a hit and something could be shooting on my face. That's different. So now the third one then begs the question well, maybe you need to look at a shield.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Right. So now we go back to the third one, PPE. Yeah. Now I could have the same job. I could have I wear these glasses, put a shield because I'm washing something out for sanitation for splash. Now I'm going to do a task with chemical. Now I have to change and put a goggle over these. And now I've decided that I'm just gonna sweep stuff above me and get good compensation. I may just be wearing these glasses. So I could have three versions within an hour window of an eye protection issue. But the other thing you gotta remember is how do you store them? Is why it's important.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Yeah, while you're out doing the job, where are they going? Because I gotta put them later on my face. Right. So they can't get it.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

So I yes, PPE is important to me, but I spend more time seeing injuries on the storage of it, or you have the goggles up here that everybody sees all the time. Yeah. Well, those are stretched out if you always do this actually. Oh, yeah, you gotta they're gonna be stretched out. There's gonna be a time where you put them on and they go down here. Are you really your PPE? Well, how you're storing how you're storing it.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

How you're storing it, is it getting scratched based on how you're doing it? Or is it getting covered in smudges? So now you're taking it off and using whatever that could be covered in whatever. That's correct, you know, and then so now you're rubbing whatever's on your clothing or rain gear, whatever, you're rubbing it all over your stuff. You're like, okay, so yeah, I mean, and it matters to me based on what we require people to wear, because if you have the wrong stuff and it's on your face for a prolonged period of time or on your head, it gives you a headache. So we really do want to make sure that what we have works, but it we're it it's not like too much.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Because that's that's because I see that sometimes everybody needs to wear glasses one. Like, yeah, but that person does no job that needs it.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Well, or we've gotta have yeah, you've gotta have glasses and a shield and the thing at all. I mean yeah, can you even see anymore? So, yeah, it's really, really, truly it's gotta be a task evaluation for the eyes and face. Truly, what's the risk here is that we make sure how we're gonna change things in and out, and then also identifying if we are changing things in and out where that storage location is. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Because when you're mobile at a plant or a farm or a mill, uh I mean, I am, and when I'm walking around, I have to be conscious about because I used to just put my glasses in my side pockets and I just scratch them all up. I just get two glasses over three or two. All the time.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Yeah, scratch.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Because I had to put them somewhere because I had to put on another kind for the room I was going in. I'd take out so it's that concept of how it moves and how it flows.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Up to and including all of those rooms off to the side. You got to now evaluate, okay, if we're not gonna have them carry them on them, where can they store them? That's an easy one. But do we really want just random access into some of these shops that are right off the floor, some of the pump rooms, mechanical rooms right off the production floors? Maybe we don't. So we've got to identify a space for them to do some of that. So yeah, all of that makes perfect sense. Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

So that's that's how I look at it. So if you're ever with me, don't don't like safety glasses.

unknown 11:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

But I want you to do or eye protection required in this area, and you're like, but why are you? For what? So let break down your people. It's a comfort issue. For me, it's a headache issue if I were the wrong kind.

SPEAKER_01 12:05

Up to and including if the people are wearing glasses, we need to be identifying are we really do they really need to change those out and put something on their face? Whatever they're being exposed to, is it so catastrophic that we would rather them not have their regular glasses on and have all this extra weird stuff that's heavy on their head for hours. All right, hit it.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

If you wear a respirator, I can't see without these glasses anymore. Right. Get me an insert into my mask, please see.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

So they're not just walking in and can't see a thing. Absolutely. Spectacle kits work with your clinicians. Yes. And yeah, there's a way to go about it. Absolutely. Now I need a spectacle kit. Now I need something.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

I used to make those military. That's why I know.

Prescription Glasses And Respirator Inserts

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Oh, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

I used to make hundreds of them a week. Yeah, there you go.

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SPEAKER_01 13:00

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