Prescription Safety Glasses

LindaS

We require all individuals to wear safety glasses, with side shields, anytime they are in the plant. Those individuals who wear the non-prescription safety glasses are easy to ensure they are in compliance with the rule but I'm having some issues with those who wear the prescription safety glasses...

1) How do you ensure the glasses the EE is wearing are ANSI approved? I mean, do you inspect the glasses each AM to ensure they are not wearing their regular glasses or do you work on an honor systems?

2) What about the side shields. I have temporary side shields that EEs can wear if they forget theirs or theirs crack, etc. but many of these EEs continue using these temporary side shields as their regular ones. Do you allow EEs to wear the temporary ones (the ones made out of soft plastic)? If you do not permit it, how much time do you give EEs to get a replacement set of side shields?

Thanks for the assistance.

ray a

My experience over the past 25 years is that enforcing safety glasses policies is difficult. We require eye protection on the manufacturing floor, but since the risks are minimal we do allow ee's to wear regular prescription glasses. My understanding, all prescription glasses sold in NY meet ANSI standards, so we feel safe in doing this. We do not require side shields. Maybe you could assess your risks and state OSHA requirements and adjust your requirements.

mushroomHR

We too require eye protection be worn while on the manufacturing floor. We do not enforce whether the employee is wearing their own glasses (perhaps non-safety) or safety glasses. We provide safety lenses and side shields to employees who choose to go to a company-designated optometrist. The employee pays for the cost of the safety frame.

It would be very difficult for us to enforce that all 150 employees are wearing safety glasses. The only way we could do that task is by department with the supervisor checking at the beginning of each shift.

TN HR

There are only two ways that I know of to police this:

1-Require over-glass eye protection for all prescription lens wearers. Stand-alone ANSI approved glasses alone will not be allowed. Then it is easy to spot check compliance.

2-Allow EE's to wear ANSI approved glasses that you deem appropriate and either pay for or subsidize the cost. then, have your leadership at all levels conduct spot audit/checks on the floor and apply progressive discipline for violators. If you manage it consitently and aggressively, word gets out and everyone gets on board.

Good luck.

Gene