Posted By Tony Black Can anybody out there enlighten me as to whether any claims have been lodged by employees regarding deterioration of vision due to the compulsory wearing of eye protection on construction sites.

Posted By MickN A few things to consider. I've haad nine years of trying to keep safety glasses on the heads (and in front of the eyes) of construction workers. 1. They don't like nor want to wear them. 2. I asked my optician the same question and the reply I was given is that they are probably just noticing their natural prescription. When you think about it people who don't wear glasses don't all have the exact same vision. 3.I've heard the same excuse more than once and not one has arrived in with anything to back up the arguement. 4. I know of no scientific studies to back it up. 5. As humans, we become progressively more farsighted (naturally) over time. In conclusion, wear the glasses.

Posted By graeme12345 I once worked for an American company who were the PC they ensured, by constant safety on site, eye / hi viz vest / hard hat / boots and hand protection (but could take off for fiddly tasks. When some of the contractors left to work on other sites they used to come back to carry out more work they would say, this site is really good,all the other sites we have worked did not care to much about the wearing of ppe and they felt really vulnerable But it was constant super"vision" and the PPE was not the cheapo stuff, so it was comfortable and after a while funnily enough they only noticed it when they were not wearing it, which made them put it on.(hope that sounds right)

Posted By Arran Linton - Smith When undertaking PPE/DDA assessments for those workers who have presbyopia, if you have a compulsory Safety Glasses Policy, how do you deal with those workers who have to frequently use reading glasses and then look over the top of these?

Posted By Simon Priest Arran, Sorry to show naivety but isn't presbyopia a natural process related to aging? If so, would this fall within the definition of disability within the DDA? Simon

Posted By Arran Linton - Smith Simon, I was simply referring to the spirit of DDA rather than the detail of the legislation, however I am yet to see this issue assessed as part of a PPE assessment for compulsory use of safety glasses. Surely safety glasses are not going to provide the same level of protection if they are perched on the end of an operatives nose!

Posted By John J I asked our optician whther safety glasses could cause deteriation in eyesight and he reported he was not aware of any and in the last 18 years since its been policy he would have noticed. He did, however, say he was acutely aware of the consequences of failure to wear eye protection having dealt with many people suffering as a result of an injury. John