Hi everyone, I'm after some opinions in possible. I work for a small engineering firm with a sheet metal fabrication workshop with about 30 people in it. The current rules are that a good level of eye protection, (screens, goggles etc) are worn when grinding etc and this is followed well. The issue is that when not carrying out these activities, they dont wear anything and could be very close to someone who is grinding etc - i.e. the risk to others in the area is far higher than to those carrying out the task. For a number of reasons, we're loath as a business at the moment to enforce stricter rules regarding wearing eye protection at all times (although I would if I had my way). The only compromise I can think of is to provide light eye protection, the wearing of which is at the discretion of the user - the issue is if we do this then we have awareness of a hazard and could be seen as not having done enough if the worst should happen. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance Steve

Steve, Something to consider is how to win hearts and minds..... The light eye protection is a good way to go, you make your own mind up about the level of protection you need. My advice is to appeal to the guys vanity (yes even big bad workshop guys can be vain) and make sure that the light eye protection has a certain "Gucci" appeal; in other words they should look smart, cool, not cheep etc. The guys self esteem will be lifted and they may well look after the glasses a bit better than if they are told to wear the cheapo £1:99 specials....Just an idea, Jim

Why don't you mark out zones around the equipment and tasks that cause you concern and make these areas safety glasses zones. Put up signage to state this and then when you are not in these zones you don't have to wear them. PPE is a control and it should not be up to the individual whether they use a control or not.

If the grinding wheel bursts, light eye protection aint going to do the job. Why don't you isolate the area in which grinding is carried out and insist on top level eye protection is worn in that area to afford maximum protection against penetration?

Thanks for all the replies - really useful stuff to be going on with. I think the idea of a 'trial' period is a good one, I would guess no-one will be able to come up with any real reason as to any issues and then thats half the battle won. In an ideal world I'd have a zoning system but each engineer does every task i.e. welding, grinding, cutting etc in their own bay and it would be difficult / impossible (and add additional hazards) to move pieces around once work had started. I think the comments have reinforced what I thought at the start though, if the the risk assessment identifies it as a control then it cant be discretionary - if there really is no way that we will enforce it then we'll have to remove it as a control. Thanks again everyone, brilliat forum.

Steve, another consideration is people who already wear glasses will need to be provided with prescription safety glasses as over glasses are no good for extended periods. You might also want to consider safety glasses with reading lenses for those who may require them.

The manufacturers may state that but from experience of several types, and as a glasses wearer, wearing two pairs at once is only tolerable for a reletively short period.

I have to agree with John. I bought 10 pairs of over glasses last April, I have 9 pairs left and they will not be used as the only person in the company who liked them has left. Dave

Peter, Alex and Ron, It says in the original post this is an engineering and fab shop. Lots of power tools and hitting things. LEP on this occasion is the right choice.

Some points to consider. Wearing eye protection all day is well just very wearing if you have never had to use it before. Employees need to understand that it will take time for them to adjust to wearing them. Keeping the lenses clean and scratch free is vital; without it you will be inundated with complaints. An eng workshop is not the easiest place to achieve that either. Whatever the suppliers tell you, over specs are only suitable for very short term use. (visitors, non shop floor personnel etc) etc. They are clumsy, often give rise to reflection between the two lenses and can cause distortion and aberrations. They are nothing but a nuisance for any close work. I say this both from experience as an H&S anorak and a life-long spectacle wearer. You will need to get the right quality of specs, adequate mtce and cleaning regimes for the specs/goggles and make sure you inform employees on how to protect and maintain their eye protection. Those who require prescription glasses, whether they wear them all the time or just for close work, will need safety specs with their prescription if you want to avoid serious resistance to the eye protection policy from them. A mandatory policy is really your only choice if you cannot engineer the risks out. However you can apply the policy sensibly and also include some individual employee decisions about complying sensibly. Lets say an employee is clearly not in any hazard zone because his work is stopped and no adjacent work puts him at risk. Would the fact that no eye protection is being worn actually be a problem? Mind you, all in all, this does illustrate that eye protection in this environment is not an easy option amd does rather support those who are saying do it from the other end of ERIC. (PD)