How Can You Tell if Glasses are Safety-Rated?

One of the great things about eyewear today is that customers have so many different types of glasses to choose from. Upon visiting our website, for instance, you can see that we at Rx-Safety offer everything from prescription safety glasses to men’s and women’s sunglasses. Whatever your specific eyewear needs, we want to help you find the perfect pair of glasses. Having said this, there is one more caveat here. Some glasses are safety-rated. This distinction is important, as you may need to purchase safety-rated glasses for your job. But when you are looking at different pairs of safety glasses, you may not necessarily know how to tell if your glasses are safety-rated. While you may think that your glasses are safety-rated, the worst-case scenario is that they actually aren’t and that the glasses don’t protect your eyes from short or long-term damage.

When shopping for your next pair of glasses, you may need to find a pair of glasses that contain distinct features or attributes. This may be related to style or the functionality of your new glasses. In terms of functionality, you may need to purchase safety glasses. Safety glasses can protect your eyes if you are working or playing in challenging conditions. If, for example, you are working in an environment that contains significant amounts of flying dust or debris, safety glasses can keep your eyes protected. They can help you focus on the job at hand rather than worrying about whether you will be able to see clearly while working.

We are here to help you avoid this situation. In this article, you will learn how to tell whether your glasses are safety-rated or not. With this information in mind, you can find your next great pair of safety-rated glasses.

Safety Ratings: An Introduction and Case Study

Luckily, it is fairly easy to determine whether a certain pair of glasses is safety-rated. But to further explain why, it can be helpful to use an example here.

Let’s say that you are interested in purchasing a pair of Wiley X prescription safety glasses. This is a great choice. Wiley X is one of the most renowned brands in eyewear today. The company sells everything from high-quality prescription safety glasses to durable, rugged sunglasses. Before purchasing your favorite pair of Wiley X glasses, however, you want to ensure that your glasses are safety-rated according to the American National Standards Institute (“ANSI”).

According to the organization itself, ANSI is a nonprofit organization that promotes voluntary conformity standards in the United States. While this may sound quite vague, the bottom line is that the organization examines eyewear and judges whether it meets durability standards created by the organization. In other words, it conducts tests on glasses to determine their durability under extreme forms of pressure.

One of the tests, for instance, is the high mass impact test. Here, a test machine drops a special weighted and pointed projectile onto a frame or lens (depending on what is being tested). The test, quite clearly, is designed to examine how a particular frame or lens responds to pressure. There are several tests like these and they are used to judge whether a particular frame or lens is safety-approved.

In any event, with your preferred ANSI standard in mind, you are trying to examine whether a particular pair of Wiley X prescription glasses are safety-approved. To do so, you simply need to take a look at the glasses themselves. If the glasses are safety-approved according to ANSI or other standards, they will be stamped. By stamped, we mean that you will see on the frame or lens whether it meets certain safety standards.

Looking at the Wiley X Gravity glasses, for instance, you will note that they are ANSI Z87.2 safety approved. If you were to take a look at the physical glasses themselves, you would notice that there is a stamp on the glasses themselves that contains this information. Depending on the frame itself, the stamp can be found in different places. Rest assured, however, that it will be there. The same is true for safety-approved lenses.

As for the stamp itself, it may not be intuitive at first glance. This is because stamp—at least for ANSI standards—contains different letters and numbers that signify the particular safety approval. For instance, if you are looking for ANSI Z87.1 glasses, you may see product markings representing things like “H” (representing a product designed for a small head size), “D3” (splash protection) and “D4” (droplet protection), “L” plus a scale number (representing visible light filter), and “D5” (representing fine dust protection). Ultimately, the stamp provides a detailed description of the safety attributes and features within safety-rated glasses. The stamp is accurate and you should rely on it when determining whether your glasses are safety-rated.

So what’s the bottom line? To verify whether a pair of glasses is safety-approved, you will want to examine the stamp. If you are looking at a pair of Wiley X glasses or another type of glasses in a brick and mortar store, you can simply pick up the glasses and examine them from there. However, if you are planning on ordering your glasses from an online retailer, you will need to take an extra step.

If you are purchasing your glasses from Rx-Safety, for example, you will see that every safety-approved product is noted in the product description. This way, you can quickly see whether a pair of glasses is ANSI approved. But having said this, it is always good to double-check once you receive your glasses. Make sure that they have the exact safety approvals that you need and expect. If they don’t, you can always return them and find another pair of glasses that do meet the necessary safety approvals.

Finding the Perfect Pair of Glasses that are Safety-Rated

As stated at the beginning of this article, we live in a time where you can take advantage of countless options and features in your next pair of glasses. You shouldn’t need to settle for a pair that isn’t perfect. This is especially true if you are looking for a particular type of safety-approved glasses.

Safety approval is something that you should take extremely seriously. If you work in a job that has flying dust and debris, you will undoubtedly want to purchase glasses that are safety approved. The same is true if you are a hobbyist who works in similar conditions. Even though you may be doing something that you love, you are putting yourself at risk for eye damage.

Because of this, we hope that the information above will help guide you when you are purchasing safety-approved glasses. Whether you purchase your glasses in-person or from an online store like Rx-Safety, take a look at the glasses itself. Locate the stamp and ensure that your glasses meet the safety approvals that you are looking for. By doing this, you can ensure that your glasses will protect your eyes in even the most challenging conditions.

If you would like to learn more about the safety ratings of glasses, don’t hesitate to contact us. You can reach out by clicking the “Contact” tab above. We look forward to hearing from you!