PPE: Eye and Face Protection

Overview

When a workplace hazard assessment shows that employees may encounter injury to the eyes or face, campus management and supervisors should explore all possible engineering and work practice controls to eliminate hazards. If these hazards cannot be eliminated through engineering and work practice controls, supervisors must require that the employees use appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE) to provide additional protection.

Potential hazards include, but are not limited to, flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, potentially infected material or potentially harmful light radiation.  See the hazard assessments section on our Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) webpage for information about conducting a hazard assessment.

Protective equipment for the eyes and face commonly includes:

• Safety glasses – Protective eyeglasses with impact-resistant lenses and safety frames constructed of metal or plastic.
• Goggles –Tight-fitting eye protection that completely cover the eyes, eye sockets and the facial area immediately surrounding the eyes. Provides protection from impact, dust and splashes.
• Welding shields – Constructed of vulcanized fiber or fiberglass and fitted with a filtered lens, welding shields protect eyes from burns caused by infrared or intense radiant light; they also protect both the eyes and face from flying sparks, metal spatter and slag chips produced during welding, brazing, soldering and cutting operations.
• Laser safety goggles – Provides protection from laser light.
• Face shields –Headgear providing a transparent sheet of plastic covering the entire face. They  protect against nuisance dusts and potential splashes or sprays of hazardous liquids but will not provide adequate protection against impact hazards.

PPE selection

The following chart shows some common workplace activities performed by university employees and the proper eye and face protection equipment needed for each activity (subject to specific hazard assessment). The chart is followed by links to some of the many resources available to assist with appropriate selection of eye and face protection. Contact your supervisor and/or safety coordinator for more information about the selection of eye and face protection for these and other work activities.

Chart courtesy State of Wisconsin Department of Administration

PPE selection resources

Selecting PPE for the Workplace: Eye and Face Protection eTool. OSHA.

Appendix B of OSHA’s PPE standard for general industry has an Eye and Face Protection Selection Chart under item 8.

Areas and personnel affected

Listed below are areas and personnel most likely to need eye and face protection, but this list is far from complete. Anyone exposed to a workplace hazard that could injure the eyes or face needs to be protected from that hazard.

• Art studios (staff and students)
• Physical plant/facilities staff
• Auxiliaries staff
• Custodial staff
• Laboratory personnel (staff and students)
• Wood shops
• Machine shops
• Welding, cutting and brazing operations
• Groundskeepers

The list of occupations from Appendix B of OSHA’s PPE standard for general industry should be considered. Their list (item 8, Selection guidelines for eye and face protection) includes: “carpenters, electricians, machinists, mechanics and repairers, millwrights, plumbers and pipe fitters, sheet metal workers and tinsmiths, assemblers, sanders, grinding machine operators, lathe and milling machine operators, sawyers, welders, laborers, chemical process operators and handlers, and timber cutting and logging workers.”

Training and employee information

Employees must get information and training that enable them to be apprised of the hazards present in their work, and to understand the correct use of personal protective equipment. The minimal training requirements are in 29 CFR 1910.132(f). In summary, campuses must train each employee who must use PPE to know and demonstrate the following items prior to using the PPE :

• When PPE is necessary.
• What PPE is necessary.
• How to properly put on (don), take off (doff), adjust and wear the PPE.
• The limitations of the PPE.

Additional training or retraining of employees needs to be done when a previously trained employee is not demonstrating the proper understanding and skill level in the use of PPE, or when there are changes in the workplace or in the type of required PPE that make prior training obsolete.

Regulations, interpretations and standards

OSHA

In addition to the following regulations, the OSHA regulations state that eye and face protective devices must comply with certain consensus standard (see section on Consensus Standards below).

29 CFR 1910.133 – Eye and face protection

29 CFR 1910.132 – General requirements – Includes the hazard assessment and training requirements.

29 CFR 1910, Subpart I, Appendix B –  Non-mandatory compliance guidelines for hazard assessment and personal protective equipment selection

OSHA Letters of Interpretation

There are numerous OSHA letters of interpretation concerning personal protective equipment. Go to the OSHA Standards Interpretation page for General Industry and you can search by keyword, or by regulatory section (PPE regulations in Subpart I appear in 1910.132–1910.138).

OSHA Directives

OSHA Directive CPL 02-01-050. 29 CFR Part 1910, Subpart I, Enforcement Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in General Industry. 

Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services

The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) adopted OSHA’s Subpart I Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) standards, and other PPE requirements in other specific standards, as the rule for public employees in Wisconsin. No modifications or amendments have been adopted.

Consensus Standards

The OSHA regulations state that eye and face protection devices must comply with any of the following three consensus standards:

• ANSI Z87.1-2003, "American National Standard Practice for Occupational and Educational Eye and Face Protection," which is incorporated by reference in § 1910.6;
• ANSI Z87.1-1989 (R-1998), "American National Standard Practice for Occupational and Educational Eye and Face Protection," which is incorporated by reference in § 1910.6; or
• ANSI Z87.1-1989, "American National Standard Practice for Occupational and Educational Eye and Face Protection," which is incorporated by reference in § 1910.6.

Other consensus standards that relate to eye and face protection include:

• ANSI Z136 series, ANSI Laser Safety Standards;

Reference material, files, and websites

General reference material

Eye and Face Protection. OSHA’s Safety and Health Topics (webpage).

Eye and Face Protection eTool. OSHA (webpage).

Guidelines For The Use of Contact Lenses in Industrial Environments. American Optometric Association (webpage).

Contact Lens Use in a Chemical Environment , NIOSH Current Intelligence Bulletin (Adobe Acrobat document).

Policy on Eye Protection in Labs and Studios; UW-Milwaukee (webpage). UW-Milwaukee’s policy, with FAQ’s and useful links.

Choosing Protective Eyewear; EZ Facts® Document 125, Lab Safety Supply.

Goggle Selection and Use in the Workplace; EZ Facts® Document 315, Lab Safety Supply.

Reference material for this webpage includes the following:

Personal Protective Equipment. OSHA 3151-12R, 2003

Eye and Face Protection. OSHA’s Safety and Health Topics (webpage).