Safety

Avoiding Eye Damage or Vision Loss

July 6, 2021

Go beyond safety glasses to protect your eyesight.

You may not have noticed any blind electricians where you work, and you can probably guess why.

Wearing safety glasses in the work area is a way to protect your eyes. It’s only one of several ways, however. Safety glasses, even with side shields, are designed to prevent objects you are looking at from flying into your eyes. Safety glasses don’t protect your eyes from:

Spray or splash. You need to wear goggles for that.
Airborne pollutants and irritants. You need “don’t go in there” for that unless you correctly wear PPE designed to provide a barrier specifically for that purpose (for example, a full face mask with respirator).
Your fingers. You can’t keep your fingers clean enough to eliminate the risk of infection, chemical irritants, or mechanical damage if you start rubbing your eyes with your fingers. If you frequently suffer from dry eye, itchy eye, etc., carry a bottle of sterile eye drops and use those to rinse your eyes.
Welding arcs. Wear suitable PPE and/or look/stay away.

About the Author

Mark Lamendola

Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.

Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.

Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.