Eye and Face Protection

Eye and face protection must be worn during certain autobody repair tasks to protect against:

• flying particles
• hot sparks
• chemical splashes
• dust
• radiation

Some protective equipment protects your eyes:

• safety glasses
• goggles
• welding shades

Other protective equipment protects the face:

• face shield
• welding helmet

A common misconception is that wearing face protection, such as a shield, also protects the eyes. This is not the case and in most instances both eye and face protection must be worn.

All eye and face protection should be approved by ANSI

Always inspect your eye and face protection for damage such as cracked or extensively scratched lenses before wearing it and replace damaged equipment. Clean dirty eye and face protection with mild soap and water. Store this equipment dry in an area where it is not subject to physical damage, dust, chemicals or heat.

What eye and face protection to wear for specific tasks

Grinding

To protect against flying particles when grinding, wear safety glasses with side shields at a minimum. Goggles provide additional eye protection against impact from particles and should be worn along with a face shield to protect the face if exposure to particles will be severe.

Welding

While welding, a face shield, such as a welder’s mask, over safety glasses with side shields is often worn to protect the eyes and face from flying sparks, metal spatter, and slag chips. Special light filtering lenses protect against optical radiation while welding. These lenses are usually part of the welding mask or shield. Eye damage can occur from direct exposure to welding flash.

Sanding

To protect your eyes from nuisance dust while sanding, wear goggles. Goggles form a protective seal around the eyes, preventing nuisance dust from entering under or around the goggle. The goggle should be vented to prevent fogging.

Working with paint

Goggles should also be used to protect eyes from chemical splashes when mixing paints, painting and cleaning painting equipment. A full face respirator worn while painting, or a hood, will provide eye protection and replace the goggle. If the chemical splash may be severe during a task, add a face shield over the goggles to protect your face.

Read more about face and eye protection on the OSHA website… Also, if you have PowerPoint on your computer, you can look at this slide show to learn more about the different types of eye and face protection.