This test involves a steel ball (that is one inch in diameter and weighing roughly 2.4oz) being dropped from a test height of 50 inches. This is the ANSI standard for impact which helps ensure safety eyewear provides workers with the needed protection from impact hazards.įor safety eyewear to pass the basic Z87 standard, it must pass the ball drop test. The first marking you’ll likely see on your eyewear is “Z87” or “Z87+”. Woodworking, buffing, and general dusty conditionsįrom the OSHA website, November 2011 Z87 impact testing We’ll be focusing on the three hazards, their testing methods, and markings we most commonly get asked about:įlying objects such as large chips, fragments, particles, sand, and dirtĬhipping, grinding, machining, masonry work, woodworking, sawing, drilling, chiseling, powered fastening, riveting, and sandingĪcid and chemical handling, degreasing, plating, and working with blood The ANSI Z87 rating was created to help develop a certification system for safety eyewear based on specific hazards encountered in the workplace like:Įye protection that’s Z87.1 compliant is marked with “Z87.” All safety eyewear manufacturers should provide product information around how their safety eyewear meets these current standards. This creates a uniform testing standard and helps hold all manufacturers accountable for the level of safety they deliver in their products. ANSI exists to oversee and help with the development of voluntary safety standards for the US, based on a national consensus process. Have you ever wondered what those markings mean and why they exist? These numbers indicate specific safety ratings for eyewear, part of the American National Standards Institute – ANSI Z87. When you look inside of a pair of safety eyewear you’ll see several markings.
That equates to 270,000 workplace eye injuries that could be avoided each year.īut how do you know if you’re wearing the “appropriate” eye protection? It starts by looking inside the pair of safety glasses you have. Of these 300,000 eye injuries, it’s estimated that 90% of them were preventable if workers had been wearing (appropriate) eye protection. In most cases, safety eyewear is not being worn, it doesn’t fit, or doesn’t provide the appropriate protection for the application. 300,000 workplace eye injuries send people to the emergency room each year nationwide.