The problem

AS1336 recommendations for medium impact operations and spot welding are inadequate. Under the influence of the Standard, workers and employers are choosing eye protection with the greatest comfort under the false impression that it provides adequate protection. However, the Standard does not adequately define fit, and the use of wide-vision spectacles, without ensuring adequate fit, should be discontinued.

Employers could pay more attention to fit and so reduce the risk of injury. Their attempts to do so are limited by the range of wide-vision spectacles available. Employers are currently faced with the need to require wide-vision goggles to be worn to increase eye protection, knowing that this would create compliance problems and possibly impede workers' vision, resulting in other risks and lowering of work performance.

In respect to design, there is a lack of precision in terms of lens curvature, a lack of adjustment and little flexibility to permit many workers to choose wide-vision spectacles that will fit well enough to protect them from injury during metal-working tasks.

In preliminary discussion with Australian Standards Committee for Standards 1336 & 1337, some members indicated to the principal investigator that they believed that the apparent failure of eye protection is mainly due to workers falsely claiming to be wearing protection at the time of injury. This belief flies in the face of the literature presented in this paper, and of the findings of this study which, while small, demonstrate that a problem exists with the design and fit of protective eyewear. It presents evidence of cases of eye protection failure and attempts to explain the mechanisms. It is uncertain whether the Committee has read the literature and dismissed it, or whether it has received inadequate information from its advisers.