How should safety glasses fit?

Safety glasses are applicable to many hobbies, sports, and workplaces, but on many occasions, the myth that safety glasses are harmful to your vision has given concerns to people who may then move away from activities and jobs where these are required or simply not wear them at all. 

Such instances of headaches or strained vision aren’t a cause of the safety glasses themselves, so much as it is the cause of a poor fitting job. A poorly fitting pair of safety specs can have adverse effects on a person. But that does beg the question – how exactly should safety glasses fit?

Signs that your Safety Glasses aren’t the Right Fit

It’s typically very easy to tell if your safety glasses need to be re-fitted. If you’re suffering headaches, experiencing pains across your face (particularly along the bridge of your nose or behind your ears) and / or are suffering eye strain or pains, then these are typically clear signs that your frames need to be re-fitted to fit your face better.

Such conditions may persist if your safety glasses aren’t fitted appropriately. Much of the time, safety glasses are a lot tougher to fit correctly when compared to personal eyeglass, as they prioritise safety over comfort. 

If your safety glasses are refitted, yet the problems still persist (particularly the eye strain) the issue may not be that the safety frames are fitted incorrectly, but rather that the prescription safety lenses are incorrect. 

The wrong prescription in your safety glasses, though it won’t lead to damaged vision, will certainly perpetuate any eye discomfort and pains you may feel. Your eyes will strain more often to see things sharply, thus creating the problem. The solution to this issue is simple enough, however – you need only make sure that the prescription for your prescription safety glasses is the correct one, and you can do this by visiting and optician and having an eye test done. 

From there, your only concern should be the appropriate fitting of your safety frames.

Knowing how to Fit your Safety Glasses

There are several steps to take, when trying on your safety glasses. The first is to make sure, when you try them on, that you don’t feel any pressure along your face. Even if it doesn’t seem like a problem, too much of any kind of pressure will grow increasingly uncomfortable over time, meaning that the safety frames are too small for your face.

The nose piece should be without any pressure – if you feel a pinching along the bridge of your nose, this is a problem.  There should also not be any pressure behind your ears where the temple arms sit.  

Another way to tell whether or not they’re an appropriate fit, aside from the pressure that may be put on your face, is the obstruction of your vision. If, after putting them on, your vision is obstructed in any direction, this may be yet another sign that they aren’t the right fit.

If, upon blinking, you find your eye lashes touching the safety lenses, then they’re definitely too tight a fit. The usual means of measuring the appropriate space between the eyes and lenses is to see whether a pencil can fill in the gap. 

Make sure that the safety glasses aren’t too loose either, however, as rather than discomfort, this presents a health and safety hazard. Shaking your head left to right, up and down to see whether the safety specs come off may be a good way to determine this.

Fitting in the Workplace

In many work environments where personal protective equipment (PPE) is required, you will be provided with safety glasses. In such instances, you shouldn’t remain quiet if the pair provided to you are uncomfortable, loose, and especially foggy, there are solutions to all of these problems, and they are easily rectified.

A vital part of keeping up to any workplace’s health and safety standards is making sure that the PPE equipment is appropriate. Fogging presents a particular danger in this regard and can occur if the safety glasses aren’t fitted properly. 

When safety glasses get foggy, this typically leaves a worker with two options – continue to work blindly, which can present several dangers, or remove the safety specs in order to wipe them off, which can present yet another set of greater dangers. Appropriate fitting of safety glasses, whether they be for personal use or for health and safety purposes in the workplace, is absolutely vital.

There are many factors to keep in mind when fitting your own pair of safety glasses, concerning the quality of the frames, the prescriptions of the safety lenses (if indeed you need them) and the signs of discomfort or tightness that may be prevalent. As long as you know what to do, and what to watch out for, you can be certain you’ll find the ideal pair of safety glasses for yourself. Given that finding the right pair will have vital repercussions on the health and safety of your eyes and vision, it’s a worthwhile thing to concern yourself about!