7 Steps to Find the Right Radiation Safety Glasses

Those who work in a radiation exposed workplace will be all too aware of the dangers faced by working with radiation and not following the radiation safety guidelines correctly.

If your body is not protected against radiation, the impacts on your long term health could be severe and leave you with a variety of disabilities or even death.

Your employer will have measures in place to protection you against radiation in your work, but are you aware of what equipment needs to be used to protect yourself and why?

Your eyes are one of the most sensitive areas of the body when working with radiation and are also the part of the body that is most exposed to it.  Ensuring that you have the correct radiation protection eyewear is of paramount importance to protect your eyesight from irreversible damage.

We have outlined 7 steps below that are aimed at helping you to make the right decision about which radiation safety glasses are right for your use and how to ensure you are well protected against radiation.

1. What Exactly Do You Need?

Each workplace and situation is different, so before looking at potential protection glasses you will have to have an understanding of what you will be doing.  Finding out the exact exposure of the radiation that you will be working with should be your first step.  If it is radiation coming from straight ahead this might lead you to a different decision on your radiation glasses than if it was coming from multiple directions.

There are a variety of workplaces and jobs that require protection from radiation – these might include working in Fluoroscopy, a cath lab, medical, military, dental or even a pilot – either way you will need to know what protection you require.  If you are in any doubt of how radiation might impact on what you do, speak to your supervisor in the first instance.

2. Understand the terminology and how to protect yourself

When buying radiation protection glasses you should make yourself aware of the terminology used to describe it to ensure that you are choosing the correct pair.  There are a variety of technical terms which apply to eyewear and these can be manufactured from a variety of materials depending on their use so be confident in your knowledge before purchasing any pair of radiation protection glasses.

Radiation protection glasses are often made of lead, as this is traditionally used to protect against radiation.  However your glasses might have a lead equivalency rating depending on what materials they are made from which approximate lead results in a similar way.  Ensure you have the right radiation protection in place before starting any work with radiation.

3. What Radiation Eyewear is Available to Me?

Once you understand what radiation you will be working with, it will be easier to ensure that you have the correct radiation safety glasses to protect yourself.

At Safety Protection Glasses we would advise starting with a wide approach to this part of your search.  Gather any and all of the radiation protection glasses that you can find, not all will be suitable for your needs but you will gather information about how to best protect yourself and your colleagues from the harmful effects of radiation and what price range that you can be expected to pay.

Many of the suppliers of radiation protection glasses are online, as we are.  All credible suppliers of radiation glasses will be honest on their website about the level of protection that can be expected from purchasing a pair of their glasses and should have this level of protection stated on any listing that you are purchasing from.  If in doubt, ask!  Suppliers of radiation protection glasses are all too aware of the dangers posed by using the wrong equipment for radiation and will inform you of the best approach for the application.

4. Refine Your Search For Radiation Protection Glasses

Once you have done your research on what radiation you need protected from and the options for eyewear protection that is already on the market you can begin to narrow your search.

What becomes important in this process is the needs that you identified at Step 1, any pair of radiation glasses that do not fit this need should be discounted.

Your specific need might require face shields and goggles to account for radiation hazards from all around you, or it may come from light and straight ahead so a less intense pair may be enough to keep you covered.  Remember you are better to have too much than too little.

5. Choose a Credible Supplier

Having gone through the previous steps you should have compiled a list of credible suppliers of the preferred pairs which are suitable to protect you against the radiation you are working with.  You will need to compare each pair of glasses against one another according to the supplier.

Finding a credible and suitable supplier of radiation protection eyewear is of paramount importance when ensuring your safety or those in your employment.  There are several suppliers whose marketing might attract you to buy from them but their products may not be of a high enough quality or level of protection that you require.  Look for testimonials from others who have bought what you are looking for, what was their experience, how do they find the glasses they purchased.  If in doubt speak to the supplier and get a feel for how they provide the information you are seeking, are they quick to reply, do they answer all of your questions in a knowledgeable way, can they make recommendations based on your needs?

6. Each to his own…

By now you will have selected a pair or several pairs of radiation protection glasses that are suitable for the radiation levels and types that you are working with.  However if each of us were made the same, the world would be a very boring place.

Your supplier may provide an option for the customisation of your radiation protection glasses.  In the first instance this might be the provision of prescription lenses to allow you to wear a fit over range of radiation glasses.  Whichever customisation you choose, always ensure that the quality of your radiation protection glasses is never compromised.

7. Test, Assess and Decide

You have reached the final step and by now will have chosen one pair of standard or customised radiation protection glasses from your credible suppliers.  You will have placed your order and are waiting on your glasses to arrive.  Your choice of glasses should then be tested once they arrive to ensure that they are suitable for you.

Any credible supplier of radiation safety glasses will have a robust returns policy that should allow you time to test your new radiation glasses to ensure they fit you well and provide the areas of protection that you require.  You should assess whether the glasses are comfortable for long term use, do they fit well and ensure that they are not a distraction whereby you might be encouraged to take them off inadvertently causing damage to your eyes in the process. 

By following these 7 steps to find the right radiation protection glasses you will ensure that you are covered for the radiation protection that you need, the glasses are comfortable and fit for purpose and you will have established a relationship with your safety glasses supplier.

If you have any questions about how to find the right radiation protection glasses, you can always contact our sales team at support@safetyprotectionglasses.com.  If we don’t have your product on hand, we will try and source it for you, ensuring you remain protected against radiation at all times.

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