Safety Glasses
Don't Work Without Them!
It's quite simple, if you like your vision then you should wear them. When I used to do minor work on my vehicles like oil changes and such, I would get crud (road grime, rust, grit) in my eyes and it stung and was irritating. It wasn't until I got deeper into mechanical work that I realized how naive I was for not wearing any eye protection.
I personally know 2 people that have lost an eye or have permanent damage from flying objects in the "garage" or "household" environment. Even though I knew better, I never wore eye protection. In 1999, I was "issued" goggles from the Army, and after that it just kind of became habit. At first I found myself constantly removing them when it was hard to see things as if it would help see better with them off (I wear sunglasses a bunch). I had to force myself to keep them on, but like I said, it becomes habit.
On Monday September 9th, 2002 I was installing my MOPAR EVS alarm system. Then while solder-splicing some system wires to the ignition system a burst of molten solder splattered and hit my face! I was fortunate that I was wearing my safety glasses, as the solder hit ONLY my glasses and not the rest of my face. It scared the crap out of me, and I was so thankful that I had kept my glasses on. The solder melted a pit about half-way though the lenses. I had to throw this pair away (I wish I had taken a picture of them first though!).
I have since begun wearing safety glasses almost whenever I pickup a tool or work around the house. At least on 2 or 3 other occasions, I have had ricochets that involved a hammer and a 16d nail. Without glasses in these occasions, the nail would have certainly put out an eye. If you're working in the yard on a sunny day, just wear approved sun glasses (for instance, all Oakley sunglass lenses are approved for safety use).
I'll get off my soapbox now, but please take heed-You only have two eyes.
Page created on 7/9/2003
Last updated on 11/5/2004