SAFETY
• Spraying paint; • Servicing battery electrolyte; • Welding; and • Hazardous chemicals are in use. NBAA’s safety policy goes on to
say that eye and face protection must be used when employees are exposed to the following: fl ying particles, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, harmful light radiation, molten metal, or chemical gases and vapors.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is clear about what’s required in its standards for eye and face protection. The regulation states that employers must “ensure each aff ected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye and face hazards from fl ying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injuries light radiation.” “The purpose [of following OSHA’s standard] is three-fold,” says Eli Cotti, director of technical operations for the NBAA. “It is to protect employees to ensure they keep their vision, allow companies regulatory compliance, and allow the company a means to manage risks and liability.” However, though most employers
provide protective eyewear and establish policies that state employees are to wear it, like so many safety- related things in the hangar, there remains an issue with intentional non-compliance. The reality is that technicians often choose not to don that eyewear and get hurt as a result. It’s a behavior Cotti says he
struggles to fully understand. Cotti knows the struggle well. He
worked as a maintenance technician for an airline, then worked for a corporation as maintenance manager responsible for overseeing a group
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of technicians maintaining a fl eet of airplanes. He says, “I think a lot of times they don’t wear protective eyewear because they think they look geeky or they are uncomfortable in it, but there is a huge selection of protective eyewear available today, so these things should no longer be an issue.”
He also adds that wearing
protective eyewear is a personal choice.
He states, “It is each individual’s
responsibility to put on protective eyewear. If people really stopped and thought about it, they would realize they’ve been blessed with the ability to see. They can see beautiful things in this world, their families, their friends, their loved ones. All that can go away in an accident.”
STANDARDIZED
REQUIREMENTS NBAA spells out what’s required in protective eyewear in its policy, which states that all eye and face protection must meet or exceed the requirements of the American National Standards Institute in its ANSI Z87.1-1989 standard. The eyewear must have markings that clearly denote its ability to defend against specifi c hazards. Eye protection that complies with this standard is marked with a Z87. Additional markings include those that indicate impact verus non- impact protection (Z87+), splash and dust protection (D3), and optical radiation protection (W, UV, R, L, V or S, depending on the type of hazard they protect against). Glasses rated for impact are
required to pass certain high-mass and high-velocity tests and provide eye protection from the side.
GUIDE TO GOGGLE SELECTION Once eyewear with the proper protections is selected, a wealth of
choices exists, according to Cotti. NBAA notes the most appropriate types of eye and face protectors available include: • Spectacles, which are defi ned as protective devices intended to shield the wearer’s eyes from impact hazards and hot sparks. These may be worn with side protectors and may be used alone or with other protectors.
• Goggles, which are protective devices intended to fi t the face immediately surrounding the eyes, to shield the eyes from impact, chemical splashes, high temperatures and sparks. These are considered primary protectors and may be used alone or with other protectors.
• Face shields, which are defi ned as protective devices intended to shield the wearer’s face, including the eyes, from impact, chemical splashes, hot sparks and high temperatures. These are considered secondary protectors only, and may be used with other forms of protection.
Cotti recommends considering the task when making this selection. “If you’re working with materials that might splash, then safety glasses with side guards that fi t close to the face make sense,” he says. “And they are stylish, like sportswear actually. But if you’re doing metal work and have fi ne particles of metal fl ying off a wheel, then maybe you should wear a protective face shield instead.” He explains that in his experience with metal work, goggles don’t protect as well because particulate matter ends up on the worker’s eyebrows, and then when they go to rinse off , they get metal into their eyes. “A face shield keeps things off their face, eyebrows and everything else,” he says.
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