We are having a lot of eye injuries, debris getting in and causing pain and irritation. Does Flexicrew have any new ideas on how to avoid this?
Great question! We were dealing with this very same issue recently.
The answer might weirdly enough be – SPOGGLES.
So, for those of you not in the environmental health and safety field, Spoggles is an industry term for safety eyewear designed to prevent airborne dust and debris from getting in our eyeballs. Airborne dust and debris is a leading cause of eye injuries in today’s workplaces.
Spoggles = Safety + Goggles, with a random “p” thrown in there since “sgoggles” or “sagoggles” or “safoggles” sound even weirder.
The glasses/goggles are supposed to seal up against your face (via the foam inserts at the interior edges of the lenses), and keep dust out of your eyes. There are potential issues with spoggles, and reasons why people sometimes choose not to wear their personal protective equipment (PPE) when doing work in a dusty environment:
- the glasses fog up
- the glasses can get scratched so it is hard to see
- the foam can get “smushed” (technical term) and be less effective
- when you take off your glasses, the dust that was at the top and sides/edges of the glasses (and in your eyebrows) can fall right into your eye anyway
- some people think they look nerdy (also a technical term)
- the earpieces can irritate the heck out of the back of your ears
But looking nerdy and having to take care of your PPE and using good personal hygiene while at work are a small price to pay compared to losing your eyesight or getting a nasty infection in your eye from contaminated dust.
So our Flexpert’s advice – Keep a supply of spoggles on hand. With some lanyards. And some no-fog.
And to sum up: spoggles are real. Spoggles are good. Spoggles may save your eyesight. Wear them if you have them.
