When To Wear A Face Shield

Face shields are a necessity in many professions and for quite a lot of tasks in the workplace or at home. OSHA requires the usage of face shields when workers are exposed to flying objects, molten metal, liquid chemical substances, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gasses or vapors, or doubtlessly hazardous light radiation. Particular jobs requiring the use of face shields embody metal workers, some medical workers, industrial painters and workers in chemical plants. While not all employment and tasks require a face shield, they are usually ignored and must be used more often.

5 Reasons To Use A Face Shield
Flying debris: Dust and other fine supplies can fly into your eyes. When using chainsaws, angle grinders or related power tools, you must always use a face shield.
Splash hazards: When handling acids, corrosives, chemical adherents or strippers and or with body fluids you must wear face shields. Typical safety eyewear doesn’t provide the necessary liquid splash protection required for these type of hazards.
Excessive heat: When performing furnace upkeep, engaging in welding or dealing with any molten substance it is best to use a face shield. Some face shields, typically employed in foundries, have particular coatings to provide further protection from extreme temperatures.
Arc Hazards: Electricians working with high voltage connections need protection from potential arc explosions, which can lead to severe burns and dying! Only specially designed face shields should be used. The Elvex ARC-Shield is an example of a face shield specifically designed to protect in opposition to arc flash.
High-velocity impact hazards: Safety glasses do an excellent job of protecting your eyes. However, they cannot protect your face. Plus, safety glasses could fail if hit by an object with enough mass or velocity. Face shields provide an extra level of protection from high-mass and high-velocity impact hazards. With that being said, it’s always advisable to wear safety eyewear underneath your face shield.

Fortunately, safety glasses stopped this broken angle-grinder disk because a face shield ought to have been worn.

5 Face Shield Options To Consider
Side protection on face shields provides elevated protection from lateral hazards. It’s a natural intuition to turn your face away from an object flying towards you. Nevertheless, this could expose your eyes or face to the incoming hazard. Make sure your face shield has adequate side protection, particularly in the event you’re working round liquid splash or radiation hazards.
Goggle kinds such because the Jackson MonoShield with Goggles or Bolle Atom Shield provide one other option for face protection when working in clean rooms, metal processing, foundries, mining, development and more. These face shields mix a removable goggle with a face shield. This feature provides the ability to exchange the goggle if it turns into scratched or damaged. Plus, it's possible you'll discover these face shields easier to make use of in lab environments, because the face shield fits closer to your face.
Headgear – Face shields are typically worn with headgear or mounted to a traditional hard hat. Consider the type of environment you’ll be working in and select the appropriate headgear system. Most face shield producers provide adapters for mounting their products on hard hats.
Face shields are available in removable or lift-entrance designs. Removable face shields permit for easy replacement while lift-entrance styles will be lowered and raised quickly as the task requires.
Face shield material comes in polycarbonate, Lexan or wire mesh models. Polycarbonate and Lexan protect towards impacts and are available in clear or tinted versions. Wire mesh face shields are common with loggers and provide protection from impacts, plus they don’t fog up. Nevertheless, wire mesh face shields should not be used for work involving chemical, liquid splash, or fine dust hazards.
Think Safety Glasses AND Face Shield
Face shields do a wonderful job of providing extra eye and face protection from a variety of dangers. Nevertheless, you should always wear safety glasses under your face shield because the underside and sides of face shields typically have gaps. Liquid or particles passing via these gaps can contact your eyes, potentially inflicting an injury.

Be sure you take the time to guage the hazards in your work space and select the appropriate eye and face protection.