The type and style of the spectacle frame is an important factor in determining how much protection your eyeglasses will provide. Many frames are fragile and are designed for appearance—not protection.

Lenses are not unbreakable or shatterproof. They can break into sharp pieces that can cause serious injury to the eye, or blindness. Even if the lenses do not break, the frame can break or distort and cause serious eye injury.

While federal law requires all lenses to meet a standard of impact resistance, lenses used in dress eyewear are not required to meet as rigorous a standard for impact resistance as lenses used in safety spectacles. Of all the materials that lenses can be made from, polycarbonate is the most impact resistant.

The continued impact resistance of your lenses depends on how well you protect them from physical shocks and abuse. For your own protection, scratched or pitted lenses should be replaced immediately.

The frames used in industrial safety eyewear have to meet federal standards for strength and lens support. Lenses have to meet a rigorous standard for thickness and impact resistance.

If your occupational or recreational activities expose you to severe risk of flying objects or physical impacts, your eye safety may require special spectacles with safety lenses, side shields, goggles and/or a full face shield.

Eyeglasses that meet these and related safety standards offer greater protection against industrial safety hazards than ordinary dress eyewear. But supplemental protectors such as goggles and/or a full face shield must be used over the safety eyeglasses if there is severe exposure to flying objects or physical impacts.