How technology is changing the safety eyewear market

When you think of eye safety protection, many think about uncomfortable eyewear that blurs vision, fogs up, falls off your nose and requires constant readjustment.

For those who need or choose to wear safety eyewear, new technology is helping to solve those pain points and advance the safety eyewear industry faster than ever.

Advancements in lens technology, coupled with lighter-weight frames, has allowed the industry to shift more toward category-specific offerings with a wide range of functions, like anti-fog and anti-scratch, designed to improve optical clarity and comfort.

Safety eyewear should first and foremost protect from the risks inherent to the task at hand, such as chemical, mechanical, radiation or other hazards, identified through the mandatory markings on any ANSI Z87+ safety eyewear.

More than the lens itself, however, many leading brands have taken a new approach to how they develop safety eyewear for each market segment. One of the biggest changes is there is now a greater emphasis on comfort elements and category-specific features tailored to varying skilled trades.

Ideally, the user should forget he or she is wearing safety eyewear at all.

“If glasses don’t fit comfortably or impair vision in any way, people just don’t wear them when they are supposed to be wearing them,” said Brian Barry, vice president of sales at Bollé Safety.

For this reason, Bollé Safety developed a first and only-of-its-kind permanent anti-fog and anti-scratch coating, called PLATINUM. Applied to both surfaces of the lenses, it is coated with hydrophilic properties on which a homogeneous, colorless film of water is created. This film, thanks to its water-repellent action, delivers effective and permanent anti-fog properties — the only product on the market that is truly anti-fog.

For those working outside, anti-fog and anti-scratch technology is one way the industry is making improvements to the safety eyewear market. Improved filtering technology is another area in which the eye protection industry is seeing dramatic improvements.

In addition to anti-fog and anti-scratch, optical clarity is another area where users are seeing game-changing technologies enter the market. At Bollé Safety, the company is addressing improved optical clarity with a new lens innovation called CSP, or Comfort. Sense. Perception.

CSP offers benefits over other lenses and improves visual comfort by optimizing contrast and improving color perception. Available in 14 different lens tints in a wide range of glasses and goggles, CSP ensures workers have optimal visual coverage in almost all work environments. As a result, wearers’ precision and productivity are maximized while their perception of their environment is sharpened, reducing the risk of accidents.

If you’re required, or even prefer, to wear safety glasses and haven’t taken a look at how the industry has evolved over the past few years, take another look. You may be surprised at just how helpful, comfortable and functional your safety eyewear can be.

To see the latest in safety eyewear and learn more about new introductions across a wide range of categories from Bollé Safety, visit www.bolle-safety.com/us.