FWIW, no condescension was intended. Merely trying to point out my disagreement with the proposal in a humorous way. The whole visorgog/safety glasses VS goggles argument is something faculty (in labs where liquid caustics are used… and Birkenstocks are argued to be appropriate footwear….) bring up every few years, so humor is  my way of staying sane.  Or somewhat so, at least J

This type of condescension is unimpressive and does nothing to further the cause of protecting lab personnel. Even though students aren’t covered by state or federal occupational safety standards, OSHA provides good direction in the area of PPE including protective eyewear (29 CFR 1910.133). Not all protective eyewear protects universally and one can indeed go overboard in the selection process. In addition, protective eyewear can become a hinderance to safety (not to mention productivity) in certain instances. Eg: Goggles and face shield are overklll when pouring IPA from a gallon bottle into a 500 ml squirt bottle but you would definitely want to wear them when pouring HCl or any other aggressive reagents. Protective eyewear w/side shields meeting the Z87 standard are fine for weighing out flakes of KOH on a Mettler balance but not for pouring or otherwise manipulating containers of 1M KOH. It’s all in the training personnel receive BEFORE they’re allowed to do lab work. I’m speaking from an industry perspective and maybe that’s the difference, but I find that most individuals will take their manager’s or supervisor’s lead and wear their PPE if it’s made a priority with effective consequences for noncompliance. I bet the same would hold true in academia. If Profs and TAs underscore the importance of wearing PPE by actually WEARING THEM THEMSELVES, and holding non-compliers accountable, I think the students would follow suit.

We are considering a return to not requiring the use of seat belts when driving university vehicles. Our reasoning is that the increase comfort & convenience will translate into increased compliance, as well as the idea that the lack of broken clavicles from seatbelts stopping people from flying forward in head-on collisions will result in lower workers’ compensation costs.

We are considering returning to use of Visor-Gogs® for chemistry lab students, as well as art studio activities.  Our reasoning is that increased comfort will translate into increased compliance,  as well as the idea that the less irritated the wearer’s eyes/face are from the goggles, the less likely one is to reach in to rub with a potentially chemically-contaminated finger.

Please offer feedback, or other information, positive and negative, on the use of Visor-Gogs® as PPE.

Thanks,

Barry Ferm

St. Ambrose University