Eye and Face Protection – Center for Urban Agriculture

Do not think because an accident hasn’t happened to you that it can’t happen.

What happened when the tree feller didn’t wear his safety goggles?

He turned a blind eye to saw safety.

As the chainsaw blade bites into the tree, bark, wood chips, and tiny bits of the metal blade explode into the air. Your face and eyes are nice, soft targets for all this flying debris. While a faceguard with a mesh screen protects your face, it isn’t enough to protect your eyes from injury. Neither are eyeglasses or sunglasses. Flying objects can shatter the lenses of regular eyewear, increasing the chances of eye injury.

Safety glasses or goggles with side protection or wrap-around lenses deflect threats that come at the eyes from both the front and the side. There are safety glasses and goggles that fit over prescription eyewear. Alternatively, you can have safety eye wear made to your vision prescription, even if you wear bifocals.

Whether you wear prescription or off-the-shelf safety glasses, to make sure you can see clearly, select models that:

Resist fogging up
Resist scratches
Offer UV protection to minimize eye damage from UV light, and
Have an ANSI/ISEA impact rating of z87. See the ANSI/ ISEA Eye and Face Protector Selection Guide.

Always inspect your faceguard and safety glasses before each use. Replace PPE that has weak or frayed straps, or cracks, chips, or damage to protective shields or lenses.

Your eyes face many dangers…

Threats to eyes and face from chainsaw use	Potential injuries to eyes and face from chainsaw use
Chainsaw kickback	Cuts, lacerations, loss of vision
Sawdust	Irritation, corneal scratches
Flying wood chips	Scratches, splinters, corneal abrasions, loss of vision
Flying metal particles from saw blade	Splinters, infection, granulomas, loss of vision
Twigs and branches	Scratches, punctures, corneal abrasions, loss of vision