Anti-Fog Solutions to Keep Eyewear on Workers’ Faces and Not in their Hands
Many workers will instinctively remove their safety eyewear to see what is in front of them.
- By Mary Padron
- Oct 01, 2021
Lens fogging has always been a challenge in the industrial workforce, negatively impacting construction, machine shop, metal, law enforcement, food processing and other workers. However, mask-wearing during the pandemic has significantly multiplied this issue, as warm moist air is forced across the lens of safety eyewear. This undesirable situation ultimately leads to worker frustration, increased risks of vulnerability and injury and compliance issues.
When glasses fog, workers are caught in a Catch 22. If workers cannot see, what are they going to do? Many workers will instinctively remove their safety eyewear to see what is in front of them. This leaves their eyes unprotected and at risk of injury from airborne particulate matter, dropped objects, chemical splash and more.
Thankfully, safety professionals can minimize fogging and prevent the incidents and injuries that result from it by specifying eyewear with anti-fog coatings.
Five Common Fogging Culprits
Why do lenses fog? Safety eyewear and prescription glasses fog up because of condensation, which is the process where water vapor becomes liquid. It is the opposite of evaporation, where liquid becomes a vapor. When warm air hits a cool surface, condensation can form. If the lenses of your safety glasses are cooler than the air around you, your lenses will fog up unless they have been treated with anti-fog coatings to help reduce the fogging.
Fogged lenses can result from several factors, but the five biggest culprits are:
- Heat and humidity from the environment
- Worker exertion
- Face masks that don’t fit properly
- Transitions between warm and cool environments
- Daily lens cleaning
1. Heat and humidity from our environment often cause fogging on the outside surface of the lens.
Hot and humid environments are a leading cause of lens fogging. Moisture in the air causes tiny droplets of water to collect on the outside surface of the lens—just like a glass of cold beer or water will “sweat” in the sun. Hot, humid summers, steamy boiler rooms and food processing plants are all examples of environments that can cause lens fogging.
2. Worker exertion often causes fogging on the inside surface of the lens.
Even when the environment is cool, chances are the workers who wear eye protection have a job that involves physical exertion. When their body temperature increases, more sweat is produced, especially around the eyes and face. Instead of dissipating into the atmosphere, that moisture condenses and causes fogging on the inside surface of the lens, especially with sealed eyewear that restricts ventilation or when wearing the newer wraparound models that curve around the side of your eyes.
This article originally appeared in the October 2021 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.